Plato's philosophy of education in the early dialogues.
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Abstract
This thesis, Plato's Philosophy of Education in the Early Dialogues, is, as the title would suggest, concerned with the ideas on education that Plato discusses in the early dialogues. Plato's use of the dialogue and the Socratic method place him among the foremost teachers of all time, and some of his practical suggestions, and his educational precepts are extremely cogent, but- it is with education in the larger sense of paideia or culture that this thesis is concerned. It has tried to analyze the place of education in relation to the development of Plato's philosophy by means of what here has been called "the educational argument."[TRUNCATED]
Much of Plato's philosophy, and especially the idea of the authoritarian Philosopher-King is considered by some contemporary thinkers to be inimical to democracy; but Plato's definition of democracy and the modern ideal of representative democracy are vastly different, whereas the principles that are symbolized by Socrates and the Philosopher-King need only be translated into modern terms for many of them to be completely in harmony with the best traditions of representative democracy. Plato's analysis of education and its relation to human happiness and society are especially valuable to an understanding of the fundamental problems of modern education.
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Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 320-333).
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Based on investigation of the BU Libraries' staff, this work is free of known copyright restrictions.