Mathematics in Plato&#039;s Republic: Its Role in the Education of &quot;Guardians of the State&quot;

Eva Miraflores  Rodriguez,

Mathematics in Plato's Republic: Its Role in the Education of "Guardians of the State"

Abstract:

This paper aims to draw insights from Plato's Republic about the role of mathematics in liberal education. Through a descriptive analysis of the education of the Guardians of the State in the Republic, it ascertains how mathematics contributes to education through its objects and methods. The following conclusions emerge: 1) Mathematics is a major component of the educational system in the Republic as Plato wants the potential rulers of the state to undergo the first ten years of their IS-year higher education in mathematical training. This mathematics program consists of arithmetic, plane and solid geometry, harmonics, and astronomy; and 2) in the Republic, mathematics contributes to the attainment of wisdom. Its objects and methods make it a necessary, though not sufficient, condition 'for the acquisition of both speculative and practical wisdom.