Plato was born into an aristocratic Greek family between 428–427 BC. At the age of twenty he became a disciple of the philosopher Socrates. Socrates continued to be an enormous influence on Plato throughout his life. Plato was an idealist and believed that everything that we see in this world is a less accurate representation of what its true form should be. He believed in a world of unchanging and unrelated forms that corresponded to universal definitions. This belief led to his theory of forms and became an essential part of his philosophy. Plato demonstrated this idea in one of his most popular works entitled the Republic.
The Republic is concerned with the education of the guardians. Plato discusses the principles of state that is based on knowledge and reason and not just on opinion or ones desire for power. In the Republic Plato abolishes the family for the guardians, to avoid nepotism and amassing of private wealth (Republic, bk. 5, 464). Wives and children are to be held in common by all, and no parent is to know his own child nor any child his parents–"provided it can be done" (Republic, bk. 5, 457). Plato devotes much attention to the education of the child as a future citizen. As such, he believes that the child belongs to the state and its education is the responsibility of the state (Republic, bk. 2, 376.)
After the execution of Socrates, Plato gave up all involvement with politics and turned to writing and education. In 385B.C.E. Plato returns to Athens and founded the school of philosophy called Academy. The Academy will be recognized as the first institution of research and higher learning in the world (it existed until 529 A.D.). The Academy accepted only advanced students who possessed knowledge of geometry...
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...tion to prepare him for ruling the state. His studies would include mathematics, music, and literature. At the age of thirty he would have enough maturity to begin his study of philosophy. At thirty-five, his formal education would cease and he would enter upon a minor administrative position, prior to undertaking more important governing positions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Plato. 1941 [385 B.C.E.]. The Republic of Plato. Trans. Francis Macdonald Cornford. New York: Oxford University Press.
Plato. 1970 [348 B.C.E.]. The Laws. Trans. Trevor J. Saunders. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.
Scolnicov, Samuel. 1988. Plato's Metaphysics of Education. London: Routledge.
Internet Resources
In Dialogue: the Life and Works of Plato, a short podcast by Peter Adamson (Philosophy, Kings College London).
Plato (circa 428-C.-347 B.C) Plato Page. http://www.connect.net/ron/plato.html.
Marra, James L., Zelnick, Stephen C., and Mattson, Mark T. IH 51 Source Book: Plato, The Republic, pp. 77-106. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa, 1998.
Plato. "Phaedrus." The Works of Plato. Trans. B. Jowett. New York: The Dial Press, n.d.
Works Cited Plato. The. The "Crito". Annotated text. The Last Days of Socrates.
Although these questions remain somewhat rhetorical, their answers can be conceived by referring to the principles in Plato's Republic. The concepts brought about in the Republic seem to relate directly to events and people that lived before the completion of this book. Moreover, those events and people exemplify the various aspects of education, justice, and democracy that Plato articulates through his character Socrates. A question that plagues many historians today is that if Plato had written the Republic before these events occurred, would they have taken the same course?
The Essentials Erasmus. New York: The new American Library Publisher, 1964 Internet. Plato (circa 428-C.-347 B.C) Plato Page. http://www.connect.net/ron/plato.html.
"Plato." The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, Volume I. 6th ed. NY: W.W. Norton and Co., 1992. 726-746.
Plato. The Republic. Trans. Sterling, Richard and Scott, William. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1985.
	In Plato’s mind, the value of an education is to clear one’s mind of impure thought, bring it to a higher lever than at the start, and attain a certain level of righteousness. This may have been a good idea 2300 years ago, but today, I see it as very limiting and impractical. In his time, only the rich aristocrats went to school. It’s purpose was not for the students to learn skills or ideas that would help them later in life, but to expand their minds, thus making them into ‘better people.’ There was no need for them to learn any job skills. Back then, if you came from a rich family, you were rich. Working at simple jobs was for the peasants and slaves. Today, life is different. Our society is completely unlike that of the ancient Greeks. We have no caste system limiting the wealth and prominence of any citizen, we have no slavery to handle all the manual labor, our army is proportionately smaller and much less honored, and religion is a part of one’s private life, not a dominating public force as it was to the Ancient Greeks. Most people today have a regular, day to day job, whether it be in an office, store, factory, or anywhere else. We have to earn our wealth by working, not inheritance. That is why most people go to school today.
Plato. The Republic of Plato, 2nd edition. Translated by Allan Bloom. New York: Basic Books, 1991.
Cairns, Huntington, and Hamilton, Edith. The Collected Dialogues of Plato. Socrates Defense (Apology).Library of Congress Catalogue, Nineteenth printing, May 2010
Plato started his teachings in remembrance of his good friend, Socrates. After his death he traveled back to Italy and studied under Pythagoras. Some years later he began "The Academy". Much of the curriculum taught was dedicated to the teachings of Socrates. During this time he began to write down his thoughts about politics and development of a regime. Developing different aspects than Socrates'.
Plato. (1992). Plato Republic. (G. Grube, & C. Reeve, Eds.) Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company Inc.
Plato. Republic. Trans. G.M.A. Grube and C.D.C. Reeve. Plato Complete Works. Ed. John M. Cooper. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1997.
Plato, and G. M. A. Grube. Five Dialogues. 2nd ed. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub., 2002. Print.
Early thought processes concerning education laid the groundwork for the modern philosophy of education, including university structures and frameworks. What our ancients have advocated is said to be the cause of every century’s success in continually gaining knowledge. But Plato and Aristotle had very different opinions when it came to the education branch of life.