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Introduction

&Plato born and brought up in an wealthy family

and begins his career as a student of Socrates.
AHe established his own school known as

Acadeny.
BPlato believes that most of the evils in the society
could be removedby providing proper education.
N
Every person should do the best thing through out
life.

&
ldea of education connected to his ideal state.

BIn hisdialogue of Republic the concept of

education was elaborated.

Education is tool for state.

BHe pounces that there are three classes in the
state must be welltrained and educated in order to
do their duties with efficiency.

NHe thinks that thateducation is a kind of positive

measure by which a ruler can mold the characters
of the individual.

SHe doesn't support private education rather he

stresses the need of keeping education with a state
only.
BThrough education a state could get the best
philosopher king.
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Through education astate could get the best

philosopher king.
BEducation is the most important scheme to have a
just society.
Plato (born 428/427 BCE, Athens, Greece-died
348/347Z, Athens) was an ancient Greek philosopher,
student of Socrates (c. 470-399 BCE), teacher
of Aristotle (384-322 BCE), and founder of
the Academy. He is best known as the author of
philosophical works of unparalleled influence and is
one of the major figures of Classical antiquity.
LIFE of PLATO

The dates of Plato's life are usually based upon

Eratosthenes' calculations- according to these, he
was born in428-7 B.C. and died at the age of eighty
or eighty-one at 348-7 B.C. Plato came from one of
the wealthiest and most politically active families in
Athens. One of Plato's uncles (Charmides) was a
member of the notorious "Thirty Tyrants," who
overthrewthe Athenian democracy in 404 B.C.
Charmides' own uncle, Critias, was the leader of the
Thirty. However, his stepfather Pyrilampes was
apparently a close associate of Pericles, when the
latter was the leader of the democratic faction.

Plato's real oame was apparently Aristocles, after

his grandfather:. "Plato" seems to have started as a
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Plato's real name was apparently Aristocles, after

his grandfather. "Plato" seems to have started as a
nickname (for platos, or "broad"). He came under
the influence of Socrates while a young man, and
was obviously very deeply influenced by him and by
his 'Socratic method' of inguiry. This method was
based on what was called an 'eristic exercise,
apparently introduced to Athens by Protagoras- this
was a kindof adebate in which the aim was to
denolish the opponent's position by exposing
logicalor other flaws in the arguments. Doubtless
used a form of training for lawyers and politicians, it
was transformed by Socrates and others into a
means of inquiry into the generalnature of
concepts. Very little is reliably known about
Socrates. He apparently lived from c. 470-399 BO,
during the Athenian golden age of Pericles, and
then during the Pelopponesian War with Sparta. In
399 BC he was found guilty of both corrupting the
young,and believing in false Gods. The former
charge referred to his use of dialectic inquiry, and
Socrates had many young followers apart from
Plato. He was sentenced to death, and took his own
life by poison while in the company of his
colleagues and friends.

After the death of Socrates, Plato left Athens for

Megara, and then went on to travelto Cyrene, Italy,
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After the death of Socrates, Plato left Athens for

Megara, and then went on to travel to Cyrene, Italy,
Sicily, and even perhaps Egypt (Strabo claims that
he was shownwhere Plato lived in Heliopolis in
Egypt). While in Syracuse, in 387 BC (at the age of
about 40 yrs), he became the instructor to Dion,
brother-in-law of the tyrant Dionysius I. At some
later time, Dionysius became annoyed with Plato,
and tried to sell him into slavery. Having escaped
this fate, Plato returned to Athens and founded a
school, known as the Academy, whose name came
from its location roughly 1.5 km outside Athens-a
grove of trees left by Academus/Hecademus to the
Athenian citizens for gymnastics.This location
turned out to be ideal for Plato's purpose, which was
to found a school of philosophy and turn his
teachings into practise. It was surrounded with a
wall made by Hipparchus, and contained statues,
temples, and sepulchres of illustrious men, and it
was planted with olive and plane trees. The olive
trees, the story goes, were reared from cuttings
from the sacred olive in the Erechtheum.Within this
enclosure Plato had inherited a smallgarden, in
which he opened his school.
Except for two more voyages to Sicily, the Academy
wasPlato's base and residence for the rest of his
long life. These 2 trips are rather noteworthy. The
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Except for two more voyages to Sicily, the Academy

was Plato's base and residence for the rest of his

long life. These 2 trips are rather noteworthy. The

first came after the death of Dionysius Idied and his
son, Dionysius Il, took over. His uncle/brother-in-law
Dion persuaded the young ruler to invite Plato,with
the purpose of teaching him become a
philosopher-king of the kind described in Plato's
'Republic. This trip, like the last, ended in failure
within a few months the younger Dionysius had
Dion sent into exile and put Plato became under
house arrest as a "personal house guest". Plato
eventualy succeeded in returning to Athens in 365
B.C., where the uncle Dion was already installed in
the Academy. Four yrs later Dionysius summoned
Plato back to Syracuse, but Plato refused the
Invitation- in response Dionysius sent aship, with
Archedemus, one of Plato's Pythagorean friends, to
fetch him. Once again, however, Dionysius
imprisoned Plato in Syracuse, who was only able to
escape with help from his Tarentine friends.
At this point the uncle Dion left the Academy,
gathered anarmy and invaded his own homeland,
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gathered an army and invaded hisown homeland,

displacing his nephew from the throne. Soon after
he was assassinated and Sicily was reduced to
chaos. Plato took no further part in such
adventures, and apparently lived out the last
thirteen years of his life quietly at the Academy,
teaching, writing,and overseeing the activities.
The Academy: The long-term effects of the
Academy on the history of the West can hardly be
over-estimated.

Plato's Theory of Justice

Plato of Athens born of a noble family, about 427,

was a pupilof Socrates and the oldest Greek
Philosopher. The chief source of inspiration for
Plato was Socrates. One of the most important
questions of Socrates, was about the nature of
justice. After Socrates, "Plato, also regarded justice
as the true principle of social life. And he has
named his most important work. Republic, as a
discussion onjustice. Dr. Barker, therefore, has
pointed out that "Justice is the hinge of his thought.
(Barker,1952) In his contemporary world Plato saw
states everywhere cities so divided that their
citizens stood "in the state and posture of
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pointed out that "Justice is the hinge of his thought.

(Barker,1952) In his contemporary world Plato saw
states everywhere cities so divided that their
citizens stood "in the state and posture of
gladiators" against one another. He saw
unrighteousness rampant and injustice enthroned.

He saw ignorance supreme and parading up and

down in the guise of knowledge .(Wavper,1954)
Thinking mainly of the Athenian democracy in which
he lived and at the hands of which Socrates had

been killed, he found the contemporary politics of

his day dominated by two things: One was the
ignorance and the other was a political selfishness
which divided every city into two hostile cities. "To
create efficiency in the place of amateur
incompetence to replace selfishness and civil
discord by harmony ,these are therefore, his aims,
and specialization and unification are, therefore,his
watchwords.

To these two aims ,the political teachingof the

Republic is addressed".(Barker,1952) The far-seeing
eyes of the philosopher could foresee that any plan
for perfecting the city-state willnot be complete
unless it meets incompetence and factionalism,
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watchwords.

To these two aims ,the political teaching of the

Republic is addressed".(Barker,1952) The far-seeing
eyes of the philosopher could foresee that any plan
for perfecting the city-state will not be complete
unless it meets incompetence and factionalism,
which were the two fundamental politicalevils of
the day.(Sabin,1949) Plato found in justice the
remedy for curing these evils.

The main argument of the Republic is a sustained

search after the location and the nature of justice.
Plato follows this search with the help of the
method of elimination. He discovers and locates

justice with the help of his ideal state. He reviews

the various theories of justice representing various
stages in the development of the conceptions of
justice and morality, and finally gives his own.
Accordingto Plato, justice is that in individual life,
different partsof soul are placed in their proper
place,and in social life, each individual and each
class isplaced in its proper place. Plato believed
that the human nature is made from, wisdom,
courage, and appetite. And each class according to
prevalence of one of this Capacities, places in the
social andmoral hierarchPlato's justice does not
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that the human nature is made from, wisdom,

courage, and appetite. And each class according to
prevalence of one of this Capacities, places in the
social and moral hierarchy. Plato's justice does not
state aconception of rights but of duties through it
isidenticalwith true liberty. Justice is a quality - an
indispensable quality of moral life. It is condition of
the individual and of the state and the ideal state is

the visible embodiment of justice. The state is the

reality of which justice is the idea.

PLATO 'S PHILOSOPHY ON EDUCATION

APlato regards education as a means to achieve

justice, both individual justice and social justice.
According to Plato, individual justice can be
obtained when each individual develops his or
her ability to the fullest. In this sense, justice means
excellence. For the Greeks and Plato, excellence
is virtue.

From this Plato concludes that virtue can be

obtained through three stages of development of

knowledge: knowledge of one's own job,
self-knowledge, and knowledge of the ldea of
the Good.

According to Plato, socjal justice can beachieved

wh
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According to Plato, individual justice can be

obtained when each individual develops his or
her ability to the fullest. In this sense, justice means
excellence. For the Greeks and Plato, excellence
is virtue.

From this Plato concludes that virtue can be

obtained through three stages of development of

knowledge: knowledge of one's own job,
self-knowledge, and knowledge of the ldea of
the Good.

According to Plato, social justice can be achieved

when allsocial classes in a society, workers,
warriors, and rulers are in a harmonious
relationship. Plato believes 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.
Without equal educational opportunity, an unjust
society appears since the political system is run
by unqualified people; timocracy, oligarchy,
defective democracy,or tyranny will result. In his
view, a true education is concerned with the
common good based upon the rational principle of
individual and social justice.
PLATO'S VIEWS

BPlato not only explored sensitive and complex

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view, a true education is concerned with the

common good based upon the rational principle of
individual and social justice.
PLATO'S VIEWS

BPlato not only explored sensitive and complex

questions about the relations of citizens to their
state and all its functions, but in doing so, he
created a utopian state, the Republic, to illustrate
his beliefs and principles. MPlato believed that
students should be educated according to their
capacities-that they should not all have exactly the
same education.

BPlato's planprovided for the special education of

workers and artisans, of guardians (soldiers), and of
rulers (the upper echelon of the guardian class).
NThe $rst group were to be welltrained in speci^c
occupations The second, identi$ed by natural
physical strength and spirit, were to receive an
expert level of physical and moral training.&
Socrates described the noble auxiliary or guardian
as welltrained in philosophy, spirit, swiftness, and
strength. EFinally, potentialrulers were to be
educated with meticulous care in philosophy,
mathematics, literature,and history,and their
education would continue well beyond the usual
school years!
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Ildieilliaucs, IlLeIdUIe, diu I1SOI y, dlu uIel

education would continue well beyond the usual

school years.
PLATO'S FUNCTIONALIST MODELAmodel
designed to produce competent adults to meet the
needs of the state. Plato developed his thought
on education in the context of describing the
ideal state, and he could have argued-as Dewey
did later.There is no inherent conict between

the individual and the state. That is, educators

could work to produce people who are both
self-actualized and usefulto the state.
CHILDREN EDUCATION

BAII children were to be given opportunities to

show their abilities, and only gradually would they
be sorted out. For Plato such an arrangement
was thought to be just, and this line of thinking
is still strong in today's educational policymaking.
AGAINST PLATO'S CONCEPTION OF EDUCATIONAL

JUSTICENA wide range of exemplars of the good

life-to deny Plato's single model or any other single
ideal.& Another is to insist that justice is not
satis$ed by equal opportunity; it must somehow
produce equaloutcomes.8 Stillanother, very popular
today, is to deny that there are educationally
signi$cant differences among children-to insist that
"allchildren can learn" whatever the school sets out
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AGAINST PLATO'S CONCEPTION OF EDUCATIONAL

JUSTICERA wide range of exemplars of the good

life-to deny Plato's single model or any other single
ideal. Another is to insist that justice is not
satis$ed by equal opportunity; it must somehow
produce equal outcomes.M Stillanother, very popular
today, is to deny that there are educationally
signi_cant differences among children-to insist that
"allchildren can learn" whatever the school sets out
for them to learn.

BThe basic components of education described by

Plato have remained at the heart of liberal

education for more than 2,000 years. Literature,

history, mathematics, and philosophy (which in
Plato's time included natural science as a less lofty
component) still form the backbone of the
academic curriculum.

Plato's theory of Communism

Plato's theory of communism is based on his belief

of corrupting influences of family and property over
people holding the public offices. It is ainmed at
freeing the ruling classes, i.e. the philosophers and
the warriors from the institutions of family and
property. Accordingto Plato the longings for family
and property make the rulers self-seeking,
indulgent, greedy and corupt and that /s a diversion
fr
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academic curriculum.

Plato's theory of Communism

Plato's theory of communism is based on his belief

of corrupting influences of family andproperty over
people holdingthe public offices. It is aimed at
freeing the ruling classes, i.e. the philosophers and
the warriors from the institutions of family and
property. According to Plato the longings for family
and property make the rulers self-seeking.
indulgent, greedy and corrupt and that is a diversion
from and impediment to appropriate performance
of theirduty to rule.

The gist of Plato's communism is deprivation of all

the members of the ruling classes, the guardians
andsoldiers from having any private property
including private house, land or gold andsilver
(wealth). Their survival needs shall be taken care by
the commodities collected from the producing
classes in the form of taxes. They shal live in the
state managed barracks and eat in the common
mess. They shall be paid no salary or allowances,
their essential needs shallbe taken by the state. It is
important to note that communism applies for only
rulingclasses and not for producing masses. Plato
stated that the longing for property corrupts the
rulers and makes them greedy and selfish that
would lead to instability of the state. Also, according
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their essential needs shall be taken by the state. It is

important to note that communism applies for only
ruling classes and not for producing masses. Plato
stated that the longing for property corrupts the
rulers and makes them greedy and selfish that
would lead to instability of the state. Also, according
to Plato family and property were the chief sources
of disunity and social tension.

Plato's arguments in defence of abolition of the

institution of property among the ruling classes are
not economic in terms of the nature of ownership of
means of production and exchange, but moral,
politicaland psychological. According to his basic
assumptions of human nature and the principle of
functional specialization, he states on moral
grounds that everyone must accomplish one's
nature of achievingthe requisite end by
transcendingself-interest. Plato hold that
individuals do not exist and act as individuals in the

self-interest but exist as parts of collectivity (state)

and must subordinate the self-interest to the
collective.

Plato also argues the abolition of family. Family,

according to him is linked with property and is
equally distractive and corrupting as property. The
rulers must not waste time and energy in family
responsibility. The attachment to the family harms
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Plato also argues the abolition of family. Family,

according to him is linked with property and is
equally distractive and corrupting as property. The
rulers must not waste time and energy in family
responsibility. The attachment to the family harms
the absolute devotion to the state and concern for

their offspring causes selfish tendencies

detrimentalto social unity and harmony.

The Communism of Property

The gist of Plato's communism is deprivation of all

the members of the ruling classes, the guardians
and soldiers from having any private property
including private house, land or gold and silver
(wealth). Their survival needs shall be taken care by
the commodities collected from the producing
classes in the form of taxes. They shall live in the
state managed barracks and eat in the
commonmess. Plato's communism is ascetic and

aristocratic simultaneously. Plato's communism

applies for only ruling classes and not for producing
masses. The private ownership of property by ruling
classes isto be replaced by their collective
ownership of property and collective domination
over the producing masses under the direction of
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aristocratic simultaneously. Plato's communism

applies for only ruling classes and not for producing
masses. The private ownership of property by ruling
classes is to be replaced by their collective
ownership of property and collective domination
over the producing masses under the direction of
philosopher king with the coercive apparatus of the
armed auxiliaries. The ruling classes are forced to
leave the longing for gold and silver and also of
private wives in the larger interest of the state.
Accordingto him those classes which have the
qualities of gold and silver within, need not externa/
earthly silver or gold. They shall be paid no salary or
allowances, their essential needs shallbe taken The
longing for property corrupts the rulers and makes
them greedy and selfish that would lead to
instability of the state. Also involvementof rulers
into economic activities shall be a deviation from

their role and commitment to the justice, i.e. to

serve the people by way of maintaining the
class-divided social order.