I greatly enjoy your philosophy podcast and have a question about philosophy that I hope you have the time to consider.
I am writing about education and am taking the position that Plato was a revolutionary force in this area because he explicitly advocated the teaching of reasoned restraint through his conception of the tri-partite soul. That is, he recognized the imperative of teaching young people to use reason to understand their world and to find harmony between bodily appetites, competitiveness and contemplation.
But there’s a sticky issue that I am asking you about.
In other parts of my writing, I emphasize the eternal importance of parental involvement in the education of their children. How can I square this up with Plato’s idea of communal parenting as described in The Republic? How do the intellectual descendants of Plato like Plotinus, Augustine -- called “Church Fathers!” -- and countless others like Al-Farabi, Ficino or Erasmus deal with this truly radical recommendation of Plato?
Keep up the great work. When you are done, are you going to be -- a la the riddle of the Sphinx -- an old man walking with a cane?
Influence of Plato's Crazy Communal Parenting?
Professor Adamson,
I greatly enjoy your philosophy podcast and have a question about philosophy that I hope you have the time to consider.
I am writing about education and am taking the position that Plato was a revolutionary force in this area because he explicitly advocated the teaching of reasoned restraint through his conception of the tri-partite soul. That is, he recognized the imperative of teaching young people to use reason to understand their world and to find harmony between bodily appetites, competitiveness and contemplation.
But there’s a sticky issue that I am asking you about.
In other parts of my writing, I emphasize the eternal importance of parental involvement in the education of their children. How can I square this up with Plato’s idea of communal parenting as described in The Republic? How do the intellectual descendants of Plato like Plotinus, Augustine -- called “Church Fathers!” -- and countless others like Al-Farabi, Ficino or Erasmus deal with this truly radical recommendation of Plato?
Keep up the great work. When you are done, are you going to be -- a la the riddle of the Sphinx -- an old man walking with a cane?