Ath。Thenletusnotleavethemeaningofeducationambiguousorill-defined。Atpresent,whenwespeakintermsofpraiseorblameaboutthebringing-upofeachperson,wecallonemaneducatedandanotheruneducated,althoughtheuneducatedmanmaybesometimesverywelleducatedforthecallingofaretailtrader,orofacaptainofaship,andthelike。Forwearenotspeakingofeducationinthisnarrowersense,butofthatothereducationinvirtuefromyouthupwards,whichmakesamaneagerlypursuetheidealperfectionofcitizenship,andteacheshimhowrightlytoruleandhowtoobey。
  Thisistheonlyeducationwhich,uponourview,deservesthename;
  thatothersortoftraining,whichaimsattheacquisitionofwealthorbodilystrength,ormereclevernessapartfromintelligenceandjustice,ismeanandilliberal,andisnotworthytobecallededucationatall。Butletusnotquarrelwithoneanotheraboutaword,providedthatthepropositionwhichhasjustbeengrantedholdgood:towit,thatthosewhoarerightlyeducatedgenerallybecomegoodmen。Neithermustwecastaslightuponeducation,whichisthefirstandfairestthingthatthebestofmencaneverhave,andwhich,thoughliabletotakeawrongdirection,iscapableofreformation。
  Andthisworkofreformationisthegreatbusinessofeverymanwhilehelives。
  Cle。Verytrue;andweentirelyagreewithyou。
  Ath。Andweagreedbeforethattheyaregoodmenwhoareabletorulethemselves,andbadmenwhoarenot。
  Cle。Youarequiteright。
  Ath。Letmenowproceed,ifIcan,toclearupthesubjectalittlefurtherbyanillustrationwhichIwillofferyou。
  Cle。Proceed。
  Ath。Dowenotconsidereachofourselvestobeone?
  Cle。Wedo。
  Ath。Andeachoneofushasinhisbosomtwocounsellors,bothfoolishandalsoantagonistic;ofwhichwecalltheonepleasure,andtheotherpain。
  Cle。Exactly。
  Ath。Alsothereareopinionsaboutthefuture,whichhavethegeneralnameofexpectations;andthespecificnameoffear,whentheexpectationisofpain;andofhope,whenofpleasure;andfurther,thereisreflectionaboutthegoodorevilofthem,andthis,whenembodiedinadecreebytheState,iscalledLaw。
  Cle。Iamhardlyabletofollowyou;proceed,however,asifIwere。
  Meg。Iaminthelikecase。
  Ath。Letuslookatthematterthus:MaywenotconceiveeachofuslivingbeingstobeapuppetoftheGods,eithertheirplaythingonly,orcreatedwithapurpose-whichofthetwowecannotcertainlyknow?Butwedoknow,thattheseaffectionsinusarelikecordsandstrings,whichpullusdifferentandoppositeways,andtooppositeactions;andhereinliesthedifferencebetweenvirtueandvice。
  Accordingtotheargumentthereisoneamongthesecordswhicheverymanoughttograspandneverletgo,buttopullwithitagainstalltherest;andthisisthesacredandgoldencordofreason,calledbyusthecommonlawoftheState;thereareotherswhicharehardandofiron,butthisoneissoftbecausegolden;andthereareseveralotherkinds。Nowweoughtalwaystocooperatewiththeleadofthebest,whichislaw。Forinasmuchasreasonisbeautifulandgentle,andnotviolent,herrulemustneedshaveministersinordertohelpthegoldenprincipleinvanquishingtheotherprinciples。Andthusthemoralofthetaleaboutourbeingpuppetswillnothavebeenlost,andthemeaningoftheexpression“superiororinferiortoaman’sself“
  willbecomeclearer;andtheindividual,attainingtorightreasoninthismatterofpullingthestringsofthepuppet,shouldliveaccordingtoitsrule;whilethecity,receivingthesamefromsomegodorfromonewhohasknowledgeofthesethings,shouldembodyitinalaw,tobeherguideinherdealingswithherselfandwithotherstates。Inthiswayvirtueandvicewillbemoreclearlydistinguishedbyus。Andwhentheyhavebecomeclearer,educationandotherinstitutionswillinlikemannerbecomeclearer;andinparticularthatquestionofconvivialentertainment,whichmayseem,perhaps,tohavebeenaverytriflingmatter,andtohavetakenagreatmanymorewordsthanwerenecessary。
  Cle。Perhaps,however,thethememayturnoutnottobeunworthyofthelengthofdiscourse。
  Ath。Verygood;letusproceedwithanyenquirywhichreallybearsonourpresentobject。
  Cle。Proceed。
  Ath。Supposethatwegivethispuppetofoursdrink-whatwillbetheeffectonhim?
  Cle。Havingwhatinviewdoyouaskthatquestion?
  Ath。Nothingasyet;butIaskgenerally,whenthepuppetisbroughttothedrink,whatsortofresultislikelytofollow。Iwillendeavourtoexplainmymeaningmoreclearly:whatIamnowaskingisthis-Doesthedrinkingofwineheightenandincreasepleasuresandpains,andpassionsandloves?
  Cle。Verygreatly。
  Ath。Andareperceptionandmemory,andopinionandprudence,heightenedandincreased?Donotthesequalitiesentirelydesertamanifhebecomessaturatedwithdrink?
  Cle。Yes,theyentirelydeserthim。
  Ath。Doeshenotreturntothestateofsoulinwhichhewaswhenayoungchild?
  Cle。Hedoes。
  Ath。Thenatthattimehewillhavetheleastcontroloverhimself?
  Cle。Theleast。
  Ath。Andwillhenotbeinamostwretchedplight?
  Cle。Mostwretched。
  Ath。Thennotonlyanoldmanbutalsoadrunkardbecomesasecondtimeachild?
  Cle。Wellsaid,Stranger。
  Ath。Isthereanyargumentwhichwillprovetousthatweoughttoencouragethetastefordrinkinginsteadofdoingallwecantoavoidit?
  Cle。Isupposethatthereis;youatanyrate,werejustnowsayingthatyouwerereadytomaintainsuchadoctrine。
  Ath。True,Iwas;andIamreadystill,seeingthatyouhavebothdeclaredthatyouareanxioustohearme。
  Cle。Tosureweare,ifonlyforthestrangenessoftheparadox,whichassertsthatamanoughtofhisownaccordtoplungeintoutterdegradation。
  Ath。Areyouspeakingofthesoul?
  Cle。Yes。
  Ath。Andwhatwouldyousayaboutthebody,myfriend?Areyounotsurprisedatanyoneofhisownaccordbringinguponhimselfdeformity,leanness,ugliness,decrepitude?
  Cle。Certainly。
  Ath。Yetwhenamangoesofhisownaccordtoadoctor’sshop,andtakesmedicine,ishenotawarethatsoon,andformanydaysafterwards,hewillbeinastateofbodywhichhewoulddieratherthanacceptasthepermanentconditionofhislife?Arenotthosewhotrainingymnasia,atfirstbeginningreducedtoastateofweakness?
  Cle。Yes,allthatiswellknown。
  Ath。Alsothattheygooftheirownaccordforthesakeofthesubsequentbenefit?
  Cle。Verygood。
  Ath。Andwemayconceivethistobetrueinthesamewayofotherpractices?
  Cle。Certainly。
  Ath。Andthesameviewmaybetakenofthepastimeofdrinkingwine,ifwearerightinsupposingthatthesamegoodeffectfollows?
  Cle。Tobesure。
  Ath。Ifsuchconvivialitiesshouldturnouttohaveanyadvantageequalinimportancetothatofgymnastic,theyareintheirverynaturetobepreferredtomerebodilyexercise,inasmuchastheyhavenoaccompanimentofpain。
  Cle。True;butIhardlythinkthatweshallbeabletodiscoveranysuchbenefitstobederivedfromthem。
  Ath。Thatisjustwhatwemustendeavourtoshow。Andletmeaskyouaquestion:-Dowenotdistinguishtwokindsoffear,whichareverydifferent?
  Cle。Whatarethey?
  Ath。Thereisthefearofexpectedevil。
  Cle。Yes。
  Ath。Andthereisthefearofanevilreputation;weareafraidofbeingthoughtevil,becausewedoorsaysomedishonourablething,whichfearweandallmentermshame。
  Cle。Certainly。
  Ath。Thesearethetwofears,asIcalledthem;oneofwhichistheoppositeofpainandotherfears,andtheoppositealsoofthegreatestandmostnumeroussortofpleasures。
  Cle。Verytrue。