Many great thinkers have brought up questions, theories and even arguments as to whether there is a direct correlation between education, as a whole, and political freedom. The answer is yes, but this varies. An individual might need various forms of education, depending on their situation as well as success in executing his education in an effective way. Yet while some political philosophers adopted this correlation, others did not, and some even stray form it. Three such men were Plato, Alexis de Tocqueville and Frederick Douglass.
In Plato’s Republic, we receive the sense that Plato was not trying to create a democratic society, but a just and efficient one. In such society, Plato constructed three such ‘classes’ to categorize his citizens. The political elite consisting of the fewest amount individuals would be on top, and would be known as ‘The Guardians’, next, the military forces, or Auxiliaries would be the middle class, and lastly, the largest group in terms of population would be on the bottom, consisting of all other citizens and they would be considered a working class, consisting of workers, merchants and such. The ensure order was kept and that no one would up rise and seek a new class, a sort of ‘myth’ was in instituted, aptly named, “The Myth of the Medals”. The myth suggests that all citizens were born of the earth, bringing a sort of unity element from everyone so there should be minimal conflict between each other. The myth further states that each citizen has a certain metal mixed with his or her soul, thus determining his or her place in society. A gold mixture signifies those who are fit to rule, or The Guardians, The Auxiliaries would have a silver mixture, and the working class would have a mixture of eith...
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...ocqueville and Frederick Douglass all have similarities in their writings, mainly, on the topic of freedom, and how that freedom is gained. Though it is true that to gain political freedom or freedom in general, one must be educated, but this is determined by ones definition of freedom. Under Plato, freedom would be a citizen following a specific education in their respective class. For Tocqueville, Political freedom would be the formation of civil associations and effective local governments, and for Douglass, the beginnings of freedom could start by just fusing letters into words and those words into a sentence. And yet all these freedoms have one thing in common, they were formed from building blocks of education, and with these blocks of education, coupled with tools such as educational efficacy and execution, we will know our freedom, just like these men have.
...torical quotes. Those quotes were all dedicated to every single war or every historical moment. Like the civil war, the fifty four Massachusetts, and the Reconstruction era. Douglass was also a supporter in the woman rights association.
They both were in bad situations when they decided to learn to read and write. Douglass
Education is a privilege. The knowledge gained through education enables an individual’s potential to be optimally utilized owing to training of the human mind, and enlarge their view over the world. Both “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” by Frederick Douglass himself and “Old Times on the Mississippi” by Mark Twain explore the idea of education. The two autobiographies are extremely different; one was written by a former slave, while the other was written by a white man. Hence, it is to be expected that both men had had different motivations to get an education, and different processes of acquiring education. Their results of education, however, were fairly similar.
Frederick Douglass's Narrative, first published in 1845, is an enlightening and incendiary text. Born into slavery, Douglass became the preeminent spokesman for his people during his life; his narrative is an unparalleled account of the inhumane effects of slavery and Douglass's own triumph over it. His use of vivid language depicts violence against slaves, his personal insights into the dynamics between slaves and slaveholders, and his naming of specific persons and places made his book an indictment against a society that continued to accept slavery as a social and economic institution. Like Douglass, Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery, and in 1853 she published Letter from a Fugitive Slave, now recognized as one of the most comprehensive antebellum slave narratives written by an African-American woman. Jacobs's account broke the silence on the exploitation of African American female slaves.
Frederick Douglass once said, "there can be no freedom without education." I believe this statement is true. During slavery, slaves were kept illiterate so they would not rebel and become free. Many slaves were stripped from their families at an early age so they would have no sense of compassion towards family members. Some slaves escaped the brutal and harsh life of slavery, most who were uneducated. But can there be any real freedom without education?
...Of Frederick Douglass." Philosophical Studies In Education 39.(2008): 24-34. Education Research Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an autobiography of Frederick Douglass which depicts the hardships and abuse he witnessed and felt as a slave, gives the reader insight into what it was like to be a slave in America. The type of slavery Frederick Douglass endured as an in-house slave for many years in Maryland was not as harsh or difficult as being a slave in another state such as Tennessee which is farther away from the North, or on a different plantation being used as a field hand. Frederick Douglass had the luxury of living in the city for a while, where “a slave is almost a freeman, compared with those on a plantation” and where “there is a vestige of decency” and “a sense of shame” which makes the city slave owners kinder, since they do not want to seem like an unkind slave owner to their non-slave owner neighbors. Even with this fact in mind, the reader is still able to understand the types of punishments that occurred, how the slaves were treated, and what it was like to live life as a slave because of the detail that Frederick Douglass writes in his book about the experiences he went through all those years that he was a slave and what it was like to become a free man.
In order for Douglass to reach his goal of becoming a free man he thought the only way out was education. He needed to learn how to read, write, and think for himself about what slavery was. Since literacy and education were so powerful to Frederick he persevered to get himself the education he wanted. …. Douglass knew it wouldn’t be easy, but that didn’t stop him. Douglass realized the “ conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with a high hope, and
What I can infer from reading their passages is that they have very interesting things in common. I personally feel like they torn down by differences. Malcolm X and Frederick Douglass were being discriminated because of their color while Sandra Cisneros was being neglected because she was the only daughter in her family. They would use writing to express themselves in many
The Republic is Plato’s notion of an ideal state. Within the state, there is a hierarchal class system, which provides stability among the classes. Stability is achieved when each class performs their own duties and jobs, and does not interfere with the business of others. There are three hierarchal classes, the guardians and philosopher-kings, the auxiliaries, and the working class. With an increase in the power of the auxiliary class, a system was needed that would control the morals of the guardian class. The guardians are trained up through a strict curriculum which consists of music and gymnastics. Music is used to educate the soul, and gymnastics is used to train the body. They act on behalf of the good of the whole state, because through their education and their pursuit of knowledge, they have the moral capacity to seek “the good”.(505a)
Plato and Aristotle were both very influential men of there time bringing vast knowledge to the world. I honestly believe that Democracy does a lot of good but it definitely has some common side effects. Out of all of Plato's significant ideas, his best was the idea of democracy opening political decisions to the majority who cannot think on behalf of the community. Aristotle on the other hand is very optimistic when it comes to democracy so it becomes a rather interesting compare and contrast between these to men.
The Civil War was a turning point in American history ,one that helped define who Americans are today. Many people felt it was necessary to fight by different ideas that people were thinking. Their efforts help redefine what war changed ideas about freedom having people work as slaves does not equal freedom. Also, Frederick Douglass showed unequal freedoms and showing how education is important to slaves.
American success history recognizes the contributions made by two of its renowned leaders. The two are regarded as heroes despite the obvious differences between them abound. The two figures are regarded with comparable amounts of reverence even though they lived their lives in different ways. Nevertheless, both Benjamin Franklin and Fredrick Douglas gained their status through treading pathway of hard work. This paper, therefore, seeks to discuss the experiences that shaped the lives of both Franklin and Douglas. It also seeks to analyze the life of Fredrick Douglas as presented by John Stauffer. In comparing the two personalities, I will lay much emphasis on the role education played in making better the lives of Franklin and Douglas. In this regard, it is worth noting that although their education was not that formal, it shaped their lives immensely. Franklin education, for instance, came while working under his brother James as an apprentice printer during his teen years. On the other hand, Douglas’s tale is much bleaker, but it depicts the use of wits coupled with natural talent to pull oneself to a respectable stature (Zafar 43). It is clear that Franklin persuasive rhetorical skills, which came in handy, in writing and oratory skills were natured by induction to printing apprenticeship as well as a great access to a variety of books. Critiques in later years would argue his love for books and learning made Franklin become an accomplished speaker, thinker, author, and a statement. In a nutshell, access to books and love for learning shaped Franklin’s Character to a great extent.
John Locke, John Stuart Mill, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau all dealt with the issue of political freedom within a society. John Locke's “The Second Treatise of Government”, Mill's “On Liberty”, and Rousseau’s “Discourse On The Origins of Inequality” are influential and compelling literary works which while outlining the conceptual framework of each thinker’s ideal state present divergent visions of the very nature of man and his freedom. The three have somewhat different views regarding how much freedom man ought to have in political society because they have different views regarding man's basic potential for inherently good or evil behavior, as well as the ends or purpose of political societies.
The concept of the noble lie begins with Plato in the Republic, where in search of an ideal state he told of a magnificent myth^1.The society that Plato imagined was separated into a three tier class structure- the Rulers, Auxiliaries, and the labor or working class. The Rulers, he said, would be selected from the military elite (called Guardians).The rulers would be those Guardians that showed the most promise, natural skill, and had proven that they cared only about the community’s best interests. The Auxiliaries were the guardians in training, and were subject to years of methodical preparation for rule. The lower class would be comprised of the workers and tradesmen, who being the most governed by their appetites, were best fit for labor. The introduction of the "noble lie" comes near the end of book three (414b-c)* Where Plato writes "we want one single, grand lie," he says, "which will be believed by everybody- including the rulers, ideally, but failing that the rest of the city".* The hypothical myth, or "grand lie" that Plato suggests is one in which, the Gods created the people of the city from the land beneath their feet, and that when the Gods made their spirit the precious metals from the ground got mixed into their souls. As a result some people were born with gold in their souls others with silver, and others with bronze, copper,or more even common metals like iron and brass. It was from this falsehood that the first phylosophical society’s social hierarchy was established. The myth goes as follows: Those the Gods made with gold in the souls were the most governed by reason, and who had a predisposition to contemplation which made them most suitable for rule. Those with silver in their souls where the most governed b...