Professor Yannis Fikas Leads the Farsala Academy Towards the Convergence of Global Cultures
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Between Philosophy, Arts, and Ancient Civilizations: A New Humanistic and Enlightening Language
Interview by Donia Al-Sahb – Iraq
Professor Yannis Fikas founded the Farsala Academy to offer distinctive educational curricula that integrate philosophy, ancient civilizations, arts, and music. He leads the academy towards global recognition, presenting programs that foster critical and philosophical thinking while developing students’ and scholars’ research and dialogue skills. The academy has earned a prestigious reputation thanks to its rich academic content and its online platform, which connects seventy cities worldwide, providing a space for the exchange of knowledge and culture through articles, images, theater, music, and visual arts.
Professor Fikas emphasizes the connection between philosophy and leadership, whereby thought is transformed into effective leadership, and the conscious citizen becomes a fundamental pillar for building a virtuous society. He regards art and beauty as means to comprehend life’s wisdom and to stimulate the mind and soul towards new spiritual horizons. Through the study of ancient civilizations and philosophy, the academy promotes tolerance and unites the diverse cultures of humanity, making a dialogue with Professor Fikas a unique window into philosophical thought and global cultural knowledge.
Welcome, esteemed
Professor. It is an honor and a pleasure to receive you today at this distinguished gathering. We look forward to exploring your rich academic and cultural insights and to benefiting from your valuable experiences in the fields of research, education, and the arts. A dialogue with you enriches the audience and adds a unique cultural, intellectual, and scientific dimension.
-How do you define your personal identity and cultural upbringing, and in what ways have these factors shaped your intellectual and philosophical vision?
-Individuals, Teachers and Professors, men with vision have shaped my intellectual and my philosophical vision.
-Which philosophers or thinkers have had the most significant influence on the development of your ideas and theories?
-Presocratics, Socrates, Epicurus, Marcus Aurelius and the Renaissance philosopher Giordano Bruno.
-As the founder of the Farsala Academy, what is the academy's principal role in advancing thought, philosophy, and cultural education worldwide?
-The Academy offers at Primaries schools, Gymnasiums and Lyceums two main courses, one on ancient civilizations, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Iran, India, China, Japan, Mexico, Peru and another one on Philosophy, Presocratics, Socrates, Plato, Epicurus, Stoics, Marcus Aurelius, Neoplatonic, Renaissance Philosophy.
Students, friends of the Academy and visitors have the opportunity through the website of the Academy
https://academyfarsala.gr/
to share articles and images on Ancient Civilizations, Archaeological Sites, Museums, Ancient Greek Theatre Aeschylus Sophocles, Philosophy, Renaissance Paintings, Galleries, William Shakespeare, Opera, R. Wagner, Poetry, Classical Music.
-How would you describe your experience of cultural cooperation with countries around the globe, and what is your philosophical perspective on this key axis for fostering and expanding international diplomatic relations?
-The Farsala Academy has an Advisory Board of 18 an International Advisory Board of 32, and a Circle of Friends 200 members that connects 70 cities all over the world. The Academic Programs and mainly the study of philosophy and the comparative study of ancient civilizations cultivate tolerance and contribute to the unity of the various cultural forms of humankind
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-How do you interpret the relationship between philosophy and leadership as discussed in your book Philosophy and Leadership?
-The mission of philosophy has two reference levels, which are, nevertheless, interdependent; the one is personal and the other one political. In other words, along with the importance of philosophy on one’s personal growth, its role in the state is also emphasized; i.e. how knowledge is transformed into action, how theory leads to practice, how each individual’s moral or spiritual abilities, which develop through education, unfold within society. Thus, the goal of philosophy is to ensure that that there are active and conscious citizens that will contribute to the common good.
-In your book Paths of Art and Wisdom, do you view art as a medium through which the deep philosophy of existence can be understood?
-Philosophers believed that beauty is the manifestation of a radiant beam, which shines through the senses on the soul and the mind of humans and activates imagination. Beauty prepares the soul to fulfill an ascending course towards wisdom in the same way that aesthetics leads to ethics. The natural beauty is the step that leads humans to love, which characterizes the psychological world, and ultimately, to eudaimonia, which characterizes the spiritual world. For philosophers, beauty is the way through which artists and mainly painters and poets try to express the truth and captivate a beam of light which will turn the profane work into sacred work.
-In your book Myths of the Ancient World, how do you perceive the influence of myths on human understanding and the shaping of reality and thought? Do myths continue to affect us in the modern era?
-It is with the Presocratics that the passage from the mythical to the philosophical perception takes place. Before the Presocratics there are the heroes and the sages, while after the Presocratics there are the philosophers.
Pythagoras, Thales, Socrates and Plato combine both philosophical systems. In their works, there are elements of both logical reasoning and mythical perception. Aristotle was the only one to discard all mythical elements from his work.
In Periclean Athens the festive culture was very advanced. The greater the successes, the wealth and the power of the city, the more the city owed to the gods in terms of sacrifices and celebrations. Along with their interest in political and military issues, Athenians appeared to be equally interested in the establishment of rituals and celebrations. It was Pericles himself that established public plays, festive symposia, processions and music competitions, and he had the conservatory constructed in 440 BC. The city-state was partly in charge of the cost of the spectacles, but it was the wealthy citizens that took care of the expenses of a celebration.
I believe that Homer with his two famous epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, not only praises and reconciles two of the most characteristic hero archetypes, that of Achilles who stands out for his bravery, willpower and right action and that of Odysseus who stands out for his skillfulness in action, effectiveness anتd altruistic intellect that bonds the hero with himself and nature but continues to affect us in the modern era.
-In your book The World, the City, and Man: Philosophical Texts, what is your perspective on these concepts, and can your ideas be applied to contemporary civilizational challenges?
-The Presocratic philosophers of the 6th and 5th century B.C. proposed some universal principles to interpret all natural phenomena in their effort to harmonize the mythological world outlook with the scientific one. They laid the foundations of philosophy, directed human mind towards a rational reflection of the world and developed cosmogony, cosmology, astronomy, mathematics, biology, anthropology and physics.
According to their worldview, there is a primary substance that ensures the fundamental unity of the world. For every Presocratic philosopher this primary substance corresponds to the world of senses and particularly, to a distinct element of the natural world, such as fire, air and water.
Democritus also believed that there are two kinds of knowledge, the one acquired through the senses (sensory knowledge) and the other through the intellect (intellectual knowledge). Of these two, he calls the one deriving from the intellect ‘genuine’ ascribing reliability to it, so as to form reasonable judgment, while he calls the other deriving from the senses ‘dark’ denying that it is unerring with regard to the discernment of what is true.
Socrates believed that the dialectical method is not wisdom itself but the method which seeks for the essence of things, the truth, and which leads to wisdom and inner happiness. For Socrates the goal of humans is not knowledge but inner happiness, eudaimonia.
Plato believes that humans are composed of the mind, the soul and the body and that the human soul is composed of three parts, the rational, the spirited and the appetitive. According to Plato, the main goal of education is the physical, psychological and spiritual development of humans and especially the molding of their moral character.
The second most important goal of education for Plato is molding rightful citizens and politicians. This goal is interwoven with its other goals and mainly the ethical one, because justice and state unity are put under threat only by the imperfections of its citizens.
In the Statesman, Plato mentions that through education citizens are molded within the ideas of good, justice and beauty and hence, they learn to cooperate harmoniously for the common good.
In the Laws, the importance of education for the molding of rightful, just and virtuous citizens is praised. According to Plato, the only real education is the one that has led citizens to virtue since childhood and has taught them to govern and to be governed following the law.
For Plato, education is compulsory and is intended for all citizens without exception, because when the goods of education are reserved only for a few individuals, there is no substantial benefit for the state; whereas, on the contrary, the benefit for the state is great when all citizens are educated.
Epicurus believed that the criteria of truth are the senses, the emotions, the preconceptions and the mental images. The senses constitute a real source of knowledge as they provide evidence for the substance of their objects and evoke emotions that are stamped on memory. The emotions and mainly the ones of pleasure and pain help us to get to know better the things that we should pursue or avoid.
-What inspired you to write a book on Giordano Bruno? How do you assess his place in the history of philosophy and thought, and are his ideas a fundamental chapter in modern philosophy?
- The theory of the harmonization of opposites inspired me to write a book on Giordano Bruno. Bruno believed that harmony appears wherever there are opposites.
As it is known in Greek mythology, the beautiful goddess Harmonia (Αρμονία) is the daughter of Ares -the god of war- and Aphrodite. Harmonia is the deity who connects and harmonizes the opposites. She is a new Aphrodite. Her husband was Cadmus, who founded the Greek city of Thebes.
According to the theory of the harmonization of opposites, there are two primal cosmic energies, two poles which are opposite but complementary to each other and which are both manifestations of the one and only reality. It is from these pairs of opposites that all world manifestations spring. Such examples are Day and Night in Heraclitus philosophic theory, Justice and Injustice in Anaximander, Finite and Infinite in Pythagoras, Light and Dark in Parmenides, Love and Strife in Empedocles.
The rediscovery of the Renaissance philosophy today should be a fundamental chapter in modern philosophy because will help man, to become better and wiser citizen that will contribute to the common good, will help man to acquire a holistic vision of the universe, to rediscover nature, create new relationships with it and develop a consciousness of responsibility and accountability towards nature.
-How do you assess the role of integrating philosophy, art, and anthropology in deepening the understanding and study of contemporary human societies?
-Education could be defined as an artistic, ethical, philosophical, religious, and a scientific quest. Education may unite all the existing nations of the world in a common cultural vision that will search for the truth and serve humanity.
The purpose of education is to help al0l خ9نهه members of a given society and especiحally students who should be aware of their potentials, identify their own core values, acquire a vital and integrated sense of self, and become better and wiser citizens.
