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In order to explain Plato’s theory of elementary education and its importance for the individual and the State, we need to first look at Plato’s view of education of the young citizens of Athens and why he felt, that the current system did not serve them well. ... In other words, the purpose of education was to enlighten, nurture and elevate the young Athenian’s soul, so that he would become a philosopher - a lover of wisdom or knowledge.
Richard Lewis Nettleship in his book “The Theory of Education in the Republic of Plato” point out, that “in order to understand Plato’s theory of education, we must understand his psychology” (Nettleship, 8). Plato felt that the human soul consisted of three forms - the whole was divided into three parts. ...
The first and lowest form, according to Plato, is desire or what he preferred to call it, appetite and it seems to take up a disproportionate space in the soul, being the largest part. He then goes on to differentiate between necessary and unnecessary appetites: those that are essential to maintain life, cannot be ignored and must be satisfied (necessary) as compared to those, that are harmful and may ruin one’s health or one’s life (unnecessary). Although these clearly are bodily appetites, Plato goes one step further and includes in this element of the soul the desire for wealth and power, because as he sees it, the attainment of these guarantees that one’s bodily appetites will be satisfied. ...
Which brings us last, but by no means least, to the discussion of the third and highest element of the human soul: reason or as Plato calls it, the philosophic form. ... It is the mental tug of war between man’s desire and man’s reason, however not just any desire, but more specifically certain desires. ...
Plato considers reason to be the softening and unifying part of the human soul and it should always be in control of the other two. ... Plato feels that at birth the mind has implicit knowledge and it is necessary for the students to reincarnate or recollect this knowledge. It is therefore the purpose of education and educators to prod and bring to light the knowledge of general ideas and direct the child’s mind into the direction that will benefit not only the person, but also ultimately the ideal State that Plato describes and which principle, if one chooses to live by it “would realize the greatest well-being of which man is capable” (Nettleship, 17).
Approximate Word count = 2093
Approximate Pages = 8.4
(250 words per page double spaced)
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