Introduction
The primary concern of this article is to highlight the notion of philosophy of education in Plato’s
The Republic, this article seeks to compare and contrast Plato’s theory of education with the
contemporary system of education. However, it will be a philosophical analysis; and the idea is
to bring out the points of similarities and dissimilarities of the two systems and likewise
showcasing the problems of the same. Also the effort will be to give a remedy of the problems
that we’ll come across in the contemporary system through Plato’s philosophy of education, if at
all possible. In this process there are a few questions that become imperative, they are:
(i) Plato’s theory of education: a brief analysis
(ii) Is Plato’s theory of education only ‘ideal’ or are there any practical implication of his
theory?
(iii) What are the contemporary relevance of Plato’s theory of education?
(iv) Criticism of Plato’s theory?
In the process of finding an answer to these questions a brief outline of Plato’s theory of
education will be provided in the first half of the paper and the second half will deal with its
relevance and criticism. These two issues will be based respectively on Martha C. Nussbaum’s
analogy of education and R.H. Crossman’s criticism of Plato’s theory. Education in a very
general sense is the learning of skills, values, cultures, traditions, knowledge and virtues through
different forms such as listening, learning, writing, reading, and so on, and these are also the
ways in which one generation pass their knowledge to the next generation. Since the very
beginning of a civilized society people have their vested interests in teaching their children. To
this effect it has been often said that teaching is perhaps the second oldest profession. The art,
process, mode, means and the way in which it is done are the issues that lie under the area of
philosophy of education. Thus philosophers have always commented upon it and propounded
theories of philosophy of education. Education is an integral part of all societies past and present
to put it more abstractly, at its best education equips individuals with the skills and substantive
knowledge that allows them to define and to pursue their own goals, and also allows them to
participate in the life of their community as full-fledged, autonomous citizens.1 John Dewey
quotes “education is not preparation for life; education is life itself”, Rousseau says that
“education comes to us from nature, from man and from things.” In this context, we have many
more definitions and theories but Plato probably being the first person to write a long treatise on
how education should be, and what will its process and curriculum. Plato is still relevant and this
paper tries to elaborate his relevance along with other issues. There have been different ways in
which knowledge has been imparted to the students and the individuals such as storytelling,
lectures, poem recitation. These were forms of education which only comprised of speakers and
listeners. Plato belonged to this very age, his teachings mainly being oral. It was the latter half of
his life when he decided to pen down his philosophy. Plato said that, “the object of education is
to teach us to love what is beautiful” (Plato, The Republic).
In order to make our understanding more vivid the entire article has been divided into two broad sections: Part-I, it deals with Plato’s theory of education which
will help us to articulate either practical implications of Plato’s theories or they are mere ideas
and their perfection is limited only within our imagination. Part-II of the article will deal with its
contemporary relevance, and what does Plato’s critics has to say about his theory.
Part-I
(i) Plato’s theory of education: a brief analysis
Although Plato's Republic is best known for its definitive defence of justice, it also includes an
equally powerful defence of philosophical education. Plato's beliefs on education, however, are
difficult to discern because of the intricacies of the dialogue. Not only does Socrates (Plato's
mouthpiece in the dialogue) posit two differing visions of education (the first is the education of
the warrior guardians and the second is the philosopher-kings' education), but he also provides a
more subtle account of education through the pedagogical method he uses with Glaucon and
Adeimantus. While the dramatic context of the dialogue makes facets of the Republic difficult to
grasp, in the case of education, it also provides the key to locating and understanding Socrates'
true vision of education. Socrates' pedagogical approach with the interlocutors corresponds
closely with his vision of the education of the philosopher-kings--an overlap which suggests that
the allegory of the cave is representative of true Socratic education.2
1 Phillips, D.C. and Siegel, Harvey, "Philosophy of Education", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter
2013 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2013/entries/education-
philosophy/>. Accessed on 12/4/2015.
According to Plato, education is the first stage in the process of building a just state. Book III of
The Republic deals with this part. There are a few features of Greek education in Plato’s day
which should be kept in our mind while reading Plato’s philosophy. Normally, education is a
matter of private individual; but it was Plato who made it a concern for the state; it was an
innovation for that matter.3 One can thus, abstractly say that it was the beginning of
governmentalizing educational institutions. Education has changed and developed a lot through
years and likewise the process of teaching and learning have also changed and developed,
however in the present day context education is highly institutionalized but the days in which
Plato lived it was mainly done in the form of story-telling and poem recitation. Plato tried to pen
down his imagination of perfect state and the best idea that he would consider of education
conceiving it as the ideal form of education. Republic is a dialogue which discusses that the
education is necessary to produce a society where there is harmony among the three classes
Guardians (rulers and the soldiers), auxiliaries (farmers), where every class was assigned their
own set of works according to their excellence. It is an education of a strange sort – he called it
‘paideia’. Nearly impossible to translate into modern idiom, ‘paideia’ refers to ‘the process
whereby the physical, mental and spiritual development of the individual is of paramount
importance’. It is the education of the total individual. Plato's methods were autocratic and his
motives meritocratic, he nonetheless prefigure much later democratic philosophy of education.
Plato's belief that talent was distributed non-genetically and thus must be found in children born
to all classes moves us away from aristocracy, and Plato built on this by insisting that those
suitably gifted were to be trained by the state so that they might be qualified to assume the role
of a ruling class. What this establishes is essentially a system of selective public education
premised on the assumption that an educated minority of the population are, by virtue of their
education (and inborn educability), sufficient for healthy governance. The object of platonic
education thus becomes both moral and political. Plato’s idea of education has been extended
from his idea of Allegory of caves. Through this idea he sought to explain the ultimate goal of
education which must impart light into the darkened minds of the individuals. He elaborated his
2 http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/dillon/education_plato_republic.html. Accessed on
12/4/2015.
3 Plato, The Republic, Penguin Classics, 2007, Part III, p. 67.
idea of education through various levels of exclusion which will finally result in the group of
people who will become the ruler of his ‘just state’.
The moral aspect of education demands zero percent interference of individuals in each other’s
work, and, hence, a system of harmony will be maintained, the guardian is expected to have a
selfless attitude towards its citizen, with no property and family so that there are no chances of
him getting involved into corruption. The society has to be constituted of individuals who are
just and there lies a sense of unity among the three classes. The implication of political character
comes from his own references; education is primarily a state function. Therefore, the
philosophy of education forms the heart of any discussion of government. In the Republic and
the Laws, Plato emphasized that the education should be completely under the control of the
state. The state provides the teachers, buildings, and controls the curriculum and methods of
teaching. The failure of the old Athenian education was due to the failure of parents to inculcate
the virtues and training the children. Plato was intolerant towards tender sentiments and
individualizing tendencies of family life. His conclusion was that the family training cannot be
trusted; the good of the state demands public control of breeding, nursing and training of the
children. Education for him was not an apprenticeship for know-how but an education in life
skills. His philosophy functioned on the grounds of certain objectives these objectives were state
unity and efficiency, Plato demarcated presence of three elements in the human body; reason or
wisdom, courage and appetite. His education was primarily focused on to establish the rule of
reason. He not only believed in institutionalizing education but he thought schools should be the
greatest humanizing and socializing agency. His idea seems to be very ambitious and innovative
considered the times in which he lived. The philosopher is a lover of wisdom, one with the
eternal knowledge of the Forms, which is to say that the philosopher understands reality as it
truly is. With this knowledge, philosophers are best suited to rule the ideal state, as Socrates
indicates when he poses the following rhetorical question: 4
‘Can you, then, possibly find fault with an occupation for the proper pursuit of which a man must
combine in his nature good memory, readiness to learn, breadth of vision and grace, and be a
friend of truth, justice, courage, and self-control?...grant, then, education and maturity to round
4https://www.academia.edu/3584035/Retracing_the_Cognitive_Path_to_Utopian_Theories_of_Education_Plato_a
nd_Rousseau. Accessed on 12/4/2015.
them off, and aren’t they the only people to whom you would entrust your state?’ (Plato, The
Republic, 1987, 487a).
Despite having every element of education from art, literature, music, sports and physical
activities, science, mathematics and philosophy can we still say that Plato’s idea of education
was ideal. One needs to rethink before considering it ideal and perfect form of education.
(ii)Is Plato’s theory of education only ‘ideal’ or, are there any practical implication of his
theory?
Plato in his ideal state, propounded a theory of education which involved rigorous process and
which he believed could help determine the class where each individual citizen could be
grouped. This theory though very fantastic when examined theoretically, is not without some
flaws. It is because of these flaws that some philosophers describe his theory as utopian. For
philosophy of education, Plato’s analogy of allegory of cave can be applied directly. We are told
early on that well educated men will turn out to be good men and thus it is of importance for the
state to educate its citizens well. Considering this line of argument, thus every class should get
equal opportunities for education as well as equal education but for the productive classes in
Plato’s state there was very little education. They were subject to elimination at the age of
sixteen if they failed to qualify the exams conducted for their evaluation. Also they were not
given any second chance. Plato was considered mainly to educate the Guardian class and he talks
more profoundly of making a philosopher ruler. In this process the education of producing class
remained neglected. To this effect, Plato’s theory of education, as we can see has some practical
implications. The state in the contemporary world focuses on compulsory free and elementary
education from the age of six to fourteen; coinciding with Plato’s philosophy the state does not
talk about compulsory higher education. Hence, even in our days a large section of people are
deprived from higher and quality education mainly because they lack the resources which could
‘buy’ them quality education. Now a days when we talk about a state we think of an expanse of
territory to begin with, so broad that we should in most cases be unable to see all its boundaries if
we rose five mile above the ground on a clear day. But Plato was writing only for the people of
Athens. Greek society was different; they had slavery, we have abolished slavery, Athens was a
small state; we have large territories with mixed identities. We need to think, is it possible apply
his theory of education of utopian nature to our world, the territories that are huge and are
inhabited by diversity of cultures, ethnicity, values, beliefs, desires and interests? Plato’s belief
that all people can easily exist in harmony when society gives them equal educational
opportunity from an early age to compete fairly with each other is absolutely correct but Plato
himself did not realize that this would have resulted in a monotonous life style; without any
competition. The ruler is without any money and family with all the wisdom and the helping
class, the producers of the state have families, money but very less education. This is because his
state offered equal opportunities till a certain age and after that only a section was provided free
education by the state. If this is practical implication of Plato’s theory then we certainly are not
going to receive much benefits from it. Because it is true; without equal educational opportunity,
an unjust society appears and if the political system is run by unqualified people; democracy,
oligarchy, defective democracy, or tyranny will result in chaos, corruption, injustice, inequality,
crime, poverty and for sure there cannot prevail any harmony.
We must not forget while analysing the nature of philosophy that Plato had that it’s not Plato
who is talking in the Republic, its Socrates who is constantly involved in the dialogue
conversation with the people sitting around him. What we know of Socrates by now is that he
was a very good orator, and he tried his best to convince Glaucon, Adeimantus, Thesemarchus
and everyone else who was a part of the dialogue conversation. Now to this effect, he gives
rhetoric to in the form of all the answers that he had to give to the questions that were asked. We
know that whatever was Socrates’ views were that of Plato; whatever be the reason behind it.
Anyhow the language which Socrates uses in Plato’s dialogues is language designed to have a
persuasive or impressive effect, but which is often regarded as lacking in sincerity or meaningful
content. His critics might turn to an opinion which is called beating around the bush. Whole of
his philosophy turns out to be utopian mainly because their ambitious plans were designed only
for a particular state and not for the world also he wrote in his present context without
considering the worlds of future. In this lieu Plato’s philosophy turns out be more ideal than
actual. A city, a state of dreams and imagination with all the perfection that he could put into it.
Though we cannot deny the fact that his political philosophy is one of the most important
theories that we study in either in political science or philosophy. Since two thousand three
hundred and fifty years Plato’s philosophy has been taught in schools and colleges; thus it still
has some relevance other than historical importance.
Part II
(ii) What are the contemporary relevance of Plato’s theory of education?
Socrates remarks in the Republic that although Plato’s utopia may be unrealisable, it is useful as
an ideal or a standard by which we can criticize existing institutions. While some philosophers
like Marx disagree with Plato’s version of utopia, Indeed, Marx’s ideal of a communist utopia is
not merely ‘Marxist’; it is heir to both the Platonic and the liberal utopias. This statement may
seem paradoxical, if only because Platonism and liberalism are diametrically opposed, as we
have seen. But consider what is involved in Marx’s ideal society. Marx claims in the Communist
Manifesto (1848) that after a period of state socialism and redistribution of wealth, separate
classes will no longer exist and the state will no longer be needed. Marx’s classless utopia is not
as blatantly incompatible with Platonism as it might seem, since, for one thing, the Marxist
definition of ‘class’ is very different from the Platonic. Plato incorporates a fusion of political
and economic criteria: the lowest class is involved in productive economic activities but has no
political power, while the highest class has all the political power, but no economic activity. For
Marx, on the other hand, the definition of class is exclusively economic, based on the group’s
role in the process of production. Though anybody would agree that it is a worthy task to
formulate social ideals. In doing so, one should at least posit an ideal state that strives to realize
certain social ideals even if in its final details. With that in mind, something like democratic
communism is the ideal one should use to critique the present, since it reconciles Plato’s
emphasis on the community along with the modern emphasis on individual freedom.5 The ruling
class in our time who are embedded with power both economic and political are on the top. They
have access to the best facilities they strive for; they get best life style, food, education, health
facilities, etc. On a few grounds let us think of a hypothetical situation that if we had education
system that was exactly like Plato’s then what would be the case. We would have philosophy as
the most important subject of our educational curriculum. Mainly because for Plato study of
5 https://philosophynow.org/issues/90/Platos_Just_State. Accessed on 12/4/2015.
philosophy was very crucial and it was discipline among others. Along with that education was
the first stage of a just state.
Both education and philosophy he considered is constitutive of good citizenship. It is not only a
means to it but also becomes a part of what you are, when you are a ‘good citizen’− a thoughtful
person. Education has a wide range of functions in human life. It can be just fun, a game that you
play or it can be a way you try to approach your own death or illness or that of a family member.
Martha C. Nussbaum in her book Not for Profit; Why Democracies need Humanities, argues that
a liberal education−and philosophy in particular is important for a meaningful life. Suppose you
see yourself as a citizen of the world, and you have a grip on the vastness, the diversity of the
human experience, as well as the problems, the horrors, the sheer scale of such things as poverty,
global warming, terrorism, war and hunger. If you see yourself as a citizen of the world and
recognize that the world’s problems are your problems too, what you can be; but paralyzed by
that realization. What can a citizen of the world do about the world’s troubles?6 Plato’s idea of
education in this context had connectedness with the society. Individuals were trained in such a
way that whatever they learn they give back to the society as in Plato’s words “…a society is
nothing but the individual writ large.” But contemporary system of education does not guarantee
this type of connectedness that Plato’s philosophy had. Nussbaum says that “we have got to
educate people to think about different ways in which they can be helpful. Give them suggestion
of ways they can work for the world.” In this lieu Plato’s work on education can be considered
perfect. His thought that the state should cater to the children with teachings of morality, art,
literature, music and games along with science, mathematics and philosophy was inevitably
designed to serve back to the society. His idea was not only to build a state where every
individual excels in his job but also they should work for the state, obey the ruler and in return
the ruler takes care of its’ citizens; and thus harmony in the state will automatically prevail if
there is no interference from anyone’s side in someone else’s work. And to achieve this kind of
perfect or ‘just state’ he emphasized that the state should take up the responsibility of children
right after their birth. It is the state that will provide finance and resources to the children and
make them a responsible and well trained citizen. Plato’s philosophy of education gives a vivid
understanding of the famous saying “as you sow, so shall you reap.” Human beings have the
6 DelGaudio, Julian J., Society for History Education Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41304019. Accessed
on 11-04-2015 05:04.
tendency to give back to others what they receive, it is inherent in their nature. This is also one of
the reasons which makes study of moral principles imperative because no one likes receiving
anything that is bad. Thus, if the state has taken care of the individuals since their childhood they
will inevitably give it back to the state by using their knowledge, skills and education.
However, given a reality check we do not have such kind of system of education rather our ideas
and values are usually left unexamined. We ‘sleepwalk’ through life, as Socrates put it. ‘We pick
up our values from our parents, our friends or our culture, and we don’t think about them. This
can be psychologically and morally damaging, because some values and beliefs are toxic, and
will make us sick’. Philosophy teaches us to ‘take care of our souls’. It teaches us to examine the
beliefs and values we carry around and see if they make sense. We, on the other hand live in a
kind of society where privileged become more privileged and the underprivileged tend to
become unrecognizable. As Nussbaum states the importance of study of history, literature, arts
and music. She tries to explain that education should not a commodity whose job is to produce
profit for the democracies instead it should focus more and more on developing personality of
the individuals by teaching them about their culture, traditions, values of the societies in which
they are born, religion and its implications in practical lives. Every student should be thought
about the dark spots their society has and the ways to remove them. But our system of education
provides facilities of learning science and mathematics, and the state is rather bothered of
increasing science and engineering colleges but they hardly put resources to increase number of
colleges for arts where one could learn history, philosophy, political philosophy, etc.7
Nussbaum’s conviction is that students have become money oriented; they learn, go to schools
and colleges to learn science and become doctors and engineers but they lack general sense of
history and other subjects of humanities.
If Plato’s methodology was applied to our contemporary system of education study of
philosophy would have been top most priority. However certain section of people would still
remain deprived of quality education. As Plato’s theory itself has many loop holes and
drawbacks which we will discuss in the following section.
(iii) Criticism of Plato’s theory
7 DelGaudio, Julian J., Society for History Education Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41304019. Accessed
on 11-04-2015 05:04.
Plato’s philosophy can offer a wide range of criticisms. These include the problem of the
governed; considering them free individuals we can easily understand the problem of individuals
in Plato’s state that they were morally obliged to obey the ruler then can we still consider them to
be free? Karl Popper’s Open society and its enemies offers this kind of interpretation of The
Republic.8 Other philosopher in this range who has criticized Plato to the fullest is R. H. S.
Crossman who in his book Plato Today is primarily interested in relating Platonic political
insights to contemporary political issues. He does this by letting Plato criticize the foibles,
inconsistencies, and weaknesses of modern democracies and in turn criticizing Plato's theories in
the light of our modern experience. In defence of the first part of this strategy Crossman
maintains that 'the real menace of fascism is due to the scarcity of democrats with a practical and
realistic creed . . .Dictatorships are imposed because democratic institutions become
unmanageable and awkward for the ruling interests, and secondly because the common man does
not find democracy worth defending.' His criticisms of democracy are in the interest of its
defence; and he believes that the best defence of democracy is to distinguish between the ideal
and the fact and to recognize the inconsistencies of privilege and inequalities of power which are
maintained within, and which threaten the health of, modern democracies.9 Crossman argues that
Plato’s idea of democracy and education at its base was a fascist approach none the less than the
policies of our democracy. The whole of Plato’s philosophy of ideal and perfect state turns out to
be authoritative specially the role played by the guardian ruler. Only the philosopher-guardians
have any say in how the society is run. Everyone else should shut up and mind their own
business. Anybody who didn’t agree to this, who refused to respect their place in the whole,
should be cut out or ‘purged’ from the body politic. To some critics of Plato, such as Karl
Popper, this sounds like a recipe for totalitarian dictatorships. However, defenders of Plato like
Leo Strauss argue The Republic is an ideal rather than a practical political programme. He’s
building a ‘city in words’, his defenders say, not actually putting forward a political plan of
action.10 Because Plato’s philosopher ruler was the absolute ruler there was no checks and
balances on his powers and functions. Entire political power was concentrated in his hands; this
kind of situation might have resulted in authoritative rule; strictly speaking, dictatorship.
8 Osalar, Thomas, G., The doctrine of `the consent of the governed in Plato, Durham theses, Durham University,
1978, Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/9838/. Accessed on 11/4/2015.
9 Crossman, R. H. S., Plato Today, Oxford University press, 1939.
10 http://philosophyforlife.org/philosophies-for-life/platonists/. Accessed on 12/4/2015.
On the other hand, Crossman claims that Plato propounded a theory of democracy that was
fascist in nature. By making use of the teaching of The Republic, Crossman grasps with unusual
clarity the shortcomings of present-day democracies as well as of the political creeds and
institutions of the Right and the Left. Yet he vigorously denies that Plato’s work can supply us
with an acceptable alternative to the solutions suggested by present-day movements: “The more I
read it [the Republic], the more I hate it”.11 The perfect government in the Platonic sense, the
“dictatorship of the virtuous Right,” is of necessity” transformed into a polite form of Fascism”12,
and Plato himself was “a reactionary resolutely opposed to every principle of the Liberal creed”13
. In essence, the objective ideology that Plato introduces was orthodox and very rigid; certainly it
was not flawless. Firstly, the productive class received very less education because they had to
face elimination at the age of sixteen but they were not deprived from possessing wealth and
raising family; no matter they have skills or not. Secondly, who competed for the post of
philosopher king had to face elimination process at the age of fifty, now Plato didn’t explain that
what will happen to those people who have been thrown out of the academy because at the age of
fifty they are incompetent to become the ultimate philosopher ruler, even after spending their
entire lives to get rigorous training to become one. Following which they were left job-less,
without family. You cannot expect a man to start working as a farmer or soldier at an age of fifty
for not that he is too old he might feel he is over educated to become one of them. Thirdly, when
Plato said that there three kinds of elements present in every human body reason, courage and
appetite which corresponds to the three respective classes of ruler, soldiers and artisans, he did
not explain that who will take guarantee for the fact that the ruler will not indulge himself in
worldly desires.
In short if on one hand, this whole system offers an ideal and perfect utopian society then on the
other hand, it becomes a radical fascist, authoritative and dominant democracy− a weird kind of
democracy ‘where the ruled does not have any right to choose its ruler’, a democracy where one
does not have any hold either on the policy makers, or on the governing body or whom one is
entitled to obey. Thus, it was more of a dictatorship wrapped up in a blanket of democracy.
11 Crossman, R. H. S., Plato Today, Oxford University press, 1939, p. 292.
12 Ibid, p. 285.
13 Ibid, p. 130. Also see Review of Plato Today, by R. H. S. Crossman, Social Research, Vol. 8, No. 2 (May 1941).
Reprinted in What is Political Philosophy?
Conclusion:
In the field of philosophy every theory is open to various kind of interpretations and criticism
indeed there is no theory that is undisputed forever. This does not mean that what one has said at
one point of time losses its meaning or importance, thus, for that matter Plato’s philosophy even
in today’s world is not only of great importance as a curriculum but its application in the system
of education would have helped us to gain something more of ethical nature than mere
materialistic achievements. For example, (i) Plato made education of philosophy along with
other sciences compulsory for the ruling class, in short the ruler has to be educated and
intellectual so that he can understand the problems of the society and suggest a remedy that is
best suited for everyone. But our state does not follow this kind of curriculum; if it was there
then it would have helped in creating morally justified society. (ii) Contemporary state is closing
down every avenue of literary studies, history, philosophy, arts, etc., where you can understand
the society. The state is only investing six to eight percent of its total G.D.P. on education, in
India highest in last twelve years was around twelve percent that too in 1999. A large portion of
this expenditure anyways goes in opening new IITs and IIMs, hardly any state or government is
bothered to set up colleges for humanities. Parents also force their children to join science
colleges not only because what is of more importance is earning money but also the kind of
status conferred upon any particular stream of education. No one here denies the importance of
money but this should not be our only priority for if we live in this society and use its resources
then it’s our duty to return the favor that we have taken from it. Education according to Plato is
only relevant if one can use it as an instrument or a tool to improve the society. In such a context,
Plato’s importance cannot be ignored in this age.
Bibliography
Crossman, R. H. S., Plato Today, Oxford University press, 1939.
DelGaudio, Julian J., Society for History Education Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41304019. Accessed
on 11-04-2015 05:04.
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/dillon/education_plato_republic.html.
http://philosophyforlife.org/philosophies-for-life/platonists/. Accessed on 12/4/2015.
https://philosophynow.org/issues/90/Platos_Just_State. Accessed on 12/4/2015.
https://www.academia.edu/3584035/Retracing_the_Cognitive_Path_to_Utopian_Theories_of_Education_Plato_a
nd_Rousseau. Accessed on 12/4/2015.
Osalar, Thomas, G., The doctrine of `the consent of the governed in Plato, Durham theses, Durham University,
1978,
Phillips, D.C. and Siegel, Harvey, "Philosophy of Education", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2013
Edition)
Plato, The Republic, Penguin Classics, 2007.
The primary concern of this article is to highlight the notion of philosophy of education in Plato’s
The Republic, this article seeks to compare and contrast Plato’s theory of education with the
contemporary system of education. However, it will be a philosophical analysis; and the idea is
to bring out the points of similarities and dissimilarities of the two systems and likewise
showcasing the problems of the same. Also the effort will be to give a remedy of the problems
that we’ll come across in the contemporary system through Plato’s philosophy of education, if at
all possible. In this process there are a few questions that become imperative, they are:
(i) Plato’s theory of education: a brief analysis
(ii) Is Plato’s theory of education only ‘ideal’ or are there any practical implication of his
theory?
(iii) What are the contemporary relevance of Plato’s theory of education?
(iv) Criticism of Plato’s theory?
In the process of finding an answer to these questions a brief outline of Plato’s theory of
education will be provided in the first half of the paper and the second half will deal with its
relevance and criticism. These two issues will be based respectively on Martha C. Nussbaum’s
analogy of education and R.H. Crossman’s criticism of Plato’s theory. Education in a very
general sense is the learning of skills, values, cultures, traditions, knowledge and virtues through
different forms such as listening, learning, writing, reading, and so on, and these are also the
ways in which one generation pass their knowledge to the next generation. Since the very
beginning of a civilized society people have their vested interests in teaching their children. To
this effect it has been often said that teaching is perhaps the second oldest profession. The art,
process, mode, means and the way in which it is done are the issues that lie under the area of
philosophy of education. Thus philosophers have always commented upon it and propounded
theories of philosophy of education. Education is an integral part of all societies past and present
to put it more abstractly, at its best education equips individuals with the skills and substantive
knowledge that allows them to define and to pursue their own goals, and also allows them to
participate in the life of their community as full-fledged, autonomous citizens.1 John Dewey
quotes “education is not preparation for life; education is life itself”, Rousseau says that
“education comes to us from nature, from man and from things.” In this context, we have many
more definitions and theories but Plato probably being the first person to write a long treatise on
how education should be, and what will its process and curriculum. Plato is still relevant and this
paper tries to elaborate his relevance along with other issues. There have been different ways in
which knowledge has been imparted to the students and the individuals such as storytelling,
lectures, poem recitation. These were forms of education which only comprised of speakers and
listeners. Plato belonged to this very age, his teachings mainly being oral. It was the latter half of
his life when he decided to pen down his philosophy. Plato said that, “the object of education is
to teach us to love what is beautiful” (Plato, The Republic).
In order to make our understanding more vivid the entire article has been divided into two broad sections: Part-I, it deals with Plato’s theory of education which
will help us to articulate either practical implications of Plato’s theories or they are mere ideas
and their perfection is limited only within our imagination. Part-II of the article will deal with its
contemporary relevance, and what does Plato’s critics has to say about his theory.
Part-I
(i) Plato’s theory of education: a brief analysis
Although Plato's Republic is best known for its definitive defence of justice, it also includes an
equally powerful defence of philosophical education. Plato's beliefs on education, however, are
difficult to discern because of the intricacies of the dialogue. Not only does Socrates (Plato's
mouthpiece in the dialogue) posit two differing visions of education (the first is the education of
the warrior guardians and the second is the philosopher-kings' education), but he also provides a
more subtle account of education through the pedagogical method he uses with Glaucon and
Adeimantus. While the dramatic context of the dialogue makes facets of the Republic difficult to
grasp, in the case of education, it also provides the key to locating and understanding Socrates'
true vision of education. Socrates' pedagogical approach with the interlocutors corresponds
closely with his vision of the education of the philosopher-kings--an overlap which suggests that
the allegory of the cave is representative of true Socratic education.2
1 Phillips, D.C. and Siegel, Harvey, "Philosophy of Education", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter
2013 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2013/entries/education-
philosophy/>. Accessed on 12/4/2015.
According to Plato, education is the first stage in the process of building a just state. Book III of
The Republic deals with this part. There are a few features of Greek education in Plato’s day
which should be kept in our mind while reading Plato’s philosophy. Normally, education is a
matter of private individual; but it was Plato who made it a concern for the state; it was an
innovation for that matter.3 One can thus, abstractly say that it was the beginning of
governmentalizing educational institutions. Education has changed and developed a lot through
years and likewise the process of teaching and learning have also changed and developed,
however in the present day context education is highly institutionalized but the days in which
Plato lived it was mainly done in the form of story-telling and poem recitation. Plato tried to pen
down his imagination of perfect state and the best idea that he would consider of education
conceiving it as the ideal form of education. Republic is a dialogue which discusses that the
education is necessary to produce a society where there is harmony among the three classes
Guardians (rulers and the soldiers), auxiliaries (farmers), where every class was assigned their
own set of works according to their excellence. It is an education of a strange sort – he called it
‘paideia’. Nearly impossible to translate into modern idiom, ‘paideia’ refers to ‘the process
whereby the physical, mental and spiritual development of the individual is of paramount
importance’. It is the education of the total individual. Plato's methods were autocratic and his
motives meritocratic, he nonetheless prefigure much later democratic philosophy of education.
Plato's belief that talent was distributed non-genetically and thus must be found in children born
to all classes moves us away from aristocracy, and Plato built on this by insisting that those
suitably gifted were to be trained by the state so that they might be qualified to assume the role
of a ruling class. What this establishes is essentially a system of selective public education
premised on the assumption that an educated minority of the population are, by virtue of their
education (and inborn educability), sufficient for healthy governance. The object of platonic
education thus becomes both moral and political. Plato’s idea of education has been extended
from his idea of Allegory of caves. Through this idea he sought to explain the ultimate goal of
education which must impart light into the darkened minds of the individuals. He elaborated his
2 http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/dillon/education_plato_republic.html. Accessed on
12/4/2015.
3 Plato, The Republic, Penguin Classics, 2007, Part III, p. 67.
idea of education through various levels of exclusion which will finally result in the group of
people who will become the ruler of his ‘just state’.
The moral aspect of education demands zero percent interference of individuals in each other’s
work, and, hence, a system of harmony will be maintained, the guardian is expected to have a
selfless attitude towards its citizen, with no property and family so that there are no chances of
him getting involved into corruption. The society has to be constituted of individuals who are
just and there lies a sense of unity among the three classes. The implication of political character
comes from his own references; education is primarily a state function. Therefore, the
philosophy of education forms the heart of any discussion of government. In the Republic and
the Laws, Plato emphasized that the education should be completely under the control of the
state. The state provides the teachers, buildings, and controls the curriculum and methods of
teaching. The failure of the old Athenian education was due to the failure of parents to inculcate
the virtues and training the children. Plato was intolerant towards tender sentiments and
individualizing tendencies of family life. His conclusion was that the family training cannot be
trusted; the good of the state demands public control of breeding, nursing and training of the
children. Education for him was not an apprenticeship for know-how but an education in life
skills. His philosophy functioned on the grounds of certain objectives these objectives were state
unity and efficiency, Plato demarcated presence of three elements in the human body; reason or
wisdom, courage and appetite. His education was primarily focused on to establish the rule of
reason. He not only believed in institutionalizing education but he thought schools should be the
greatest humanizing and socializing agency. His idea seems to be very ambitious and innovative
considered the times in which he lived. The philosopher is a lover of wisdom, one with the
eternal knowledge of the Forms, which is to say that the philosopher understands reality as it
truly is. With this knowledge, philosophers are best suited to rule the ideal state, as Socrates
indicates when he poses the following rhetorical question: 4
‘Can you, then, possibly find fault with an occupation for the proper pursuit of which a man must
combine in his nature good memory, readiness to learn, breadth of vision and grace, and be a
friend of truth, justice, courage, and self-control?...grant, then, education and maturity to round
4https://www.academia.edu/3584035/Retracing_the_Cognitive_Path_to_Utopian_Theories_of_Education_Plato_a
nd_Rousseau. Accessed on 12/4/2015.
them off, and aren’t they the only people to whom you would entrust your state?’ (Plato, The
Republic, 1987, 487a).
Despite having every element of education from art, literature, music, sports and physical
activities, science, mathematics and philosophy can we still say that Plato’s idea of education
was ideal. One needs to rethink before considering it ideal and perfect form of education.
(ii)Is Plato’s theory of education only ‘ideal’ or, are there any practical implication of his
theory?
Plato in his ideal state, propounded a theory of education which involved rigorous process and
which he believed could help determine the class where each individual citizen could be
grouped. This theory though very fantastic when examined theoretically, is not without some
flaws. It is because of these flaws that some philosophers describe his theory as utopian. For
philosophy of education, Plato’s analogy of allegory of cave can be applied directly. We are told
early on that well educated men will turn out to be good men and thus it is of importance for the
state to educate its citizens well. Considering this line of argument, thus every class should get
equal opportunities for education as well as equal education but for the productive classes in
Plato’s state there was very little education. They were subject to elimination at the age of
sixteen if they failed to qualify the exams conducted for their evaluation. Also they were not
given any second chance. Plato was considered mainly to educate the Guardian class and he talks
more profoundly of making a philosopher ruler. In this process the education of producing class
remained neglected. To this effect, Plato’s theory of education, as we can see has some practical
implications. The state in the contemporary world focuses on compulsory free and elementary
education from the age of six to fourteen; coinciding with Plato’s philosophy the state does not
talk about compulsory higher education. Hence, even in our days a large section of people are
deprived from higher and quality education mainly because they lack the resources which could
‘buy’ them quality education. Now a days when we talk about a state we think of an expanse of
territory to begin with, so broad that we should in most cases be unable to see all its boundaries if
we rose five mile above the ground on a clear day. But Plato was writing only for the people of
Athens. Greek society was different; they had slavery, we have abolished slavery, Athens was a
small state; we have large territories with mixed identities. We need to think, is it possible apply
his theory of education of utopian nature to our world, the territories that are huge and are
inhabited by diversity of cultures, ethnicity, values, beliefs, desires and interests? Plato’s belief
that all people can easily exist in harmony when society gives them equal educational
opportunity from an early age to compete fairly with each other is absolutely correct but Plato
himself did not realize that this would have resulted in a monotonous life style; without any
competition. The ruler is without any money and family with all the wisdom and the helping
class, the producers of the state have families, money but very less education. This is because his
state offered equal opportunities till a certain age and after that only a section was provided free
education by the state. If this is practical implication of Plato’s theory then we certainly are not
going to receive much benefits from it. Because it is true; without equal educational opportunity,
an unjust society appears and if the political system is run by unqualified people; democracy,
oligarchy, defective democracy, or tyranny will result in chaos, corruption, injustice, inequality,
crime, poverty and for sure there cannot prevail any harmony.
We must not forget while analysing the nature of philosophy that Plato had that it’s not Plato
who is talking in the Republic, its Socrates who is constantly involved in the dialogue
conversation with the people sitting around him. What we know of Socrates by now is that he
was a very good orator, and he tried his best to convince Glaucon, Adeimantus, Thesemarchus
and everyone else who was a part of the dialogue conversation. Now to this effect, he gives
rhetoric to in the form of all the answers that he had to give to the questions that were asked. We
know that whatever was Socrates’ views were that of Plato; whatever be the reason behind it.
Anyhow the language which Socrates uses in Plato’s dialogues is language designed to have a
persuasive or impressive effect, but which is often regarded as lacking in sincerity or meaningful
content. His critics might turn to an opinion which is called beating around the bush. Whole of
his philosophy turns out to be utopian mainly because their ambitious plans were designed only
for a particular state and not for the world also he wrote in his present context without
considering the worlds of future. In this lieu Plato’s philosophy turns out be more ideal than
actual. A city, a state of dreams and imagination with all the perfection that he could put into it.
Though we cannot deny the fact that his political philosophy is one of the most important
theories that we study in either in political science or philosophy. Since two thousand three
hundred and fifty years Plato’s philosophy has been taught in schools and colleges; thus it still
has some relevance other than historical importance.
Part II
(ii) What are the contemporary relevance of Plato’s theory of education?
Socrates remarks in the Republic that although Plato’s utopia may be unrealisable, it is useful as
an ideal or a standard by which we can criticize existing institutions. While some philosophers
like Marx disagree with Plato’s version of utopia, Indeed, Marx’s ideal of a communist utopia is
not merely ‘Marxist’; it is heir to both the Platonic and the liberal utopias. This statement may
seem paradoxical, if only because Platonism and liberalism are diametrically opposed, as we
have seen. But consider what is involved in Marx’s ideal society. Marx claims in the Communist
Manifesto (1848) that after a period of state socialism and redistribution of wealth, separate
classes will no longer exist and the state will no longer be needed. Marx’s classless utopia is not
as blatantly incompatible with Platonism as it might seem, since, for one thing, the Marxist
definition of ‘class’ is very different from the Platonic. Plato incorporates a fusion of political
and economic criteria: the lowest class is involved in productive economic activities but has no
political power, while the highest class has all the political power, but no economic activity. For
Marx, on the other hand, the definition of class is exclusively economic, based on the group’s
role in the process of production. Though anybody would agree that it is a worthy task to
formulate social ideals. In doing so, one should at least posit an ideal state that strives to realize
certain social ideals even if in its final details. With that in mind, something like democratic
communism is the ideal one should use to critique the present, since it reconciles Plato’s
emphasis on the community along with the modern emphasis on individual freedom.5 The ruling
class in our time who are embedded with power both economic and political are on the top. They
have access to the best facilities they strive for; they get best life style, food, education, health
facilities, etc. On a few grounds let us think of a hypothetical situation that if we had education
system that was exactly like Plato’s then what would be the case. We would have philosophy as
the most important subject of our educational curriculum. Mainly because for Plato study of
5 https://philosophynow.org/issues/90/Platos_Just_State. Accessed on 12/4/2015.
philosophy was very crucial and it was discipline among others. Along with that education was
the first stage of a just state.
Both education and philosophy he considered is constitutive of good citizenship. It is not only a
means to it but also becomes a part of what you are, when you are a ‘good citizen’− a thoughtful
person. Education has a wide range of functions in human life. It can be just fun, a game that you
play or it can be a way you try to approach your own death or illness or that of a family member.
Martha C. Nussbaum in her book Not for Profit; Why Democracies need Humanities, argues that
a liberal education−and philosophy in particular is important for a meaningful life. Suppose you
see yourself as a citizen of the world, and you have a grip on the vastness, the diversity of the
human experience, as well as the problems, the horrors, the sheer scale of such things as poverty,
global warming, terrorism, war and hunger. If you see yourself as a citizen of the world and
recognize that the world’s problems are your problems too, what you can be; but paralyzed by
that realization. What can a citizen of the world do about the world’s troubles?6 Plato’s idea of
education in this context had connectedness with the society. Individuals were trained in such a
way that whatever they learn they give back to the society as in Plato’s words “…a society is
nothing but the individual writ large.” But contemporary system of education does not guarantee
this type of connectedness that Plato’s philosophy had. Nussbaum says that “we have got to
educate people to think about different ways in which they can be helpful. Give them suggestion
of ways they can work for the world.” In this lieu Plato’s work on education can be considered
perfect. His thought that the state should cater to the children with teachings of morality, art,
literature, music and games along with science, mathematics and philosophy was inevitably
designed to serve back to the society. His idea was not only to build a state where every
individual excels in his job but also they should work for the state, obey the ruler and in return
the ruler takes care of its’ citizens; and thus harmony in the state will automatically prevail if
there is no interference from anyone’s side in someone else’s work. And to achieve this kind of
perfect or ‘just state’ he emphasized that the state should take up the responsibility of children
right after their birth. It is the state that will provide finance and resources to the children and
make them a responsible and well trained citizen. Plato’s philosophy of education gives a vivid
understanding of the famous saying “as you sow, so shall you reap.” Human beings have the
6 DelGaudio, Julian J., Society for History Education Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41304019. Accessed
on 11-04-2015 05:04.
tendency to give back to others what they receive, it is inherent in their nature. This is also one of
the reasons which makes study of moral principles imperative because no one likes receiving
anything that is bad. Thus, if the state has taken care of the individuals since their childhood they
will inevitably give it back to the state by using their knowledge, skills and education.
However, given a reality check we do not have such kind of system of education rather our ideas
and values are usually left unexamined. We ‘sleepwalk’ through life, as Socrates put it. ‘We pick
up our values from our parents, our friends or our culture, and we don’t think about them. This
can be psychologically and morally damaging, because some values and beliefs are toxic, and
will make us sick’. Philosophy teaches us to ‘take care of our souls’. It teaches us to examine the
beliefs and values we carry around and see if they make sense. We, on the other hand live in a
kind of society where privileged become more privileged and the underprivileged tend to
become unrecognizable. As Nussbaum states the importance of study of history, literature, arts
and music. She tries to explain that education should not a commodity whose job is to produce
profit for the democracies instead it should focus more and more on developing personality of
the individuals by teaching them about their culture, traditions, values of the societies in which
they are born, religion and its implications in practical lives. Every student should be thought
about the dark spots their society has and the ways to remove them. But our system of education
provides facilities of learning science and mathematics, and the state is rather bothered of
increasing science and engineering colleges but they hardly put resources to increase number of
colleges for arts where one could learn history, philosophy, political philosophy, etc.7
Nussbaum’s conviction is that students have become money oriented; they learn, go to schools
and colleges to learn science and become doctors and engineers but they lack general sense of
history and other subjects of humanities.
If Plato’s methodology was applied to our contemporary system of education study of
philosophy would have been top most priority. However certain section of people would still
remain deprived of quality education. As Plato’s theory itself has many loop holes and
drawbacks which we will discuss in the following section.
(iii) Criticism of Plato’s theory
7 DelGaudio, Julian J., Society for History Education Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41304019. Accessed
on 11-04-2015 05:04.
Plato’s philosophy can offer a wide range of criticisms. These include the problem of the
governed; considering them free individuals we can easily understand the problem of individuals
in Plato’s state that they were morally obliged to obey the ruler then can we still consider them to
be free? Karl Popper’s Open society and its enemies offers this kind of interpretation of The
Republic.8 Other philosopher in this range who has criticized Plato to the fullest is R. H. S.
Crossman who in his book Plato Today is primarily interested in relating Platonic political
insights to contemporary political issues. He does this by letting Plato criticize the foibles,
inconsistencies, and weaknesses of modern democracies and in turn criticizing Plato's theories in
the light of our modern experience. In defence of the first part of this strategy Crossman
maintains that 'the real menace of fascism is due to the scarcity of democrats with a practical and
realistic creed . . .Dictatorships are imposed because democratic institutions become
unmanageable and awkward for the ruling interests, and secondly because the common man does
not find democracy worth defending.' His criticisms of democracy are in the interest of its
defence; and he believes that the best defence of democracy is to distinguish between the ideal
and the fact and to recognize the inconsistencies of privilege and inequalities of power which are
maintained within, and which threaten the health of, modern democracies.9 Crossman argues that
Plato’s idea of democracy and education at its base was a fascist approach none the less than the
policies of our democracy. The whole of Plato’s philosophy of ideal and perfect state turns out to
be authoritative specially the role played by the guardian ruler. Only the philosopher-guardians
have any say in how the society is run. Everyone else should shut up and mind their own
business. Anybody who didn’t agree to this, who refused to respect their place in the whole,
should be cut out or ‘purged’ from the body politic. To some critics of Plato, such as Karl
Popper, this sounds like a recipe for totalitarian dictatorships. However, defenders of Plato like
Leo Strauss argue The Republic is an ideal rather than a practical political programme. He’s
building a ‘city in words’, his defenders say, not actually putting forward a political plan of
action.10 Because Plato’s philosopher ruler was the absolute ruler there was no checks and
balances on his powers and functions. Entire political power was concentrated in his hands; this
kind of situation might have resulted in authoritative rule; strictly speaking, dictatorship.
8 Osalar, Thomas, G., The doctrine of `the consent of the governed in Plato, Durham theses, Durham University,
1978, Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/9838/. Accessed on 11/4/2015.
9 Crossman, R. H. S., Plato Today, Oxford University press, 1939.
10 http://philosophyforlife.org/philosophies-for-life/platonists/. Accessed on 12/4/2015.
On the other hand, Crossman claims that Plato propounded a theory of democracy that was
fascist in nature. By making use of the teaching of The Republic, Crossman grasps with unusual
clarity the shortcomings of present-day democracies as well as of the political creeds and
institutions of the Right and the Left. Yet he vigorously denies that Plato’s work can supply us
with an acceptable alternative to the solutions suggested by present-day movements: “The more I
read it [the Republic], the more I hate it”.11 The perfect government in the Platonic sense, the
“dictatorship of the virtuous Right,” is of necessity” transformed into a polite form of Fascism”12,
and Plato himself was “a reactionary resolutely opposed to every principle of the Liberal creed”13
. In essence, the objective ideology that Plato introduces was orthodox and very rigid; certainly it
was not flawless. Firstly, the productive class received very less education because they had to
face elimination at the age of sixteen but they were not deprived from possessing wealth and
raising family; no matter they have skills or not. Secondly, who competed for the post of
philosopher king had to face elimination process at the age of fifty, now Plato didn’t explain that
what will happen to those people who have been thrown out of the academy because at the age of
fifty they are incompetent to become the ultimate philosopher ruler, even after spending their
entire lives to get rigorous training to become one. Following which they were left job-less,
without family. You cannot expect a man to start working as a farmer or soldier at an age of fifty
for not that he is too old he might feel he is over educated to become one of them. Thirdly, when
Plato said that there three kinds of elements present in every human body reason, courage and
appetite which corresponds to the three respective classes of ruler, soldiers and artisans, he did
not explain that who will take guarantee for the fact that the ruler will not indulge himself in
worldly desires.
In short if on one hand, this whole system offers an ideal and perfect utopian society then on the
other hand, it becomes a radical fascist, authoritative and dominant democracy− a weird kind of
democracy ‘where the ruled does not have any right to choose its ruler’, a democracy where one
does not have any hold either on the policy makers, or on the governing body or whom one is
entitled to obey. Thus, it was more of a dictatorship wrapped up in a blanket of democracy.
11 Crossman, R. H. S., Plato Today, Oxford University press, 1939, p. 292.
12 Ibid, p. 285.
13 Ibid, p. 130. Also see Review of Plato Today, by R. H. S. Crossman, Social Research, Vol. 8, No. 2 (May 1941).
Reprinted in What is Political Philosophy?
Conclusion:
In the field of philosophy every theory is open to various kind of interpretations and criticism
indeed there is no theory that is undisputed forever. This does not mean that what one has said at
one point of time losses its meaning or importance, thus, for that matter Plato’s philosophy even
in today’s world is not only of great importance as a curriculum but its application in the system
of education would have helped us to gain something more of ethical nature than mere
materialistic achievements. For example, (i) Plato made education of philosophy along with
other sciences compulsory for the ruling class, in short the ruler has to be educated and
intellectual so that he can understand the problems of the society and suggest a remedy that is
best suited for everyone. But our state does not follow this kind of curriculum; if it was there
then it would have helped in creating morally justified society. (ii) Contemporary state is closing
down every avenue of literary studies, history, philosophy, arts, etc., where you can understand
the society. The state is only investing six to eight percent of its total G.D.P. on education, in
India highest in last twelve years was around twelve percent that too in 1999. A large portion of
this expenditure anyways goes in opening new IITs and IIMs, hardly any state or government is
bothered to set up colleges for humanities. Parents also force their children to join science
colleges not only because what is of more importance is earning money but also the kind of
status conferred upon any particular stream of education. No one here denies the importance of
money but this should not be our only priority for if we live in this society and use its resources
then it’s our duty to return the favor that we have taken from it. Education according to Plato is
only relevant if one can use it as an instrument or a tool to improve the society. In such a context,
Plato’s importance cannot be ignored in this age.
Bibliography
Crossman, R. H. S., Plato Today, Oxford University press, 1939.
DelGaudio, Julian J., Society for History Education Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41304019. Accessed
on 11-04-2015 05:04.
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/dillon/education_plato_republic.html.
http://philosophyforlife.org/philosophies-for-life/platonists/. Accessed on 12/4/2015.
https://philosophynow.org/issues/90/Platos_Just_State. Accessed on 12/4/2015.
https://www.academia.edu/3584035/Retracing_the_Cognitive_Path_to_Utopian_Theories_of_Education_Plato_a
nd_Rousseau. Accessed on 12/4/2015.
Osalar, Thomas, G., The doctrine of `the consent of the governed in Plato, Durham theses, Durham University,
1978,
Phillips, D.C. and Siegel, Harvey, "Philosophy of Education", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2013
Edition)
Plato, The Republic, Penguin Classics, 2007.
hi :)
ReplyDeleteyour articles are great help in my preparation
thanks a ton !!
need to know some sources to refer for western philosophers especially kant and wettgenstein
help would be highly appreciated !
cheers