Key Arguments

• Conditional claim: 'if only those whom we introduce to this vast system of education and training are sound in body and mind... we shall be the saviours of the constitution and of the State'.
• Warning: 'if our pupils are men of another stamp... we shall pour a still greater flood of ridicule on philosophy'.

Source Quotes

That is very true, he said. All these things, then, will have to be carefully considered by us; and if only those whom we introduce to this vast system of education and training are sound in body and mind, justice herself will have nothing to say against us, and we shall be the saviours of the constitution and of the State; but, if our pupils are men of another stamp, the reverse will happen, and we shall pour a still greater flood of ridicule on philosophy than she has to endure at present. That would not be creditable.

Key Concepts

• this vast system of education and training
• we shall be the saviours of the constitution and of the State
• pour a still greater flood of ridicule on philosophy

Context

Highlights the stakes of proper selection and training for the city and for philosophy’s public standing.

Perspectives

Plato

Links educational prudence to political salvation and the reputation of philosophy.

Socrates

Issues a practical caution: bad selection endangers both city and philosophy.