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.
Cairns, Huntington, and Hamilton, Edith. The Collected Dialogues of Plato. Socrates Defense (Apology).Library of Congress Catalogue, Nineteenth printing, May 2010
Plato. Republic. Trans. G.M.A. Grube and C.D.C. Reeve. Plato Complete Works. Ed. John M. Cooper. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1997.
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.
By studying a variety of events and people involved in the Peloponnesian War and the Theban play Antigone, it becomes noticeable that many of these events and people can be explained through Platonic terms. Throughout the Republic, Plato conveys his philosophical thoughts about democracy, justice, and education in a society through his main character Socrates. As Socrates encounters many enlightened people of his time, he questions them on rhetorical issues dealing with society and human nature. As these issues begin to unfold, events and people in the past seem to illustrate many of the main concepts in the Republic. After looking at Socrates' discussions throughout books I, IV, VI, and VII we will notice that they relate to many events that happened prior to the writing of the Republic such as the Sicilian Expedition, the debate at Sparta in 432, and Creon's implementation of justice in the Theban play Antigone by Sophacles.
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.
	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.
Plato. (1992). Plato Republic. (G. Grube, & C. Reeve, Eds.) Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company Inc.
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, and G. M. A. Grube. Five Dialogues. 2nd ed. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub., 2002. Print.
"Plato." Literature of the Western World, Volume 1. 5th edition by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 2001. 1197-1219.
Plato. The Republic. Trans. Sterling, Richard and Scott, William. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1985.
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'.
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.