Woman, education and politics in Plato

Abstract

In this paper we wish to look at the relationship between basic education and politics in the Republic and Laws of Plato with particular reference to the role and status of women in each account. We shall be passing over the highly specialized higher education given to prospective male and female Guardians described in book seven of the Republic, and concentrating on primary education. In the Republic this, too, as it happens, is also described in terms of the role it plays in the upbringing of prospective male and female Guardians; it is left to the reader to infer how much of this is supposed to apply to the general population. But before we get to that, it would probably be useful just to give a brief summary of the highlights of the primary education in question. T. Robinson is the author of the parts of the article that address the problem of education of women-guards, their “legal responsibility” and comparison of Republic and Laws in these questions. R. Svetlov prepared sections devoted to the problem of the differentiation of biological sex and gender qualities in the Platonic concept of the soul. Refs 2.