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Unit 2: Plato’s Communism and Theory of Education

intellectual enquiry. Notes
Those who did not qualify to join this exclusive category of esoteric minds would become soldiers,
and form the second tier of the ruling elite. The first course in the scheme of higher education
would last for 10 years. It would be for those who had a flair for science. At the age of 30 there
would be another selection. Those who qualified would study dialectics or metaphysics, logic and
philosophy for the next five years. They would study the Idea of Good and the first principles of
Being. They would receive partial experience for ruling. They would accept junior positions in
military and political life till the age of 35. This period would last for the next 15 years. By the age
of 50, the philosopher ruler was fully equipped. He would devote the greater part of his time to
contemplation and philosophy, along with political obligations. Since he would have grasped the
idea of Good, he would be in a position to do good to the community. Since Plato subjected ruling
to scientific training, he was categorical that only those perfect in true knowledge could make
good rulers, for they would ensure the good of others:
Behind training lies the need of knowing what to teach and what to train men to do.
It cannot be assumed that somebody already has the knowledge which shall be taught;
what is more urgently needed is more knowledge. The really distinctive thing in Plato
is the coupling of training with investigation, or of professional standards of skill with
scientific standards of knowledge. Herein lies the originality of his theory of higher
education in the Republic.
What they sought was rather a frame of mind which will respond in a just, responsible and self
manner to public issues”. Both believed that education would be an effective remedy for corruption
and instability that affected the states of their time, by injecting into the citizens a sense of rights
and obligations. They were convinced that a system of education controlled and regulated by the
state would teach the citizenry the traditions and laws of the state. For Plato:
... the educational system serves both to under grid and sustain the idea of political
order and to provide a ladder, so to speak, up which those who have the capacity can
climb to escape the contingencies and limitations of political life. These two purposes,
according to Plato, are not contradictory. Rather they do support and sustain each
other. Without political order, the life of contemplation would be impossible, for
conflicts and near chaos would be forever interfering with the calm required for study
and mystic experience. Without study and mystic experience, the wisdom necessary to
sustain the political order would be lacking.

The true goal of education for both Plato and Aristotle was to inculcate the values of civic
virtues. They framed an educational curriculum that would impart “a moral liberal
education rather than a study of political science.

2.2 Communism (Community of Wives and Property)
While education, for Plato, was designed to create the proper environment for the nurturing and
development of the human soul, the community of wives and property tried to eliminate all the
negativities that obstructed the proper growth of the individual. Since the stress was on creating
a meritocratic society in which every individual would perform tasks appropriate to one’s nature,
the community of wives and property ensured that nepotism, accident, family ties and pedigree or
wealth would not be the criteria of selection for social stations and their assigned tasks. It ensured
that since governance was a selective and specialized function, only the best and deserving would

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