In one of his poems, Manoel de Barros writes that, if a word is repeated so much, it loses its meaning. Keeping the proportions, this “poetic play” can be applied to philosophical-political concepts. “Communism” and “fascism” are two recurring examples. And the word “corruption” is not left out of this list.

The trivialization of this concept can be reckless in many ways, from committing the fallacy of hasty generalization (every politician is corrupt) to accusing someone or some institution without robust evidence. Therefore, it is necessary to deepen this reflection. And a first step may be the etymology of the word.

The expression has theological origin, although it does not appear literally in the Bible. Augustine, philosopher of the medieval period, conceptual foundation of Christianity, stressed in a letter to St. Jerome that the human being lives in a situation of corruption. The origin is: broken or perverted heart. The thinker evokes Genesis: “The tendency of the heart is deviant from an early age” (8:21). Immanuel Kant, already at the end of the eighteenth century, agrees with Augustine about “human nature” when he states that there is something in us that leads us to deviance. But it asserts that it is possible to combat this inclination through the Categorical Imperative, the internal duty of reason that all human beings possess a priori.

Going back chronologically to Ancient Greece, it is permissible to draw a parallel between corruption and the notion of hybris. Synthetically, this word means “inordinate.” Generally speaking, for the ancient Greeks, there is a rationality that governs the cosmos and everything that threatens this order must be punished. Let’s start with the hybris applied to theater, more specifically in tragedy.

The tragic hero lies between man and the gods and glorifies himself through excess, the inordinate. When trying to satisfy his desire, he is punished and causes an eruption of feelings in the audience. It is precisely at this moment that we understand the function of tragedy as a civic component. The tragic hero represents the lack of restraint that ends in suffering. The Greek man sees in this figure his own pain. The subject recognizes his errors and his limits and tries to overcome them through catharsis, through purification. In this way, the individual feels equal to others, belonging to the collectivity, and reaches a degree of temperance, the just measure, the balance of action.

In philosophical terms, Plato asserts that in order to ascend to the intelligible world (perfect, true, eternal), the human being must move away from the inordinate of emotions and senses. He could not, therefore, allow himself to be guided by the hybris of pleasures. Hybris would be a kind of human disrespect to its very nature, which is the moderate exercise of rationality. Or rather, rational self-government. Plato brings the idea of measure closer to that of justice, which interests us a great deal: corruption, whether public or private, is directly related to instinctual and, above all, moral unruliness. The fearful individual is just because he dominates his desires, among them greed.

There are several possible approaches to the relationship between education and corruption. Plato himself teaches that only he who knows the essence of Justice acts. In other words, Plato creates a close link between epistemology (theory of knowledge) and ethics. In contemporary times, one of the most famous theories about moral development linked to the cognitive realm was put forward by psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg.

From interviews with boys aged ten to sixteen, the American psychologist developed his theory, which has three levels. At level 1, which he called “Preconventional,” there are two stages. In the first, the behavior is oriented to avoid punishments. In the second, the individual is selfish and only follows the norms with his own interests in mind. At level 2, called “Conventional,” there are also two stages. In the first, the moral notions as right and wrong are guided by social conviviality, by the collective rules determined by people and authority. Here, the most important thing is to correspond to the moral expectations of the other. In the second stage of this level the most relevant is the maintenance of the order established by the authority. Finally, at level 3, “Postconventional,” we also have two stages. In the first, what prevails is a kind of “social contract,” in which the moral subject acts on the basis of democratically established social parameters. The convention takes the place of the commandment. In the second stage of the third level, the most important for Kohlberg, the “Universal Ethical Principles” emerge. Here one transcends conventions and contingent laws to pursue principles of equality and dignity valid for all human beings. This notion is very close to the Kantian ethics of the aforementioned Categorical Imperative and its intersection with the notion of the dignity of the human person, also by the same philosopher.

For both Plato and Lawrence Kohlberg (and several others), education is the most potent means to achieve morally high ends. However, reaching the sixth stage proposed by Kohlberg, a universal and fraternal ethic, is no easy task. Therefore, it is not enough just to talk about education in the traditional sense, but it is necessary a critical and, at the same time, liberating education, with emphasis on ethical issues. It is also necessary to highlight the importance of social-emotional education to avoid the “rupture of the heart”.

Yes, emotional management is an antidote for any human being to understand their own emotions and be able to manage them minimally in order to enhance healthy life. Greed, for example, the root of corruption, can be worked on at various levels. For this, it is necessary a policy of implementation of curricula and knowledge that contemplate this area of knowledge. If skills for self-knowledge and coexistence, which involve responsibility, collaboration, communication, creativity, self-control and altruism, are put into practice in schools, it is very likely that, in the not too distant future, corruption rates will fall considerably.