I
| II | III
| IV | V
| VI | VII
| VIII
Book Eight
Part I
No ne will
doubt that the legislator should direct his attention above all to the
education of youth; for the neglect of education does harm to the constitution
The citizen should be molded to suit the form of government under which
he lives. For each government has a peculiar character which originally
formed and which continues to preserve it. The character of democracy
creates democracy, and the character of oligarchy creates oligarchy;
and always the better the character, the better the government.
Again,
for the exercise of any faculty or art a previous training and habituation
are required; clearly therefore for the practice of virtue. And since
the whole city has one end, it is manifest that education should be
one and the same for all, and that it should be public, and not private-
not as at present, when every one looks after his own children separately,
and gives them separate instruction of the sort which he thinks best;
the training in things which are of common interest should be the same
for all. Neither must we suppose that any one of the citizens belongs
to himself, for they all belong to the state, and are each of them a
part of the state, and the care of each part is inseparable from the
care of the whole. In this particular as in some others the Lacedaemonians
are to be praised, for they take the greatest pains about their children,
and make education the business of the state.
Part II
That education
should be regulated by law and should be an affair of state is not to
be denied, but what should be the character of this public education,
and how young persons should be educated, are questions which remain
to be considered. As things are, there is disagreement about the subjects.
For mankind are by no means agreed about the things to be taught, whether
we look to virtue or the best life. Neither is it clear whether education
is more concerned with intellectual or with moral virtue. The existing
practice is perplexing; no one knows on what principle we should proceed-
should the useful in life, or should virtue, or should the higher knowledge,
be the aim of our training; all three opinions have been entertained.
Again, about the means there is no agreement; for different persons,
starting with different ideas about the nature of virtue, naturally
disagree about the practice of it. There can be no doubt that children
should be taught those useful things which are really necessary, but
not all useful things; for occupations are divided into liberal and
illiberal; and to young children should be imparted only such kinds
of knowledge as will be useful to them without vulgarizing them. And
any occupation, art, or science, which makes the body or soul or mind
of the freeman less fit for the practice or exercise of virtue, is vulgar;
wherefore we call those arts vulgar which tend to deform the body, and
likewise all paid employments, for they absorb and degrade the mind.
There are also some liberal arts quite proper for a freeman to acquire,
but only in a certain degree, and if he attend to them too closely,
in order to attain perfection in them, the same evil effects will follow.
The object also which a man sets before him makes a great difference;
if he does or learns anything for his own sake or for the sake of his
friends, or with a view to excellence the action will not appear illiberal;
but if done for the sake of others, the very same action will be thought
menial and servile. The received subjects of instruction, as I have
already remarked, are partly of a liberal and party of an illiberal
character.
Part III
The customary
branches of education are in number four; they are- (1) reading and
writing, (2) gymnastic exercises, (3) music, to which is sometimes added
(4) drawing. Of these, reading and writing and drawing are regarded
as useful for the purposes of life in a variety of ways, and gymnastic
exercises are thought to infuse courage. concerning music a doubt may
be raised- in our own day most men cultivate it for the sake of pleasure,
but originally it was included in education, because nature herself,
as has been often said, requires that we should be able, not only to
work well, but to use leisure well; for, as I must repeat once again,
the first principle of all action is leisure. Both are required, but
leisure is better than occupation and is its end; and therefore the
question must be asked, what ought we to do when at leisure? Clearly
we ought not to be amusing ourselves, for then amusement would be the
end of life. But if this is inconceivable, and amusement is needed more
amid serious occupations than at other times (for he who is hard at
work has need of relaxation, and amusement gives relaxation, whereas
occupation is always accompanied with exertion and effort), we should
introduce amusements only at suitable times, and they should be our
medicines, for the emotion which they create in the soul is a relaxation,
and from the pleasure we obtain rest. But leisure of itself gives pleasure
and happiness and enjoyment of life, which are experienced, not by the
busy man, but by those who have leisure. For he who is occupied has
in view some end which he has not attained; but happiness is an end,
since all men deem it to be accompanied with pleasure and not with pain.
This pleasure, however, is regarded differently by different persons,
and varies according to the habit of individuals; the pleasure of the
best man is the best, and springs from the noblest sources. It is clear
then that there are branches of learning and education which we must
study merely with a view to leisure spent in intellectual activity,
and these are to be valued for their own sake; whereas those kinds of
knowledge which are useful in business are to be deemed necessary, and
exist for the sake of other things. And therefore our fathers admitted
music into education, not on the ground either of its necessity or utility,
for it is not necessary, nor indeed useful in the same manner as reading
and writing, which are useful in money-making, in the management of
a household, in the acquisition of knowledge and in political life,
nor like drawing, useful for a more correct judgment of the works of
artists, nor again like gymnastic, which gives health and strength;
for neither of these is to be gained from music. There remains, then,
the use of music for intellectual enjoyment in leisure; which is in
fact evidently the reason of its introduction, this being one of the
ways in which it is thought that a freeman should pass his leisure;
as Homer says,
"But
he who alone should be called to the pleasant feast, "
and afterwards
he speaks of others whom he describes as inviting
"The
bard who would delight them all. "
And in
another place Odysseus says there is no better way of passing life than
when men's hearts are merry and
The banqueters
in the hall, sitting in order, hear the voice of the minstrel.
It is evident,
then, that there is a sort of education in which parents should train
their sons, not as being useful or necessary, but because it is liberal
or noble. Whether this is of one kind only, or of more than one, and
if so, what they are, and how they are to be imparted, must hereafter
be determined. Thus much we are now in a position to say, that the ancients
witness to us; for their opinion may be gathered from the fact that
music is one of the received and traditional branches of education.
Further, it is clear that children should be instructed in some useful
things- for example, in reading and writing- not only for their usefulness,
but also because many other sorts of knowledge are acquired through
them. With a like view they may be taught drawing, not to prevent their
making mistakes in their own purchases, or in order that they may not
be imposed upon in the buying or selling of articles, but perhaps rather
because it makes them judges of the beauty of the human form. To be
always seeking after the useful does not become free and exalted souls.
Now it is clear that in education practice must be used before theory,
and the body be trained before the mind; and therefore boys should be
handed over to the trainer, who creates in them the roper habit of body,
and to the wrestling-master, who teaches them their exercises.
Part IV
Of those
states which in our own day seem to take the greatest care of children,
some aim at producing in them an athletic habit, but they only injure
their forms and stunt their growth. Although the Lacedaemonians have
not fallen into this mistake, yet they brutalize their children by laborious
exercises which they think will make them courageous. But in truth,
as we have often repeated, education should not be exclusively, or principally,
directed to this end. And even if we suppose the Lacedaemonians to be
right in their end, they do not attain it. For among barbarians and
among animals courage is found associated, not with the greatest ferocity,
but with a gentle and lion like temper. There are many races who are
ready enough to kill and eat men, such as the Achaeans and Heniochi,
who both live about the Black Sea; and there are other mainland tribes,
as bad or worse, who all live by plunder, but have no courage. It is
notorious that the Lacedaemonians themselves, while they alone were
assiduous in their laborious drill, were superior to others, but now
they are beaten both in war and gymnastic exercises. For their ancient
superiority did not depend on their mode of training their youth, but
only on the circumstance that they trained them when their only rivals
did not. Hence we may infer that what is noble, not what is brutal,
should have the first place; no wolf or other wild animal will face
a really noble danger; such dangers are for the brave man. And parents
who devote their children to gymnastics while they neglect their necessary
education, in reality vulgarize them; for they make them useful to the
art of statesmanship in one quality only, and even in this the argument
proves them to be inferior to others. We should judge the Lacedaemonians
not from what they have been, but from what they are; for now they have
rivals who compete with their education; formerly they had none.
It is an
admitted principle, that gymnastic exercises should be employed in education,
and that for children they should be of a lighter kind, avoiding severe
diet or painful toil, lest the growth of the body be impaired. The evil
of excessive training in early years is strikingly proved by the example
of the Olympic victors; for not more than two or three of them have
gained a prize both as boys and as men; their early training and severe
gymnastic exercises exhausted their constitutions. When boyhood is over,
three years should be spent in other studies; the period of life which
follows may then be devoted to hard exercise and strict diet. Men ought
not to labor at the same time with their minds and with their bodies;
for the two kinds of labor are opposed to one another; the labor of
the body impedes the mind, and the labor of the mind the body.
Part V
Concerning
music there are some questions which we have already raised; these we
may now resume and carry further; and our remarks will serve as a prelude
to this or any other discussion of the subject. It is not easy to determine
the nature of music, or why any one should have a knowledge of it. Shall
we say, for the sake of amusement and relaxation, like sleep or drinking,
which are not good in themselves, but are pleasant, and at the same
time 'care to cease,' as Euripides says? And for this end men also appoint
music, and make use of all three alike- sleep, drinking, music- to which
some add dancing. Or shall we argue that music conduces to virtue, on
the ground that it can form our minds and habituate us to true pleasures
as our bodies are made by gymnastic to be of a certain character? Or
shall we say that it contributes to the enjoyment of leisure and mental
cultivation, which is a third alternative? Now obviously youths are
not to be instructed with a view to their amusement, for learning is
no amusement, but is accompanied with pain. Neither is intellectual
enjoyment suitable to boys of that age, for it is the end, and that
which is imperfect cannot attain the perfect or end. But perhaps it
may be said that boys learn music for the sake of the amusement which
they will have when they are grown up. If so, why should they learn
themselves, and not, like the Persian and Median kings, enjoy the pleasure
and instruction which is derived from hearing others? (for surely persons
who have made music the business and profession of their lives will
be better performers than those who practice only long enough to learn).
If they must learn music, on the same principle they should learn cookery,
which is absurd. And even granting that music may form the character,
the objection still holds: why should we learn ourselves? Why cannot
we attain true pleasure and form a correct judgment from hearing others,
like the Lacedaemonians?- for they, without learning music, nevertheless
can correctly judge, as they say, of good and bad melodies. Or again,
if music should be used to promote cheerfulness and refined intellectual
enjoyment, the objection still remains- why should we learn ourselves
instead of enjoying the performances of others? We may illustrate what
we are saying by our conception of the Gods; for in the poets Zeus does
not himself sing or play on the lyre. Nay, we call professional performers
vulgar; no freeman would play or sing unless he were intoxicated or
in jest. But these matters may be left for the present.
The first
question is whether music is or is not to be a part of education. Of
the three things mentioned in our discussion, which does it produce?-
education or amusement or intellectual enjoyment, for it may be reckoned
under all three, and seems to share in the nature of all of them. Amusement
is for the sake of relaxation, and relaxation is of necessity sweet,
for it is the remedy of pain caused by toil; and intellectual enjoyment
is universally acknowledged to contain an element not only of the noble
but of the pleasant, for happiness is made up of both. All men agree
that music is one of the pleasantest things, whether with or without
songs; as Musaeus says:
"Song
to mortals of all things the sweetest. "
Hence and
with good reason it is introduced into social gatherings and entertainments,
because it makes the hearts of men glad: so that on this ground alone
we may assume that the young ought to be trained in it. For innocent
pleasures are not only in harmony with the perfect end of life, but
they also provide relaxation. And whereas men rarely attain the end,
but often rest by the way and amuse themselves, not only with a view
to a further end, but also for the pleasure's sake, it may be well at
times to let them find a refreshment in music. It sometimes happens
that men make amusement the end, for the end probably contains some
element of pleasure, though not any ordinary or lower pleasure; but
they mistake the lower for the higher, and in seeking for the one find
the other, since every pleasure has a likeness to the end of action.
For the end is not eligible for the sake of any future good, nor do
the pleasures which we have described exist for the sake of any future
good but of the past, that is to say, they are the alleviation of past
toils and pains. And we may infer this to be the reason why men seek
happiness from these pleasures.
But music
is pursued, not only as an alleviation of past toil, but also as providing
recreation. And who can say whether, having this use, it may not also
have a nobler one? In addition to this common pleasure, felt and shared
in by all (for the pleasure given by music is natural, and therefore
adapted to all ages and characters), may it not have also some influence
over the character and the soul? It must have such an influence if characters
are affected by it. And that they are so affected is proved in many
ways, and not least by the power which the songs of Olympus exercise;
for beyond question they inspire enthusiasm, and enthusiasm is an emotion
of the ethical part of the soul. Besides, when men hear imitations,
even apart from the rhythms and tunes themselves, their feelings move
in sympathy. Since then music is a pleasure, and virtue consists in
rejoicing and loving and hating aright, there is clearly nothing which
we are so much concerned to acquire and to cultivate as the power of
forming right judgments, and of taking delight in good dispositions
and noble actions. Rhythm and melody supply imitations of anger and
gentleness, and also of courage and temperance, and of all the qualities
contrary to these, and of the other qualities of character, which hardly
fall short of the actual affections, as we know from our own experience,
for in listening to such strains our souls undergo a change. The habit
of feeling pleasure or pain at mere representations is not far removed
from the same feeling about realities; for example, if any one delights
in the sight of a statue for its beauty only, it necessarily follows
that the sight of the original will be pleasant to him. The objects
of no other sense, such as taste or touch, have any resemblance to moral
qualities; in visible objects there is only a little, for there are
figures which are of a moral character, but only to a slight extent,
and all do not participate in the feeling about them. Again, figures
and colors are not imitations, but signs, of moral habits, indications
which the body gives of states of feeling. The connection of them with
morals is slight, but in so far as there is any, young men should be
taught to look, not at the works of Pauson, but at those of Polygnotus,
or any other painter or sculptor who expresses moral ideas. On the other
hand, even in mere melodies there is an imitation of character, for
the musical modes differ essentially from one another, and those who
hear them are differently affected by each. Some of them make men sad
and grave, like the so-called Mixolydian, others enfeeble the mind,
like the relaxed modes, another, again, produces a moderate and settled
temper, which appears to be the peculiar effect of the Dorian; the Phrygian
inspires enthusiasm. The whole subject has been well treated by philosophical
writers on this branch of education, and they confirm their arguments
by facts. The same principles apply to rhythms; some have a character
of rest, others of motion, and of these latter again, some have a more
vulgar, others a nobler movement. Enough has been said to show that
music has a power of forming the character, and should therefore be
introduced into the education of the young. The study is suited to the
stage of youth, for young persons will not, if they can help, endure
anything which is not sweetened by pleasure, and music has a natural
sweetness. There seems to be in us a sort of affinity to musical modes
and rhythms, which makes some philosophers say that the soul is a tuning,
others, that it possesses tuning.
Part VI
And now
we have to determine the question which has been already raised, whether
children should be themselves taught to sing and play or not. Clearly
there is a considerable difference made in the character by the actual
practice of the art. It is difficult, if not impossible, for those who
do not perform to be good judges of the performance of others. Besides,
children should have something to do, and the rattle of Archytas, which
people give to their children in order to amuse them and prevent them
from breaking anything in the house, was a capital invention, for a
young thing cannot be quiet. The rattle is a toy suited to the infant
mind, and education is a rattle or toy for children of a larger growth.
We conclude then that they should be taught music in such a way as to
become not only critics but performers.
The question
what is or is not suitable for different ages may be easily answered;
nor is there any difficulty in meeting the objection of those who say
that the study of music is vulgar. We reply (1) in the first place,
that they who are to be judges must also be performers, and that they
should begin to practice early, although when they are older they may
be spared the execution; they must have learned to appreciate what is
good and to delight in it, thanks to the knowledge which they acquired
in their youth. As to (2) the vulgarizing effect which music is supposed
to exercise, this is a question which we shall have no difficulty in
determining, when we have considered to what extent freemen who are
being trained to political virtue should pursue the art, what melodies
and what rhythms they should be allowed to use, and what instruments
should be employed in teaching them to play; for even the instrument
makes a difference. The answer to the objection turns upon these distinctions;
for it is quite possible that certain methods of teaching and learning
music do really have a degrading effect. It is evident then that the
learning of music ought not to impede the business of riper years, or
to degrade the body or render it unfit for civil or military training,
whether for bodily exercises at the time or for later studies.
The right
measure will be attained if students of music stop short of the arts
which are practiced in professional contests, and do not seek to acquire
those fantastic marvels of execution which are now the fashion in such
contests, and from these have passed into education. Let the young practice
even such music as we have prescribed, only until they are able to feel
delight in noble melodies and rhythms, and not merely in that common
part of music in which every slave or child and even some animals find
pleasure.
From these
principles we may also infer what instruments should be used. The flute,
or any other instrument which requires great skill, as for example the
harp, ought not to be admitted into education, but only such as will
make intelligent students of music or of the other parts of education.
Besides, the flute is not an instrument which is expressive of moral
character; it is too exciting. The proper time for using it is when
the performance aims not at instruction, but at the relief of the passions.
And there is a further objection; the impediment which the flute presents
to the use of the voice detracts from its educational value. The ancients
therefore were right in forbidding the flute to youths and freemen,
although they had once allowed it. For when their wealth gave them a
greater inclination to leisure, and they had loftier notions of excellence,
being also elated with their success, both before and after the Persian
War, with more zeal than discernment they pursued every kind of knowledge,
and so they introduced the flute into education. At Lacedaemon there
was a choragus who led the chorus with a flute, and at Athens the instrument
became so popular that most freemen could play upon it. The popularity
is shown by the tablet which Thrasippus dedicated when he furnished
the chorus to Ecphantides. Later experience enabled men to judge what
was or was not really conducive to virtue, and they rejected both the
flute and several other old-fashioned instruments, such as the Lydian
harp, the many-stringed lyre, the 'heptagon,' 'triangle,' 'sambuca,'
the like- which are intended only to give pleasure to the hearer, and
require extraordinary skill of hand. There is a meaning also in the
myth of the ancients, which tells how Athene invented the flute and
then threw it away. It was not a bad idea of theirs, that the Goddess
disliked the instrument because it made the face ugly; but with still
more reason may we say that she rejected it because the acquirement
of flute-playing contributes nothing to the mind, since to Athene we
ascribe both knowledge and art.
Thus then
we reject the professional instruments and also the professional mode
of education in music (and by professional we mean that which is adopted
in contests), for in this the performer practices the art, not for the
sake of his own improvement, but in order to give pleasure, and that
of a vulgar sort, to his hearers. For this reason the execution of such
music is not the part of a freeman but of a paid performer, and the
result is that the performers are vulgarized, for the end at which they
aim is bad. The vulgarity of the spectator tends to lower the character
of the music and therefore of the performers; they look to him- he makes
them what they are, and fashions even their bodies by the movements
which he expects them to exhibit.
Part VII
We have
also to consider rhythms and modes, and their use in education. Shall
we use them all or make a distinction? and shall the same distinction
be made for those who practice music with a view to education, or shall
it be some other? Now we see that music is produced by melody and rhythm,
and we ought to know what influence these have respectively on education,
and whether we should prefer excellence in melody or excellence in rhythm.
But as the subject has been very well treated by many musicians of the
present day, and also by philosophers who have had considerable experience
of musical education, to these we would refer the more exact student
of the subject; we shall only speak of it now after the manner of the
legislator, stating the general principles.
We accept
the division of melodies proposed by certain philosophers into ethical
melodies, melodies of action, and passionate or inspiring melodies,
each having, as they say, a mode corresponding to it. But we maintain
further that music should be studied, not for the sake of one, but of
many benefits, that is to say, with a view to (1) education, (2) purgation
(the word 'purgation' we use at present without explanation, but when
hereafter we speak of poetry, we will treat the subject with more precision);
music may also serve (3) for for enjoyment, for relaxation, and for
recreation after exertion. It is clear, therefore, that all the modes
must be employed by us, but not all of them in the same manner. In education
the most ethical modes are to be preferred, but in listening to the
performances of others we may admit the modes of action and passion
also. For feelings such as pity and fear, or, again, enthusiasm, exist
very strongly in some souls, and have more or less influence over all.
Some persons fall into a religious frenzy, whom we see as a result of
the sacred melodies- when they have used the melodies that excite the
soul to mystic frenzy- restored as though they had found healing and
purgation. Those who are influenced by pity or fear, and every emotional
nature, must have a like experience, and others in so far as each is
susceptible to such emotions, and all are in a manner purged and their
souls lightened and delighted. The purgative melodies likewise give
an innocent pleasure to mankind. Such are the modes and the melodies
in which those who perform music at the theater should be invited to
compete. But since the spectators are of two kinds- the one free and
educated, and the other a vulgar crowd composed of mechanics, laborers,
and the like- there ought to be contests and exhibitions instituted
for the relaxation of the second class also. And the music will correspond
to their minds; for as their minds are perverted from the natural state,
so there are perverted modes and highly strung and unnaturally colored
melodies. A man receives pleasure from what is natural to him, and therefore
professional musicians may be allowed to practice this lower sort of
music before an audience of a lower type. But, for the purposes of education,
as I have already said, those modes and melodies should be employed
which are ethical, such as the Dorian, as we said before; though we
may include any others which are approved by philosophers who have had
a musical education. The Socrates of the Republic is wrong in retaining
only the Phrygian mode along with the Dorian, and the more so because
he rejects the flute; for the Phrygian is to the modes what the flute
is to musical instruments- both of them are exciting and emotional.
Poetry proves this, for Bacchic frenzy and all similar emotions are
most suitably expressed by the flute, and are better set to the Phrygian
than to any other mode. The dithyramb, for example, is acknowledged
to be Phrygian, a fact of which the connoisseurs of music offer many
proofs, saying, among other things, that Philoxenus, having attempted
to compose his Mysians as a dithyramb in the Dorian mode, found it impossible,
and fell back by the very nature of things into the more appropriate
Phrygian. All men agree that the Dorian music is the gravest and manliest.
And whereas we say that the extremes should be avoided and the mean
followed, and whereas the Dorian is a mean between the other modes,
it is evident that our youth should be taught the Dorian music.
Two principles
have to be kept in view, what is possible, what is becoming: at these
every man ought to aim. But even these are relative to age; the old,
who have lost their powers, cannot very well sing the high-strung modes,
and nature herself seems to suggest that their songs should be of the
more relaxed kind. Wherefore the musicians likewise blame Socrates,
and with justice, for rejecting the relaxed modes in education under
the idea that they are intoxicating, not in the ordinary sense of intoxication
(for wine rather tends to excite men), but because they have no strength
in them. And so, with a view also to the time of life when men begin
to grow old, they ought to practice the gentler modes and melodies as
well as the others, and, further, any mode, such as the Lydian above
all others appears to be, which is suited to children of tender age,
and possesses the elements both of order and of education. Thus it is
clear that education should be based upon three principles- the mean,
the possible, the becoming, these three.
THE END
I
| II | III
| IV | V
| VI | VII
| VIII