Plato republic
...orary philosophers are, for the most part, self-taught, they have no obligation to serve their state; however, the guardians are nurtured and educated, that is, liberated, by the State‹they are unshackled. Therefore, and if their probity is not enough to dictate for them, compulsory service to that which has made them what they are is just. The unique quality of arithmetic is its capacity to differentiate and unify at the same time; for example, the number one is both singular and infinite (i.e. between 0 and 1 lie an infinite multitude of numbers [fractions]). Platonic ideals are commensurate, in this mode, with abstract numbers, while calculations‹of five apples, for instance‹work with actual manifestations. Mathematical sciences join Plato's educational curriculum only so far as they remain fixed on the proper goal: the ascertainment of being and not becoming. But dialectic is superior to all of them in that it has no hypotheses, no presuppositions. It is worth reproducing here the following syllogisms as found in the text: "As being is to becoming, so is pure intellect to opinion. And as intellect is to opinion, so is science to belief, and understanding to the perception of shadows." The guardians must master dialectic and be able to employ it to grasp the good. In the course of the dialogue, Plato has constructed the fundamental outline of the liberal arts education offered by most contemporary universities, whose pedagogy descend from Plato's Academy. The long and arduo...