Education Policies according to Platon's Republic
In: International journal of new approaches in social studies: IJONASS = Uluslararası Sosyal Bilgilerde Yeni Yaklaşımlar Dergisi
ISSN: 2618-5725
According to Plato, a good state administration ("best"/ideal state) can only be combined with a good society ("best"/ideal society), and a good society can only be achieved with a good education ("best"/ideal education). He saw it as possible: "It must be able to be turned towards the most luminous aspect of existence, the direction we call -good-, right? Yes, education is the art of turning this power of the soul - for the good - and finding the easiest and most unfailing way for it. Education only leads him to the good side. It is up to us, the founders of the state, to lead people towards the knowledge of what we regard as the highest, to bring them out of the darkness into the light" (p.236-237). Since education is an idea-based and therefore an "ideological device" (Althusser, 2010), it acts as a kind of bridge between the state and society (Wiborg, 2000). This is the importance of analyzing Plato's Republic in terms of education policies.