Paideia : the fortunes and misfortune of virtue

The idea of the shaping of cultural humanity (Greek paideia; Latin humanitas) is one of the most important components of the civilizational paradigm, firstly of the European (Mediterranean) one and subsequently of the universal one. Classical (ancient) formulas of the idea were subject to creative refl ection in early days of the modern era and in the XXth century (E. Jaeger, P. Jaroszyński, H.U. Gumbrecht). This time, the focus of attention will be a signifi cant and yet less often discussed paideia determinant: textual medium (bonae artes, bonae litterae), irreplaceable in the process of the shaping and conveying of the model of cultural humanity.