Plato’s class distinction the backdrop of contemporary education

PLATO’S CLASS DISTINCTION: THE BACKDROP
OF CONTEMPORARY EDUCATION
BY
WWW.BETAESSAYS.COM
BEING A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF
PHILOSOPHY, BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN ARTS (B.A. Hons.)
i

CERTIFICATION
I certify that this dissertation titled, PLATO’S CLASS
DISTINCTION: THE BACKDROP OF CONTEMPORARY
EDUCATION, submitted to the Department of Philosophy,
ii

DEDICATION
THIS WORK IS DEDICATED TO MY BELOVED SISTER,
LINDA NNEDIMMA ANEKE, FOR HER CLASSIC LOVE
FOR KNOWLEDGE.
iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE………………………………………………………………………...i
CERTIFICATION…………………………………………………….…….ii
DEDICATION……………………………………………………………....iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENT………………………………………………........iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………...vi
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………....viii
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL BACKGROUND
1.1 Plato’s Background……………………………………………..1
1.2 His Works and Chronology………………………………….....4
1.3 Plato’s Class Distinction………………………………………..8
1.4 Plato’s Intention for the Distinction…………………………...15
CHAPTER TWO
VIEWS ON CLASS DISTINCTION
2.1 Aristolte’s view……………………………………………….18
2.2 Karl Marx’s view……………………………………………..20
2.3 Sociological views……………………………………………22
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2.4 The tenability of Egalitarianism……………………………...26
CHAPTER THREE
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION.
3.1 The Notion of Education……………………………………..30
3.2 Ancient Theories……………………………………………...32
3.3 Early Christian Education…………………… ……………....35
3.4 Medieval Education…………………………………………..37
3.5 Modern/Contemporary Education…………………………....41
CHAPTER FOUR
PLATO’S CLASS DISTINCTION AND CONTEMPORARY EDUCATION.
4.1 Practical Implications of Plato’s Class Distinction……….....43
4.2 Nature of Contemporary Education………………………....47
4.3 Influence of Plato’s Class Distinction on Contemporary
Education………………………………………………….....49
CHAPTER FIVE.
CRITICAL EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION.
5.1 Critical Notes on Plato’s Class Distinction…………………...55
5.2 The defects and Impact of Contemporary Education………....59
5.3 Conclusion…………………………………………………....60
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BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………63
INTRODUCTION
The integral nature of the human society makes the interaction of one another
within the society necessary. Thus, there exist economic, social, religious and
political institutions that foster this required integration. The popular John
Donne’s phrase that ‘no man is an island’ advocates a complementarity of each
other’s capacity for a wholesome society. Aristotle in his Politics asserted that
nature intends man to live in a society. “He who is unable to live in society or
who has no need because he is sufficient for himself must either be a beast or a
god.”1
It is only in a society therefore that man can develop his potentialities as
a human being. The state, which is described as an organized political
community, becomes therefore a plat-form for the realization of this natural
need for complementarity.
For Plato, the nature of the state requires a division of labour so that the diverse
needs of man within the state would be met. The outcome of this division, if
followed according to the natural disposition of each to his class, is justice in
the state and happiness for the individuals within the state.
1
Aristotle, Politics, Bk I, Chapter 2
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The itinerary of Plato’s class distinction within the state as he proposed for the
then Athenian state left a significant mark on education. Through out the
history of the development of education, some imports of Plato’s political
propositions seemed evident especially in contemporary education. In a bid to
make this clearer, it is necessary in this introductory part to state the purpose,
scope, method and division of this work.
PUROSE OF STUDY
Having stated the nature of the human society and the necessity of the state
above, I intend to look at Plato’s view of the ideal state. His propositions on
the nature of the ideal state introduce the role of education while answering the
questions of ‘who’ occupies ‘which’ class in the three classes of his ideal state.
The end of this would be to explain how his class distinction remains the
backdrop of contemporary education.
SCOPE OF WORK
This work examines Plato’s proposition for an ideal (Athenian) state through
his class distinctions in the state. A look at different views on this class
distinction gives more explanation to the reality of different classes within a
state/society. With an inference of the implications of Plato’s class distinction
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and a look on the nature of contemporary education, the influence of the
former on the latter is easily brought to limelight.
METHODOLOGY
Expository method is employed in explaining Plato’s propositions for an ideal
state and the distinctions in class within the state. However, an analytic tone
underlies the whole thesis purposely for realizing the philosophical evaluation
of the influence of his (Plato’s) class distinction in contemporary education.
DIVISION OF WORK
Apart from this introductory part, this work comprises five chapters. The first
chapter exposes the general background of Plato’s political philosophy, which
also treats his idea of the make up of the ideal state. The second explores some
views on class distinction, which is concluded with the tenability of
egalitarianism. Chapter three traces the historical development of education
from the ancient to the contemporary ages of education. Chapter four derives
the practical implications of Plato’s class distinction from which the influence
of the class distinction on contemporary education is gleaned. Chapter five
makes a critical evaluation on Plato’s class distinction and the impact of
contemporary education.
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CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL BACKGROUND
1.1 Plato’s Background.
Plato was born at Athens in 428BC into a distinguished Aristocratic family.
His birth coincided with the era of the Periclean democracy when Athens was
at its peak in culture and learning. The greatness of Athens before this time
dates back to when Athens, under Cleisthenes, defeated the Persians in battle.
By the political strength and genius of Cleisthenes, Athens started booming in
commerce and social life. This glory was short-lived. The city-state of Sparta,
a neighbouring Greek State, out of sheer jealousy and covetousness for
Athenian wealth, status and power declared a war, which lasted twenty seven
years. Athens was defeated in 404B.C.
This defeat of Athens marked the end of the only democracy in the ancient
world. It brought with it a traumatic degeneration in moral ethos and politics of
Athens. Plato was a living witness to all these.
Plato’s father was Ariston and his mother, Perictione. His mother was a sister
of Charmides and niece of Critias, who were both ringing figures in the
oligarchy of 404BC. He had two brothers: Adeimantus and Glaucon, who were
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both represented in the Republic. He had Patone as his sister. Plato’s real name
was Aristocles but was later called Plato due to his broad physique.
His actual name was Aristocles but nature has invested him with a
powerful structure and very soon everybody was calling him Plato
literally, the broad-shouldered one. 2
In 403B.C. when Plato was only twenty-four, the Periclean democracy had
been overthrown and replaced by a dictatorship of the thirty oligarchs who
were incidentally Plato’s relatives. Plato, who has always had a flair for a
political career, was urged to enter into politics by these oligarchs. The
oligarch however embarked on a rule of violence and attempted to lure
Socrates into their crimes.3
Plato was totally disgusted with the oligarchy,
which was eventually done away with and democracy reinstituted.
The restored democracy did not fair better either. It was a rule characterized by
ineptitude and wanton indiscipline, a mob rule where practically every citizen
went to the house of assembly to air his/her views and record his/her vote. This
era turned out to be an era of great political decadence especially in Athens.
Plato was inspired to seek for a remedy for his disorganised society given the
trial, conviction and death of Socrates, Plato’s friend and master, on unjust
charges of impiety, corruption of the minds of the youth and for establishing
2
A. E. Meyer, An Educational History of the Western World (New York: McGraw Hill Inc. 1965), p. 29-30
3
I. Edman, The Works of Plato (New York: Modern Library Inc., 1956) p. 78
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new gods. Plato, shattered and dismayed by this atrocious brutality towards
Socrates, resolved to abandon home politics permanently. He withdrew to
Megara and took shelter with the Philosopher Euclid.
To find a cure for the ills of society as well as to forget his sorrows regarding
the death of Socrates, he preoccupied himself with much learning and
contemplation. This took him to Sicily, Italy and Egypt. As he observes in one
of his works, “…we are not only to look to our own country for examples, but
seek in the world at large for specimens of the highest, divine order of men,
who though rare, might from time to time be found under every form of
government and no perfect civilization can be attained without this means of
observation and improvement.”4
It is not clear how long Plato sojourned in
Egypt but the more important point is that there are evident traces of
information collected in Egypt through his writings and so far, it cannot be
doubted that this visit had its influence on the character of his philosophy.5
On his return to Athens, Plato established his Academy in 386B.C. near the
sanctuary of the hero, Academies. The Academy may rightly be described as
4
R. D. Hampden, The Fathers of Greek Philosophy (Edinburgh, Adam & Charles Black, 1882), p. 179
5
Ibid, p.182.
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the first European university; for the studies there were not confined to
Philosophy only but extended over a wide range of auxiliary sciences such as
Mathematics, Astronomy, Geometry, Gymnastics, Biology and the physical
sciences. Again, admission was not restricted to Athenian citizens; youths
came also from abroad. The curriculum of the Academy was designed to train
and nurture a new species of politicians who would eventually become
Philosopher-kings. For the rest of his life, he presided over the Academy
making it the intellectual centre of Greek life. Its only rivalry was the school of
Isocrates. After his failed attempts to make Dionysius II a Philosopher king
and his city and Syracuse an ideal state, he remained in Athens devoting all his
powers of thought to Philosophizing, teaching and writing at the Academy. He
died at the age of 80 in the year 348B.C.
1.2 His Works and Chronology.
Apart from lectures delivered at the Academy and the letters he wrote to his
associates, Plato left so many valuable writings for posterity. They are
collectively called The Dialogues. It is hard to distinguish Socraticism from
Platonism in the Dialogues because Socrates, the chief interlocutor appears to
be the mouthpiece of Plato’s opinions. The non-existence of any separate work
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by Socrates himself in which he expressed his own ideas also compounded the
issue.
A convenient chronology has been worked out over the years regarding the
Dialogues of Plato. The chronology of his works discloses the development of
Plato’s thoughts, how it changed - if it did change, what modifications were
introduced in the course of time and what fresh ideas were introduced. These
trends in his works follow the events and course of time and thus, like other
Philosophers’ writings, to understand Plato’s thought the chronology of his
works is very important.
The list is categorised into Socratic period – when it is supposed that the
influence of the Socratic intellectual determination is still with Plato. The
Transitional period – here it is assumed that Plato is moving towards
originality in thought and writing. The period of Maturity – depicting original
thoughts of Plato and The Period of Old Age – a period of noticeable
perfection in thought due mainly to experiences and convictions.
A. Socratic Period:
Apology: Socrates’ defence at his trial.
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Crito: Socrates is exhibited as the good citizen, who in spite of his unjust
condemnation is willing to give up his life in obedience to the laws of the
State. Escape is
suggested by Crito and others and money is provided to pay
through his escape but Socrates declares that he will not escape the laws but
will abide by his principles.
Euthyphron:Socrates awaits his trial for impiety.
Laches: On courage.
Ion: Against the Poets and rhapsodists.
Protagoras: Virtue is knowledge and can be thought.
Charmides: On temperance.
Lysis: On friendship.
Republic: Bk.I on Justice.
B. Transitional Period.
Gorgias: The practical politician, or the rights of the stronger versus the
Philosopher, or justice at all costs.
Meno: Teachability of virtue corrected in view of ideal theory.
Euthydemus: Against logical fallacies of later sophists.
Hippias I: On the Beautiful.
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Hippias II: Is it better to do wrong voluntarily or involuntarily.
Cratylus: On the theory of language.
Menexenus: A parody on rhetoric.
C. Period of Maturity.
Symposium: Earthly beauty is but a shadow of true Beauty.
Phaedo: Ideas and Immortality.
Rebublic: The State, Dualism strongly emphasized.
Phaedrus: Nature of love; possibility of philosophic rhetoric, tripartition of
the soul as in Republic.
D. Works of Old Age.
Theactetus: Knowledge is not sense perception.
Parmenides:On the defence of the ideal theory against criticism.
Sophistes: Theory of ideas considered again.
Politicus: The true ruler is the knower. The legal status is a make-shift.
Philebus: Relation of pleasure to good.
Timaeus: Natural science, the doctrine of demiurges
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Critias: Ideal agrarian state contrasted with imperialistic sea power
‘Atlantis.’
Laws and Epinomis: He makes concessions to real life, modifying the utopic
face of the Republic.
Letters 7 & 8: Must have been written after the death of Dion in 353BC. It
should be noted that Plato never published a complete and nicely rounded off
Philosophical system. The reason was that:
His thoughts continued to develop as fresh problems other
difficulties to be discussed,…certain modifications to be
introduced occurred to his mind.6
1.3 Plato’s Class Distinction.
Plato’s political thoughts like the rest of his thoughts and other philosophers’
sweep from his historical environment and the socio-political conditions that
prevailed in Greece (especially in Athens and Sparta) at that time. The Polis or
City-State was for centuries the context for Greek life and thought. It was
regarded as the ideal social organism for the proper realization of good life.
There were three legally and distinct classes: First was the body of citizens
who were entitled to take part in its social life – they attended town meetings
and were eligible to a range of public offices. They also participated in public
debates and elections. This class was a privilege attained by birth. The second
6
F. Copleston, A Histoy of Philosophy Vol I (New York: Image Books 1962) p. 65.
xvi

main group was made up of the resident foreigners. Athens was a
predominantly commercial city and so harboured a good number of foreigners.
This group has no part in the political life of the city but were socially
influential and they had freedom of movement. The third group were the
slaves. They formed one – third of the total population of the city state. The
slave like the foreigner lived happily especially during the time of war when
his service is needed by the state. There were two kinds of slavery: the
unskilled slavery of the mines and the skilled slavery of the pottery and
domestic life. Barker described the situation thus:
…the position of slaves at Athens was on the whole good. Majority of the
slaves were skilled workers …and they could be made to give the best of
their skill only by good treatment… In social life, slaves were treated as
equals and in dress, they were often indistinguishable from freemen.7
Plato could not understand this freedom and so he blamed it somewhere on the
principle of unlimited liberty characteristic of a radical democracy like in
Athens:
The last extreme of popular liberty is when the slave bought with money,
whether male or female is just as free as his or her purchaser. 8
This is in brief a general condition of life in the city state with which most of
Plato’s political thought was occupied and to which it adjusted its conclusions.
Given the three distinct classes of the City-state of Athens, Plato recognised
7
E. Barker, Greek Political Theory, Plato and His Predecessors (Britain, Menthuen and Co Ltd, 1960) p.
36-37.
8
Plato, The Republic,563B , Quoted in E. Baker, Op Cit, p. 37.
xvii

the faulty and diseased state of Athenian politics. He therefore sought to deal
radically with the problem by constructing the ideal state. He links the relation
between the individual and the state. The state for Plato is man writ large.9
The
state is a natural institution, natural because it reflects the structure of the
human nature. He institutes three classes in the state as analogous to the three
parts of the human soul. He explains that the human soul is divided into three
parts: the rational element, the spirited element and the appetitive element.
The craftsmen or artisans as a class, represent the lowest part of the soul – the
appetites. The guardians embody the spirited element and the highest class, the
rulers, represent the rational element.10
Thus, the ideal state would be
composed of three classes: the rulers to administer it, guardians or soldiers to
defend it and the artisans to provide the essentials of life. The ideal state would
be one in which the three classes like the three parts of the soul function
harmoniously. The Platonic state therefore is a community marked by a
division of labour among the three classes: the rulers or perfect guardians, the
soldiers at first called guardians and afterwards, auxiliaries, and the producing
class, whom he called the farmers.11
9
S.E. Stumpf, Philosophy History and Problems, 5th
Ed.(McGraw Hill Inc., 1994), p. 70
10
Ibid, p. 71.
11
E. Barker, Op. Cit., p. 198.
xviii

The first class, the rulers, according to Plato, are specially trained group of
intellectuals who should rule the state. He gave careful directions for choosing
the rulers and for making sure that once chosen, they do not work for their
advantage. The ruler, said Plato, should be the one who has been fully
educated; one who has come to understand the difference between the visible
world and the intelligible world; between the realm of opinion and the realm of
knowledge; between appearance and reality.12
Rulers are basically to be
distinguished through education. Plato’s institution of this class also drives
from the unjust condemnation of his master, Socrates. To avert such irrational
control of the state, rulers should be philosophers; educated. The philosopher-
king by analogy should be the captain of the ship as he knows the art of
navigation. The rulers though selected amidst the guardians through thorough
education, are meant to calm the rest of the classes to be content with their
class through the noble lie. The noble lie would say that the god who fashioned
all people mixed gold in the composition of those who were to rule, put silver
in the guardians and iron and brass in the farmers and craftsmen.13
This would
12
S.E. Stumpf, Op. Cit.., p. 72.
13
Ibid. p. 71.
xix

imply that all by nature were destined for their respective classes. Though
Plato recognises the defect of lying, he made it exclusively for the rulers:
Then if anyone should have the privilege of lying, the rulers
of the state should be the persons.14
He prohibits others from lying saying:
But nobody else should meddle with anything of the kind… if then the
rulers catch anybody beside himself lying in the state, he will punish him
for introducing a practice, which is equally subversive and destructive of
the ship of the state.15
As such, philosopher-kings are given absolute power to rule. Plato insists
however, that all children be raised communally by the state until they are
about eighteen. At that time they will be made to undergo three types of tests to
determine prospective rulers from those who are to become warriors and
artisans.
The second class, the soldiers, who defend the state, manifest the virtue of
courage. They are given special training and are selected as they manifest this
virtue necessary for the safeguard of the state. The first class, the rulers, come
from this group because they need this virtue of courage but are individuals
that are distinguished intellectually to meet the interests of the state. For the
guardians to be really good and noble guardians of the state, they are to require
14
Plato, The Republic,Bk. III, Jowett Translation (New York, Vintage Books), 1991, p. 86.
15
Ibid, p. 87.
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philosophy and spirit, swiftness and strength. They are to be educated to
distinguish between enemies and friends.16
The soldiers, according to Plato’s
educational curriculum, are watched from their youths upwards to be placed in
this class:
We must watch them from their youths upward and make them perform
actions in which they are most likely to forget or to be deceived and he
who remembers and is not deceived is selected.17
As such, Plato designates the qualities of the soldier that necessitate their
position in the class:
Perhaps, the word guardian in the fullest sense ought to be applied to this
higher class only who preserve us against foreign enemies and maintain
peace among our citizens at home…18
They are to guard the state and go to war when the need arises. He designates
them as auxiliaries to the extent they support the principles of the rulers. Thus,
the class of soldiers are distinguished within the educational curriculum in
physical training, which involves athletics and gymnastics. He recommends
that training for the soldiers be more exerting and sophisticated in order to
make them as wakeful as well-bred watch-dogs. Besides,
…if they are to be courageous, must they not learn other lessons than
these as will take away the fear of death?19
16
Ibid, p. 70.
17
Ibid, p. 123.
18
Loc. Cit.
19
Ibid, p. 82.
xxi

He thus recommends suitable lessons for the soldiers especially those that
expunge fears. In line with these, he strikes out some of Homer’s and Hesiod’s
poems that he considers unsuitable for their training:
I do not say that these horrible stories may not have use of some kind but
there is a danger that the nerves of our guardians may be rendered to
excitable and effeminate by them.20
The third class, the artisans, represent the lowest part of the soul, the appetite.
They are made up of farmers, traders and craftsmen. In well ordered states,
Plato says:
…they are commonly those who are the weakest in bodily strength and
therefore of little use for any other purpose; their duty is to be in the market
and to give money in exchange for goods to those who desire to sell and to
take money from those who desire to buy.21
Thus, artisans, as Plato would wish to recognise them, are incapable of
learning philosophy. They are the class that intellectually rest on the level of
opinion and do not have knowledge. They are only best placed at the crafts as
artisans and farmers. This group according to the noble lie are naturally made
of iron and brass.
1.4 Plato’s Intention for the Class Distinction.
20
Ibid, p. 84.
21
Ibid, p. 63.
xxii

One of the major incidents that led to Plato’s political philosophy was the
death of Socrates. He saw traces of the inability of Athenian democracy to
produce great leaders in the way it treated Socrates, one of its greatest
citizens.22
He could not understand how a man like Socrates, such an excellent
Philosopher, a good man and moralist could be put to death by Athenian
authorities.23
Consequently, future politicians were to receive a sound
education in Philosophy for he believes that only philosophers could be good
rulers.
Moreover, Plato holds that the state is a reflection of people’s economic needs
because no individual is self-sufficing.24
Thus, the need for a division of labour
within the state:
…as we have many wants, and many persons are needed to supply them,
one takes a helper for one purpose and another for another and when these
partners and helpers are gathered together in one habitation, the body of
inhabitants is termed a state.25
22
S.E. Stumpf, Op. Cit., p.48
23
J. Omoregbe, Knowing Philosophy (Lagos, Nigeria, Joja Press Ltd 1990), p.95
24
Plato, Op.Cit., p. 60.
25
Loc. Cit.
xxiii

Plato maintains that our needs require many skills and no one possesses all the
skills needed to produce food, shelter and clothing. There must be a division of
labour amidst the classes we saw earlier: Rulers, Guardians and Artisans.
Within the state, Plato’s political philosophy sought to proffer an ideal state.
What makes this state ideally just according to Plato, is the dedication of each
of its component parts to the task for which it is naturally suited and specially
trained. 26
More significant here is Plato’s conception of Justice in the state. He saw the
harmonious working of these classes as a ground for justice in the state. He
aimed at achieving justice which he likened to the harmony of the three parts
of the soul. Justice in the state exists when the artisans, soldiers and
philosopher-king exhibit the virtues of temperance, courage and wisdom
respectively.
Plato was aware that it would not be simple to convince people to accept this
system of classes in the state, particularly if they found themselves in a class
that might not be the one they would choose if they had the chance.27
This
formed the backdrop of the noble lie. In all, Plato aimed at a division of labour
26
R. Audi (Ed), The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 2nd
Ed (USA, Cambridge Uni. Press, 1999)
p. 710.
27
S.E. Stumpf, Op. Cit., p. 71.
xxiv

to meet the needs of the state where one occupies a class one has been
naturally disposed to fill. He aimed at justice for the state as a natural
institution which reflects the structure of the human nature.
In the ideal state, it should be noted, Plato emphasized his concern over the
ruling class, by maintaining that the philosopher-king is most suitable to rule.
He intends that the ruler be educated to learn the real art of governance. He is
convinced that the state in the hands of the philosopher-king is rationally
governed. This is why he emphasized the education of the ruling class. With
the complementary functions of the soldiers and artisans, Plato’s ideal state is
achieved.
CHAPTER TWO
VIEWS ON CLASS DISTINCTION
2.1 ARISTOTLE’S VIEW.
Aristotle was a member of Plato’s Academy where for over twenty years he
was in constant intellectual intercourse with Plato until the latter’s death in
348BC. Most of his philosophical thoughts had their background in Plato’s
philosophy. Like Plato, he never failed to share the Greek view of the city state
xxv

as the centre of life.28
The state in his view exists for the supreme good of man.
It is only in the state that man can live the good life in any full sense and since
the good life is man’s natural end, the state must be a natural society. He
described the existence of the state as the coming together of several families
to form a village. When several villages join together, the state comes into
existence. This joining together of families and villages is necessitated by the
needs of man which are to be met through coexistence with others.
Unlike Plato’s political philosophy, Aristotle did not create a blue print for an
ideal state but shared his views on inequalities and differences among citizens
of the state. In the Politics, he noted that some men are by nature free and
others slaves.29
Slavery, he said, was a product of nature and that for this,
slavery is both expedient and right. This natural disposition extends to the
intellectual and physical capacities of men. Though he portrayed slavery as
natural, he distinguished slaves by mode of nature and slaves by military
conquest. He rejected the latter on the grounds that over-powering someone
does not mean being superior in nature, nay, the use of force here may even be
an unjust act.
28
F. Copleston, A History of Philosophy, vol I (New York: Continuum Books, 1946), p. 267.
29
S.E. Stumpf, Philosophy, History and Problems, 5th
Ed. (New York: McGraw Hill Inc. 1994), p. 104.
xxvi

Aristotle also believed in the inequality of citizenship. The terms for
qualification of citizenship should be one’s ability to rule and be ruled in turn.
He did not believe that labourers and slaves should be citizens as they had
neither the time nor the appropriate mental development, nor could they benefit
from the experience of sharing in the political process.30
Aristotle’s educational programme for the state is hardly different from that of
Plato. Though he had some criticisms against Plato, the latter’s political
philosophy influenced his. While Plato was mainly concerned with the
education of the children of the ruling class, Aristotle was concerned with the
education of the citizens.31
The well being of the state, he maintains, lies in the
education of the citizens.
Again, while Plato distinguished between three classes in the state, Aristotle
held two distinct classes: Free men/citizens and slaves. In some respects, he
replaces citizens with rulers as they are the class of potential rulers. Slaves are
30
Ibid, p. 105.
31
J. Omoregbe, Knowing Philosophy (Nigeria: Joja Press Ltd, 1990), p. 119.
xxvii

off as labourers of the state and their institution is natural. In some places in his
Politics he calls them non-citizen labourers.
2.2 KARL MARX’S VIEW.
Karl Marx existed between 1818 and 1883. His Philosophy of history was
influenced by Hegelian dialectics on the realization of the Absolute spirit and
Feuerbach’s emphasis on the primacy of the material order. Like Hegel, he was
interested with society and how it comes to be; given prior ones. Marx
intended with this philosophy, to discover the laws of motion of history with
which he would explain the past and also predict the future.32
He supplied
through Feuerbach’s influence, a materialistic basis for historical dialectics.
For him, a society does not simply mature the way a boy becomes a man; it
passes through a real history. This historical process moves from the primitive
communal, through the slave, feudal and the capitalist states. Notable here is
the class distinction he cited within the capitalist state that through a class
struggle necessitates a communist state – classless society.
32
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According to Marx, in the “Capital”, “the history of all hitherto existing
societies is the history of class struggles”33
In the historical trend, Marx
distinguished two classes in the capitalist state: the bourgeoisie and the
proletariat. The bourgeoisie form the ruling class by virtue of their ownership
of the means production. Those who had only their labour to sell were the
proletariat, the source of the bourgeoisie’s wealth. They are the working class
and constitute a class.34
Prior to the communist state in human historical
dialectics, Marx cited the historical process from the ancient epoch to the
capitalist society. He distinguished different classes within each epoch: in the
ancient epoch, he had the master versus the slave, the noble versus the peasant
in the feudal epoch and then the bourgeois versus the proletariat in the
capitalist society. Unlike the Platonic and Aristotelian tendencies towards the
principles of natural class distinction, the class distinction here lies basically on
relationship to the means of production. Change in class here is not automatic
but is dependent on the establishment of radical class consciousness on the part
of the working class.35
Class consciousness here entails a realization of class
exploitation by the bourgeoisie, which ends in a class conflict that would
institute a classless society. This for him is the end of history in his dialectical
33
K. Marx, Capital, In Great Books of the Western World, V. 50, M.J. Alder (Ed.) (Chicago: Encyclopedia
Britannica Inc., 1990), p. 419.
34
A. Bernard & T. Burgrese, Sociology Explained (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 72
35
M. Kirby et al, Sociology in Perspective (USA: Heinemann Publishers, 1997), p. 111.
xxix

materialism – the emergence of an egalitarian society. However, his
philosophy viewed class differentiation as the crucial determinant of social,
economic and political inequality.
2.3 SOCIOLOGICAL VIEWS.
Sociologists have engaged in heated debates and reached varying conclusions
about stratification and social inequality. They have thrown up questions on the
universality of class stratification: Must some members of society receive
greater rewards than others? Do people need to feel socially and economically
superior to others? Can social life be organized without structural inequality?
Social science research has found out that inequality exists in all societies –
even in the simplest. Stratification is universal in that all societies maintain
some form of social inequality among members.36
The term social inequality
describes a condition in which members of a society have different amounts of
wealth, prestige or power. Scott (1996) defined social stratification of society
as its internal division into a hierarchy of distinct social groups; each having
specific life chances and a distinctive style of life.37
Social inequalities,
according to sociologists, include those associated with age, gender, ethnicity,
36
R.T. Schaefer, Sociology, 8th
Ed (New York: McGraw Hill Inc., 2003), p. 219.
37
M. Kirby et al, Op. Cit., p. 110.
xxx

sexuality and some ascribed status that influence a person’s wealth and social
position:
Social stratification occurs when structured social inequalities are
systematically inter-related in the way that they shape people’s life
chances and are involved in the formation of large-scale collectivities
that stand in hierarchical relations to one another.38
As such, it is understood that individuals in different classes are conditioned to
certain modes of life in which their status circumscribe them to. Worthy of
note is the notion of ‘shaping people’s life chances’ in accordance to the class
they belong. As Richard Shaefer notes:
In the United States, some people overindulge while others go
hungry. …social stratification determines the distribution of resources
in our society, from necessities such as food and shelter to relative
luxuries such as higher education.39
This points to specific life dispositions enabled by the status to which one
belongs.
Sociological studies look into the elements of this stratification in society.
Some classes are ascribed while others are achieved. An ascribed status is
assigned to a person by society without regard for the person’s unique talents
or characteristics.40
This could be likened to Plato’s class division due to
38
Loc. Cit.
39
R.T. Schaefer, Op. Cit., p. 210.
40
Ibid, p. 111.
xxxi

natural dispositions. Generally, in sociology, this assignment takes place at
birth; thus a person’s racial background, gender and age are all considered
ascribed statuses. They have biological origins but are significant mainly
because of the social meanings they have in culture. Unlike ascribed status,
achieved status is got through one’s efforts. One does something to attain
acquired statuses – for example, go to school, learn a skill, establish friendship
or invent a new product.
Some sociologists distinguish two distinct classes within society: The
governing elites (those who have power) and the masses (without power).41
Mosca distinguishes between the rulers and the ruled.42
He explains that the
first class is always less numerous, more organized and composed of superior
individuals. They direct and control the second class that is more numerous
and less organized.43
T.B. Bottomore in line with this distinction affirms that
every known society has been divided into two strata – a ruling minority and a
majority, which is ruled.44
The minority group, according to him, is the
governing elite of political class composed of those who occupy the posts of
41
V. Pareto, The Mind and Society, III (England: Penguine Bks Ltd, 1962), p. 142-3.
42
G. Mosca, The Ruling Class, Edited by A. Liurigston (Turin, JKP Publishers Ltd, 1973), p. 50.
43
Ibid, p. 53.
44
T. B. Bottomore, Elites and Society (England: Penguine Bks, 1964), p. 19.
xxxii

political command and more vaguely those who can directly influence political
decisions.
Marx Weber insisted that no distinct or single characteristic (such as class)
totally defines a person’s position within the stratification system. In his view,
each person has not one position or rank in society but three. Our position in a
stratification system reflects some combination of class, status and power.45
Each factor influences the other two, and in fact, the rankings on these three
dimensions often tend to coincide. Class, in his view, refers to people who
have similar level of wealth or income. Status group refers to people who rank
the same in prestige or lifestyle. In this sense, no matter how rich a pick-pocket
may be, he does not have the same status with a medical doctor. Power is the
ability to exercise one’s will over others. This could stem from membership to
influential groups in society. Denouncing Marxian position on economic fate,
he (Weber) notes some widely poets that achieve high status while earning a
relatively modest income. There are also successful professional athletes who
have little power but enjoy a relatively high position in terms of class and
status. As such therefore, cultural distribution of wealth and income, status and
power all count to place the individual in society.46
45
R.T. Schaefer, Op. Cit., p. 218.
46
Ibid, p. 219.
xxxiii

Generally therefore, sociologists in line with Plato agree that there is an
unequal placement of individuals in society. Contrary to Plato’s natural
disposition to distinct classes, classes could be acquired as well as ascribed.
2.4 THE TENABILITY OF EGALITARIANISM.
In “Civil Government”, John Locke declares the equality of all men in the state
of nature:
The state of nature is of equality wherein all the power and jurisdiction is
reciprocal, no one having more than another, there being nothing more
evident than that creatures of the same species and rank, promiscuously born
to all the same advantages of nature and the use of the same faculties, should
also be equal one amongst another, without subordination or subjection,
unless the lord and master of them should by any manifest declaration of his
will, set one above another and confer on him by an evident and clear
appointment, an undoubted right to dominion and sovereignty.47
Similarly, the end of Marxian historical dialectics is a communist state – a
classless society and equality of all individuals. These not withstanding, the
question of the possibility of the equality of all individuals still lingers on.
Egalitarianism is an ethical doctrine that promotes the equality of human
rights, benefits and opportunities. It is driven by Kantian morality to maximize
happiness.48
The Roman Stoic philosophy defined the human race as part of a
47
J. Locke, Civil Government, E. Rhys (Ed.) (London, J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1936), p. 118-119.
48
N. Warburton, Philosophy: The Basics, 4th Ed. (Bodmin, MPG Bks Ltd), 2004, p. 67.
xxxiv

divine principle in line with which the Jewish and Christian religions
emphasize the rights of the under privileged and the equality of all before God.
In this sense, the stress lies on the equality of all humans in terms of their
nature (humanity), which is expected to cut across all their activities. As such,
none is to be regarded as inferior or be treated as an object.
Obviously, human beings cannot be equal in all respects.49
Individuals differ in
intelligence, beauty, athletic prowess, height, place of birth, dress sense and
many other ways. It will be ridiculous to argue that people should be absolutely
equal in all respects. Aristotle held the universal cause of revolution as the
desire for equality when men think they are equal to others who have more
than themselves.50
Equality is always equality in certain respects not in every
aspect. August Compte asserted that there are evident differences in people’s
needs and capacities. People, according to him, are unequal and have different
capacities and so must have different functions in society.51
There must be the
supremacy of the intellectual elite since the technical problems of
administering a complex society can be understood only by specialists.52
Emile
Durkheim saw social inequality as a necessary and universal feature of society
49
Ibid. p. 68.
50
51
Ibid, p. 358.
52
Ibid p. 362
xxxv

because functionally important roles should have higher status and rewards.53
There are social divisions between rich and poor, men and women, the
physically challenged, the ill and those who are not, between people from
different ethnic groups, between the elderly and the younger and so on.
However, one of the most significant references of inequality in our modern
society points to the intellectual capabilities of individuals. The cognitive
perspective of intelligence sees intelligence as the use of cognitive skills to
solve problems or obtain desired ends.54
There is an established influence of
both genetic and environmental variables on the differences in intellectual
abilities of individuals. How intelligent a child becomes will depend on two
main factors: Genes and Environment.55
Maternal intelligence quotient (IQ)
could influence the child’s IQ genetically and environmentally.56
Here, one can
make references to some mentally retarded and disordered individuals (Morons
for example). Genetic differences specifically, could account for many of the
observed differences between individuals in terms of their IQ, while
environmental effects could account for observed differences between
53
A. Bernard & T. Burgress, Op. Cit., p. 69.
54
D. Westen, Psychology, Mind, Brain and Culture (USA: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 1996), p. 297.
55
P. Minett, Child Care and Development, 3rd
Ed. (London: John Murray Publishers Ltd, 1994), p. 164.
56
D. Westen, Op. Cit., p. 316.
xxxvi

groups.57
In this perspective therefore, individuals could differ and be
differently placed in social classes with regard to their level of intelligence.
In our contemporary society, laws exist to protect this egalitarian goal – the
equal treatment of all individuals. It is however glaring that there exist some
sorts of inequality given individuals’ achieved and ascribed positions in
society. In this respect, a president does not share the same treatment in society
with a taxi driver. Equality thus is in certain respects and not in all aspects.
CHAPTER THREE
THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION
3.1 The Notion of Education.
Education like every other generic term has both a broad and restricted
meaning; an informal and a formal application. The Oxford Advanced
Learners Dictionary defined it as a process of training and instruction
57
Ibid, p. 320.
xxxvii

especially of children and young people in schools, colleges etc, which is
designed to give knowledge and develop skills. Here, to educate means to train
the mind and character of somebody; to give intellectual and moral training to
someone.58
In its widest interpretation, education is the aggregate of all those
experiences that enlighten the mind, increase knowledge, foster insight,
develop abilities and attitudes and strengthen the will.59
In its restricted sense,
it implies the systematic acquisition of knowledge through recognized agencies
and a controlled environment particularly that of the school. It could be on
elementary, secondary or higher levels, all in order to attain: social
competence, optimum personal development and professional competence.60
Education selects and categorizes the human animal ensuring that it is well
equipped to take its place within society as a useful, functioning member of the
productive process.61
It can also be seen as stamping out originality, creativity
and imagination and substituting passive or unquestioning conformity to social
rules and obedience to authority. Its purpose may be to instill discipline and
respect or to give everyone an equal chance to broaden their intellectual and
emotional life.62
58
A.S. Hornby, Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 5th
Ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995) p. 369.
59
M.B. Murphy, ‘Education’
, In New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 5 (NY: McGraw Hill Books Comp, 1967) p. 111.
60
Loc Cit.
61
A. Bernard et al, Sociology Explained (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 138.
62
Loc. Cit.
xxxviii

Every human society has recognized two basic forms of education: Formal and
informal education. While informal education takes place within the traditional
society or socio-cultural milieu – the family, peer group, church, etc, formal
education is generally and clearly understood to refer to the organized and
systematic form of education that takes place within the school environment.63
According to C.B. Okolo:
Education as a formal and organized activity integrates the individuals
with their environment, develops their inherent powers and equips them
for life’s multi-faceted struggles.64
Thus, this perspective of education is the process by which people acquire
knowledge, skills, habits, values or attitudes. It involves both teaching and
learning, helps people acquire skills for daily activities and importantly, gives
specialized training required for a job or career.65
Education in its truest and
general sense is geared towards the development of the entire man. The
development here entails those of the mind and body: intellectual and physical
development just as Plato opined that education has to produce the perfect
man, sound in character, active in mind and strong in body. Amidst its
numerous purposes, it aims at meeting the emotional, socio-political, cultural
63
J. Anaeto, Campus Life (Nigeria: Rex Charles & Patrick Ltd., 2005), p. 37.
64
C.B. Okolo, Philosophy of Education and Education of Philosophy (Enugu: Snaap Press Ltd, 1989), p 14.
65
L.O. Picus, Education, World Book 2001, Vol. 6 (Chicago: World Book Inc. 2001), p. 86.
xxxix

and religious needs of an individual for the development of an integrated
personality.66
Educational values therefore affect the general outlook of an
individual on life in the way he thinks, talks and takes decisions. In this regard,
the individual’s approach to life and his environment follow a satisfactory path.
3.2. Ancient Theories.
Every human culture has provided some form of education through which it
has transmitted its cultural heritage to its young and by which it has striven to
prepare them as members of society. The origin of human education is not
exactly known. Education is as old as man himself because before the
development of modern education, informal settings have existed where people
came together to learn.67
In primitive cultures and in ancient civilizations of
Mesopotamia and Egypt for examples, this task was conceived primarily as the
inculcation of a traditional wisdom and way of life sanctioned by experience
and by some divine approval in contrast with the foolishness of the youth or
the wickedness of adulthood. In the great ancient civilizations, this came to be
embodied in sacred books and expounded in application to varying
66
B.O. Ukeje, Foundations of Education (Benin City: Ethiope Publishing Corporation, 1979), p. 21.
67
I.P. Obiadi, History of Education in Nigeria (Enugu: Prince Press & Communication, 2005), p. 7.
xl

circumstances of life. For Christians, the sacred scriptures are examples such
embodiment of traditional wisdom and way of life.
With the rise of Greek civilization, a more specific conception of a civic or
secular education appeared. This new view saw education as the preparation of
a class of free men who, in societies based on slavery, were prepared to be
citizens capable of debating questions of the common good. In such an
education, the predominant discipline was the art of persuasion called rhetoric.
This kind of education was first fostered in Greece by the Sophists and with the
sponsorship of the Stoics. It passed to the Roman Empire where it flourished
until the dark ages. In a form of its historical trend, it was renewed in the
Carolingian and 12th
century renaissance. It came to dominate the whole
educational tradition of Europe from the full renaissance of the 15th
century
until the 19th
century in the form of the so-called classical or humanistic
education.
Almost every philosopher in the west has reflected on the practical educational
traditions and attempted to criticize and reform them. In each case, the
philosopher’s conception of the nature of man, of human knowledge and
xli

human society reformed the basis of a theory of human development that can
be called his view of education.
Education in Sparta embraces gymnastics, boxing, hunting, running, jumping,
throwing the discus etc. The physical exercises were meant to keep them fit
and develop the spirit of endurance and willingness to do with a minimum
amount of clothing, food and rest. They also had music, drama and poetry all
used to arouse their courage for fighting and patriotism during military
confrontations.68
The aim of education according to their curriculum was to
train soldiers who were courageous to defend the city-state of Sparta.
Athenian ideal of education was not far from that of Sparta. It aimed at
producing a rounded man who is physically fit in body and mentally fit in
mind. In other words, every Athenian citizen was supposed to have a sound
mind in a sound body. This is profound in Plato’s idea of education. He wanted
the education of the Athenians to be based in the training of skills. He believed
that different people have different talents and so should specialize in areas
where they have best aptitude. This calls for the need for a division of labour.
Basically, he divided education into two branches: one of gymnastics, which is
68
Loc.Cit.
xlii

concerned with the body and the other of music, which is designed for the
improvement of the soul.69
Thus, the development of the body and soul is the
central aim of education within this era.
3.2 Early Christian Education.
This refers to education within the first four centuries – from the time of Christ
to the disestablishment of paganism as symbolized by the removal of the altar
of victory from the senate chamber during the last years of Gratian’s reign
(375-383).70
The basic tasks of education here included: the provision of
religious instructions that would initiate their children and converts into the
Christian doctrine, way of life and worship as Christians judged desirable.
Secondly, education was intended to synthesize their Christian life within the
circular culture embodied in the rhetorical and philosophical studies of pagan
schools. The pagan schools were the only ones then and hence had an
educational curriculum that even the Christians would have to make use of.
Consequently, Christian educators advocated what could be called a Christian
humanism to develop both religious and secular dimensions of life. The first
Christians brought from Judaism, not only a respect for learning but also a
69
Plato, Laws VII, Great Books of the Western World, M.J. Adler (Ed.) (Chicago, Encyclopedia Britannica
Inc. 1996), p. 717.
70
J.W. Donohue, ‘History of Education’, New catholic Encyclopedia (New York: McGraw Hill Bks Comp.,
1967), p. 112.
xliii

tradition of charismatic education in which literacy was acquired not for
secular pursuits but in order to study the scriptures.
In the Tertullian perspective, as seen in The Prescription of Heretics, he
repudiated communication between Athens and Jerusalem on the grounds that
Christians have no need for learning since they possess the Gospel. In De
Idolatric, he argues that Christians may not teach in pagan schools lest they
compromise their faith but allows students to attend these schools because they
have no other means for cultivating the mind for sacred studies.
Basil the Great (330-379) in his essay: To Young Men; How they might desire
profit from Pagan Literature, advises the emulation of the bee, which draws
from flowers only what it needs. Jerome, Ambrose and Augustine all
admonished Christians to make the best use of pagan culture on their own but
only as much as is relevant to their faith.
Christian education here was faced with the prevalence of pagan culture and
education. It thus was held with the task of preserving the Christian faith
within the educational curriculum of the pagan culture.
xliv

3.3 Medieval Education.
Christian education matured in the middle ages with the church as its principal
guardian and the clergy as its chief cultivators and disseminators. Education
was seen here as means of salvation and aids to perfection.71
It is seen as the
process of civilizing barbarian nations whom the church Christianized.
Early Medieval, monastic and Cathedral schools (300-900).
The barbarian invasion of the Germanic kingdoms almost extinguished the
light of learning at the outset of the middle ages. The monasteries however still
kept them alive after the invasion. Sandys remarks that “it is primarily to the
monasteries of the west that we are indebted for the survival of the Latin
classics.”72
In addition to the schools in monasteries operated by religious
orders of men and women, bishops maintained cathedral schools for the
education of their clergy. Among other noted cathedral schools in the Middle
Ages were those of Seville, Spain, France, Cologne, Germany and Paris.
Although the curriculum was intended principally for the training of clerics, it
was also suitable for the education of laymen.
Higher Medieval Education (1000-1300)
71
D.D. McGarry, Op. Cit., p. 116.
72
J.F. Sandys, History of Classical Scholarship, 2nd
Edition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1962),
p. 617.
xlv

In the 10th
century, in the German Empire, while far western Europe was
reeling from the shock of the Norse invasions and the warlike pursuits of the
new Feudalism, learning blossomed under Ottos. Bruno, brother of emperor
Otto I, became the imperial chancellor, Archbishop of Cologne and the Duke
of Lorraine. He sedulously fostered learning. The seed sown in the earlier
period attained generous fruits in the excellent cathedral schools and Christian
humanism of the 11th
& 12th
centuries as well as in the inspired scholasticism
and universities of the 13th
century. The expansion of towns and commerce, the
increasing needs and means of literacy and professional training, medieval
conviction of the ultimate unity and divine origin of all knowledge promoted
educational progress in the high Middle Ages. Leadership of great
schoolmasters such as Fulbert in the 11th
century, Abelard and Peter Lombard
in the 12th
, and Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure in the 13th
saw great progress in education within this age.
Late Middle Ages (1300-1500)
Later medieval education saw two trends that gradually coalesced: that of the
Italian humanistic renaissance and that of the transalpine late Gothic. While the
late Gothic continues the clerical course of high medieval evolution with some
excess and deterioration, the renaissance was primarily lay and secular as well
xlvi

as classical in inspiration. However, three general features of this new Italian
renaissance humanistic education stand out:
(i) Its literary humanism whereby the great Latin works of classical
antiquity were made the core of the curriculum in general education.
(ii) Its aim to produce a well rounded man by including a wide range of
diversified subjects.
(iii) Its Christian conservatism whereby it retained Christian doctrine and
morality as an integral part of the curriculum.
The transalpine education was marked by an increase in lay education and by a
corresponding multiplication of educational institutions including universities.
An important development is seen in an increase of the general and secondary
education of the laity in full time schools.73
Medieval Universities.
The universities of the middle ages were the direct result of the intellectual
revival of the 12th
century. The two earliest ones originated in Italy at Salerno
and Bologna. Salermo was predominantly a medical university. This later gave
birth to the University of Bologna that specialized in legal studies. During the
Middle Ages, the usage of the term university unlike the modern usage denoted
a guild or association and included universities of merchants and tailors as well
73
D.D. McGarry, Loc. Cit.
xlvii

as of scholars. In time, for their mutual benefit and protection, teachers and
students organized themselves into separate associations from which arose the
universities of masters and those of students respectively. The usual term for a
university was studium generale, which signified any place of learning.74
Since
the studium rationale accepted scholars with various interests from all
countries, it was eventually decided that it should have at least one faculty
other than that of Arts.
The influence of the medieval University is still felt in modern schools. Much
of the external and internal organization of these schools such as faculty,
graduation, matriculation and the officers of the University remind us of the
legacy handed on to the modern University.
3.4 Modern/Contemporary Education.
This is a period beginning with the 10th
century educational reform as seen in
the realistic movement. It includes the naturalistic movement stimulated by J.J.
Rousseau; the development of the rationalistic trend spurred by Kant and
Fichte, the psychological movement of the 18th
and 19th
centuries, the scientific
or utilitarian movement influenced by Spencer, the establishment of religious
74
S.J. Curtis, Op. Cit. p. 119.
xlviii

educational organizations of men and women and the subsequent growth of
educational institutions in the 19th
century. Juan Luis(1967) asserted that the
relevance of modern education lies in praxis:
Time has come for scholars to transfer their solicitude from princes to the
people. Studies should be attuned to the practical usefulness of life.75
He thus foreshadowed the central developments in education from the 16th
to
the 19th
centuries. During this time, under the formative influence exercised by
the emerging forces of science and democracy, the major effort of education
was directed towards developing a practical man of affairs, knowledgeable
about and adjusted to his world, both physical and social.76
The organization of faculties as found in the medieval universities grew
diversely and with different departments. These give room to diverse
specializations as is evident in our contemporary universities. Individuals
enroll into various departments guided by personal dispositions and
inclinations. This falls back on Plato’s idea on the natural disposition to
distinct classes within his ideal political system.
75
J.L.Vives, Transmission of Knowledge (London: James Nisbet & Comp. Ltd., 1967), p. 86.
76
J.J. O’Brien, Modern Education, New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 5 (New York: McGraw Hill Books
Comp., 1967), p. 123.
xlix

CHAPTER FOUR
PLATO’S CLASS DISTINCTION AND CONTEMPORARY EDUCATION.
4.1 The Practical Implications of Plato’s Class Distinction.
Plato’s ideal state as discussed in chapter one of this work is aimed at
establishing a perfect state devoid of injustice and ruled with wisdom. He
distinguished the three classes of the state: The Rulers, Soldiers and Artisans.
This is made necessary given the self-insufficiency of individuals in the state.
The state becomes ideally just when each class is dedicated to the task for
which it is naturally suited and specially trained.77
In the city state therefore,
justice is the condition in which the rulers rule, the auxiliaries perform the
77
R.Audi (Ed.), The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 2nd
Ed. (USA: Cambridge University Press, 1999),
p. 710.
l

military parts of the task of protecting the state and preserving the city and then
the third class – artisans pursue their several occupations.78
Plato’s intention and mode of distinction of the classes is that each individual
be put according to the use for which nature intended him.79
Nicholas White
refers to this as the Principle of Natural Division of Labour:
The notion of the natural task is one that strikes many philosophers as
obscure… This thesis, which can be called the Principle of Natural
Division of Labour, is applied to the entire organization of the city.80
This immediately answers the question behind Plato’s use of the noble lie.81
He
intended with this (the noble lie), to convince each class about this natural
division. The class to which each is naturally predisposed for is discovered
through education.
Going by this foreground, Plato’s ideal state is that which is divided into the
class of the rulers, soldiers and artisans. The state would be perfect if and only
if rulers rule with wisdom, the soldiers safeguard the state with courage and the
artisans carry out their tasks with temperance. These classes are by their
implications naturally divided and as such each individual should be content
with the class to which he is placed by nature. Attempts to belong to other
78
N.P White, A Companion to Plato’s Republic (USA: Hackett Publishing Company, 1979), p. 14.
79
Plato, Republic, The Complete & Unabridged Jowett Translation (NY: Vintage Books, 1999), p. 134.
80
N.P. White, Op. Cit. p. 17.
81
Plato, Op. Cit. p. 86-87.
li

classes would implicitly be unnatural. Education in the state therefore serves
both as a distinguishing factor or medium for the classes and also a preparation
for the philosopher-kings. This would imply that leaders or philosopher-kings
are born not made. Education merely points them out to train them as such.
Plato’s consideration of the need for a division of labour hinges on different
needs of individuals and their self-insufficiency to attend to those needs. The
different classes in the state exist as answers to these needs of individuals in
the state. The state hence is judged as good to the extent its classes are able to
meet the needs of each of its members. Justice in the state also entails the
dedication of each to the function to which nature ascribes him/her. In order to
distinguish oneself to a particular class, one shows his abilities towards the
class through education. Education here is the development of the mind and
body.82
Those who exhibit intellectual excellence would fit into the class of the
rulers – Philosopher-kings. The bodily fit and moderately intelligent ones
would function as auxiliaries while the mentally retarded, the weak or those
who Plato referred to as weakest in bodily strength settle for the third class –
artisans.83
These immediately imply that certain individuals are born to rule,
82
Plato, Laws VII, Great Books of the Western World, M.J. Adler (Ed.) (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica
Inc., 1996) P. 717.
83
Plato, Republic, Op. Cit. p. 63.
lii

some others to be guardians and others, artisans. Plato makes this obvious
when he said:
There will be discovered some natures who ought to study philosophy and to
be leaders in the state; and others who are not born to be philosophers; and
are meant to be followers rather than leaders.84
However, as I cited earlier, although these classes are naturally divided through
natural predispositions, education serves as a determinant or a pointer of this
natural class division: who belongs where.
More still, one of the reasons behind Plato’s prohibition of private ownership
of properties and families especially among rulers and auxiliaries was to give
the state due access to the education of the children.85
According to him, “The
children in the perfect state are to be common and all education also are to be
common.”86
Thus, each child would be properly placed to the class to which
his nature fits. This entails that the children of the rulers could be transposed to
lower classes as their abilities pose. Plato explains what he means by this:
But as all are of the same original stock, a golden parent sometimes has a
silver son, or a silver parent a golden son… They should observe what
elements mingle in their offspring; for if the son of a golden or silver parent
has an admixture of brass and iron, then nature orders a transposition of
ranks… just as there may be sons of artisans who having an admixture of
gold or silver in them are raised to honour and become guardians or
auxiliaries.87
84
Ibid. P. 204.
85
Republic, 449a-550c
86
Republic, 543.
87
Republic, 415.
liii

This suggests that all at the younger stage of life have equal opportunity to
education to exhibit their natural capabilities so as to fit into appropriate
classes. Women were not given a place in the Athenian politics. Plato saw this
exclusion as improper: “You must not suppose that what I have been saying
applies to men only and not to women as far as their nature can go.”88
This
immediately suggests that women could be philosopher-queens or auxiliaries
as far as they can prove their abilities towards these classes. Liberian President
and women leaders all over the world give credence to Plato’s proposition.
4.2 The Nature of Contemporary Education.
Education, down its historical development, is traceable to particular era by the
purposes intended to be achieved through it by the era. The ancient period
(Athens for example) aimed at producing a rounded man physically fit in mind
and in body. Thus the curriculum comprised of music and gymnastics to train
the mind and body respectively. Christian education had its goal as preserving
and teaching the Christian faith in their prevalent pagan environment.
Mediaeval education, which saw its climax in medieval universities handed a
significant legacy to modern education. This is precisely noted in its external
organization such as faculty, graduation, matriculation, the officers of the
88
Republic, 540.
liv

university, etc.89
The contemporary age of education has directed its major
effort toward developing a practical man of affairs, knowledgeable about and
adjusted to his world, both physical and social.90
It makes use of the
organization handed on to it by the medieval universities with diversifications
in the faculties and departments of studies.
The structure of contemporary education presents a kind of pyramid, which
Prof. B. Ukeje refers to as educational pyramid.91
This structure takes an
ascending pattern from the basics to the peak of educational standards. The
levels of formal education sweep through the nursery schools, the primary and
the secondary schools. The curriculum is so structured in a way that no faculty
of the child is left undeveloped. The curriculum is not restricted to classroom
work (intellectual formation/development of the mind). It also includes games,
manual exercises etc; for physical formation or development of the body and
imparting of discipline as well as moral instructions. Thus, the child emerges
intellectually brilliant, sound in reasoning, morally disciplined, good in
behaviour and physically strong.
89
S.J. Curtis, Medieval Universities, New Catholic Encyclopedia (New York: McGraw Hill Bks Comp., 1967),
p. 119.
90
Loc Cit.
91
B.O. Ukeje, Foundations of Education (Nigeria: Ethiope Publishing Corporation, 1979), p. 34.
lv

Thus, as one emerges from this stage of education, one enters a university,
polytechnic, college of education or their likes. The ultimate goal of education
remains the same but the scope here is narrowed down to the acquisition of a
particular discipline be it Law, Accountancy, Medicine, Architecture, etc. The
entirety of this education is such that after training a child for about fifteen
years (till the age of 18 for Plato), he or she is fully aware of the goals of
education and as such chooses a particular discipline to which he /she has
particular inclinations or abilities. Education in this sense is not an end in itself
but a means to the actualizations of the development of self in mind and body
for the task of facing the practical life. The undergraduate at the completion of
his/her formal education is fully equipped to face the challenges of life having
attained some relative stability in every aspect of himself or herself –
intellectually, socially, morally, spiritually, etc.92
More still, owing to the
nature of our contemporary society, the attention to education is vocational.93
In other words, one enrolls into a faculty that suits his vocational pursuit.
Those inclined to the medical field study Medicine, others, Law and some
others, Business studies. All are geared towards distinguishing oneself into a
field to fit into society according to one’s disposition and inclination.
92
J. Anaeto, Campus Life (Nigeria: Rex Charles & Patrick Ltd., 2005), p. 41.
93
B.O. Ukeje, Op. Cit., p. 92.
lvi

4.3 Influence of Plato’s Class Distinction on Contemporary Education.
Plato in his political philosophy presented an ideal and perfect state in which
justice exists whereby the three classes of the state take up their nature-given
classes. His view on education has a significant role, which included fitting
individuals into their respective classes and giving them the required training
for their classes. One of his classic understandings of education reads that:
“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life.”94
With this, he let out the significance of education in the placement of different
individuals into particular classes of life to which their natural dispositions
direct.
The impact or the influence of Plato’s class distinction in all it connotes is still
felt in the contemporary age of education. It is understood that Plato saw
education in a general sense as the development of the mind and body.
Consequently, the curriculum comprised of music and gymnastics. The aim
behind Plato’s educational programme however, was to decipher with
carefulness, the individuals that are naturally meant to be rulers, soldiers of the
state and artisans. With these deciphered, each class is hence given the
94
Republic, 425.
lvii

appropriate education or training due to the class. No class is left out in his
educational system. In this sense, children – boys and girls alike receive basic
education on a common parlance from the state. At the end of the basic
training (usually at 18 years of age), each one is set to belong to the class,
which his/her ability disposes. The imports of Plato’s view of the classes of the
state and their education could be clearly felt in contemporary education.
Basically, mind and body development, men and women equal rights to
education, equal opportunity to basic education, structural formation of
education and vocational training as evident in contemporary education are all
Platonic ideals.
Plato’s educational curriculum, which contains music and gymnastics were
meant for the development of the mind and body. A developed mind in a
healthy body is one of the major goals of Plato’s educational curriculum. The
contemporary aphorism: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy points to
this Platonic intent. Schools, especially the primary and secondary levels,
include Health and Physical education in their curriculum, which includes
times for physical exercises. This is to ensure the training of the body for
physical tasks.
lviii

Modern schools record almost equal numbers of boys and girls. This is
basically Plato’s stand – that women be trained for the same purpose as men:
There shall be compulsory education as far as this is possible. And such laws
would apply to girls as well as to boys; they shall both go through the same
exercise.95
He recognizes, unlike Aristotle, that women could possess the natural ability to
belong to the class of rulers. As education is the means through which this
capacity could be trained, he gives both (men and women) equal right to
education. The traditional Igbo community saw no need for women education
but thanks to this opportunity, women have made significant marks as could be
seen in the Liberian President: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf – the first woman-
President in Africa and in Dora Akunyili, NAFDAC director in Nigeria. These
are to mention but a few.
One of the myopic criticisms given to Plato’s class distinction is the unequal
rights given between the classes of the rulers and the artisans. On the flip side,
Plato gives all equal rights and opportunity for the disclosure of their natural
abilities through education:
95
Laws VII 804, Morris Stockhammer, Plato Dictionary (USA: Adams & Co, 1965), p. 72.
lix

Children must not be allowed to attend or not attend school at the whim of
their fathers… education must be compulsory for one and all because they
belong to the state first and their parents second.96
He intended to declare with the above, that no child belongs to the class to
which he is born into, rather, that each occupies the class, which he/she is
naturally predisposed for. Contemporary education exhibits this ideal to a
reasonable extent. There is free and compulsory primary education as could be
found in various countries of the world (in some states of Nigeria for example).
This is geared towards providing the basic education needed for the
development of individuals. Scholarships are awarded to candidates that put up
excellent performances in academics and in overall education while demoting
those who perform so poorly; the rich and poor alike.
Structurally, Plato intended that education within the ideal state flows from the
basics – music and gymnastics up to the study of philosophy for those who
qualify to be philosopher-kings. In this latter form of education, the
prospective philosopher-kings learn the universal forms of things. He saw the
task of education at this later stage as devoted to the role of formation or
preparation for a social function, which includes leadership of the state.
Educational development therefore attains its peak and goal in the training of
96
Plato, Republic, The Complete & Unabridged Jowett Translation (NY: Vintage Books, 1999), p. 133
lx

an individual that would be useful to the state. Nothing is more comparative
than this influence in the education of the day whereby the vocational
formation lies at the higher levels of education.
The nature of modern education is that which inculcates skills in individuals
and prepares them for the different careers in life to which they are naturally
affiliated. As such, at the university levels, different individuals enroll into
different faculties having at the back of their minds, their abilities towards such
careers and the vocation they intend to take up in society. Individuals study
Medicine, Law, Engineering, etc; all with the purpose of getting placed in
society, within a class and status. (c.f. chapter 2.3 of this work).
Plato’s class distinction places individuals to different classes with their
performances in education as the basis for distinction given their natural
abilities and predispositions. Contemporary education recognizes individuals’
natural abilities and as such provides diverse fields of learning through which
these abilities could be trained to fit into society. Those who exhibit academic
excellence attain their best heights in education and are dully placed with
regard to their educational qualifications.
lxi

CHAPTER FIVE
CRITICAL EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION
5.1 Critical Notes on Plato’s Class Distinction.
Plato’s political philosophy was spurred by the defective state of Athenian
politics, which saw the execution of Socrates, his great friend and teacher. His
disgust left him no choice than to construct an ideal and perfect state. He saw
the major defect in the entire formation or make up of the Athenian city-state
whereby individuals occupy positions to which they have neither the natural
dispositions nor the proper training for. The one that knows the art of
navigation, according to his analogy, should be the captain of the ship – the
ruler of the state. His educational system therefore was a medium through
which appropriate rulers are selected for the state. Given the nature of the
Athenian state, it was necessary also that the state meets the needs of its
lxii

citizens. He therefore distinguishes three classes of the state – Rulers, Soldiers
and Artisans. To the extent these classes are able to carry out their different
tasks adequately, the state exists justly and happiness is ensured in the state.
Plato saw philosophers as most suitable for the class of the rulers in his ideal
state. It looks necessary since a philosopher knows and could distinguish
between right and wrong; good and evil. However, knowing does not entail
doing as Plato holds. The state’s justice does not lie on the knowledge of good
and evil of the ruler. His human nature here comes to play such that the perfect
state does not rest at training the rulers to be philosophers. It is however note-
worthy that Plato ascribes moral goodness to one of the necessary qualities of
whoever is to qualify to be a philosopher-king.
On another note, Plato conflicts the morality of the ruler in his exclusive right
to tell lies – noble lie. He, Plato, recognized the defect of lying when he
asserted that lie is hated not only by the gods but also by men.97
He
nevertheless permitted the rulers and no other to tell lies: “Then if anyone
should have the privilege of lying, the rulers of the state should be the
97
Republic, 382.
lxiii

persons.”98
It is obvious that he used lying as a means to an end – the end being
to convince the rest of the classes to accept their different positions as natural;
ordained by the gods. The mere concept of lie excludes truth. Suffice it then to
say that Plato’s Principle of Natural disposition or what Nicholas White terms
the principle of Natural Division of Labour, has no truth in it. He only used it
to convey what he thought should be the explanation of his distinction. Little
wonder he was reluctant to tell this lie when he said: “You will not wonder at
my hesitation when you have heard.”99
Those he made the rulers tell the lie that
they (the rulers) are made of gold, the soldiers of silver and the artisans of
brass and iron.
However, his educational revolution gave everyone equal opportunity to
exhibit their abilities such that the child of the artisan could be discovered to be
composed of gold. He makes provision for this in his proposition that children
be owned by the state to be given a common education. This points to one of
the utopic nature of his political state. He makes it more explicit that the rulers
and auxiliaries have everything in common including wives. This provision
was merely to accommodate his position that each receives equal opportunity
98
Plato, The Republic,Bk. III, Jowett Translation (New York, Vintage Books), 1991, p. 86.
99
Ibid, p. 124.
lxiv

to education. This is simply unlikely in praxis given the nature of the human
society. It would be a state of disorder whereby nothing belongs to any family
under the guise of receiving equal educational formation from the state. The
persons behind the umbrella name of the ‘state’ are also questionable. Perhaps,
the rulers – philosopher-kings would be responsible for this. In this case then,
it is likely, as is obtained in our contemporary society, that the rulers favour
their offspring.
Unlike the contemporary attitude towards individuals that do not measure up to
required standards in education, Plato did not create any room for demoted
individuals that later in life put up excellent skills in academics and physical
tasks. Contemporary education demotes individuals that perform poorly but
also treats them as such when their performances improve. This succinctly
points out that Plato does not specify if artisans could ever rise to the higher
classes in the ideal state. Of course, if his natural division should hold, there
would be no room for this. It is however evident that certain individuals at
certain times in their lives make drastic improvements in skills: mentally and
physically. Plato’s classes are seemingly permanent.
lxv

One of the outstanding welcome aspects of Plato’s political philosophy is the
position he gave to women. Obviously, women have shown their capabilities in
various phases of leadership in society. With Aristotle, their position would
have remained unrecognized. Our universities also record almost equal number
of females with males in their various departments of learning.
5.2 The Defects and Impacts of Contemporary Education.
One of the Igbo folk songs, usually sung by little children, describes the nature
of education thus: Akwukwo na – ato uto, mana o na – afia ahu na mmuta;
onye were nkasi obi, o ga – amuta akwukwo ma o buru na nne gi na nna gi
nwee ego. This literally means that education is interesting but difficult.
However, with due perseverance, one gets knowledge but that would be if your
parents have the money to sponsor your education. However entertaining this
song could be for the children, it points at a significant aspect of contemporary
education. Recently economic affluence has almost become a matrix for
academic and educational excellence; more still a condition for educational
pursuits. This development is fundamentally not Platonic. Plato’s educational
lxvi

programme was basically vested on natural abilities such that individuals are
educated according to their natural dispositions and capabilities. None is left
out sequel to economic shortcomings. There are instances of academic awards
that are merely given to economically influential individuals. Platonic ideal
was to give the mentally gifted people due opportunity to refine their abilities
for appropriate functions in the state. Each is accorded his position in reference
to his mental and physical capabilities.
Vocational education has remained one of the major influences of Plato’s
educational programme for his ideal state. Contemporary education admits
candidates, especially in university levels, into faculties and departments to
which they have dispositions and qualifications. In Nigeria for example, the
University Matriculation Examinations (UME) serves as a medium of
discovering who fits into particular departments and vocation. Candidates
could be assigned to departments different from their choice, which reflects
Plato’s classification due to natural predisposition and not choice. Just as Plato
recognizes that artisans would prefer to be rulers, journalists might prefer to be
lawyers in our contemporary education. Universities therefore dwell
fundamentally on training individuals for the vocation to which their abilities
are predisposed.
lxvii

5.3 Conclusion.
Plato’s class distinction as x-rayed in this project was an offshoot of his
proposition for a perfect and ideal state. The state exists for the good of the
citizens and is perfect to the extent it satisfies the needs of these individuals in
the state. Given the self-insufficiency of individuals in the state, the class
distinction becomes exigent. The classes are however classified according to
individuals’ natural predispositions. As such, there are the classes of the rulers,
soldiers and artisans. The state is perfect in as much as these individuals
perform their different tasks with wisdom, courage and temperance
respectively. Given the nature of individuals, each might prefer the higher
classes and this makes the medium and condition for this distinction necessary.
Education therefore stands as both a distinguishing factor for each class and
also the process of training for individuals to fit into their respective classes.
This is necessary as individuals do not possess the same abilities in life.
Different philosophers and sociologists agree to this inequality of abilities of
individuals. They unanimously agree to the fact that education plays an
important role in the positions held by people in societies.
lxviii

Education in its historical trend traces its development down from the ancient
period to the contemporary age. Plato’s educational ideal of the development
of the mind and body still reflect its purpose in the contemporary age of
education. More outstandingly and significantly, his influence is felt in various
aspects like equal educational opportunities for men and women, free and
compulsory basic education and specialization in particular fields according to
natural predispositions and inclination. Higher education as found in colleges,
polytechnics and universities therefore have the vocational formation at their
backdrop – to fit individuals into particular fields of life.
Plato’s class distinction therefore influenced contemporary education in the
latter’s import of Plato’s educational programme for the distinction of various
classes in the state. The distinction as made clear in this work was based on
natural inclinations to specific vocations/classes in society.
lxix

BIBLIOGRAPHY.
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MURPHY, M. B. (Ed.), New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 5; New York:
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UKEJE, B. O., Foundations of Education; Benin City: Ethiope
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This Project Work was Written and Presented by the research Team at
www.betaessays.com. To get more of these Philosophy Final Year Project Materials
contact us at +2347033378184.
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