Firstly, argues Rousseau, when we devote ourselves to the learning of old ideas, we stifle our own creativity and originality. Where is there room for original thought, when, in our incessant efforts to impress one another with our erudition, we are constantly spouting the ideas of others? In a world devoid of originality, the mark of greatness, intelligence, and virtue is reduced to nothing more than our ability to please others by reciting the wisdom of the past. This emphasis on originality is in marked contrast with Plato, who finds no value in originality, deeming it antithetical to a polis otherwise unified by shared Myths of the Ideal City and of Metals. Rousseau rejects this "unity", rightly denouncing it as a form of slavery , in which humanity's inherent capacity for spontaneous, original self-expression is replaced with the yoking. of the mind and the will to the ideas of others, who are often long dead.

In addition to these aspects, Plato also conceives of another function of education, and one which is quite significant in its relation to Rousseau's views. For Plato, education and ethics are interdependent. To be ethical, in turn, requires a twofold movement: movement away from immersion in concrete affairs to thinking and vision of unchanging order and structures (such as justice) and then movement back from dialectic to participation and re-attachment in worldly affairs. It is a temptation to become an abstract scholar. But the vision of the good is the vision of what is good for oneself and the city -- of the common good. If one does not return to help his fellow human beings, he becomes selfish and in time will be less able to see what is good, what is best. An unselfish devotion to the good requires an unselfish devotion to the realization of this good in human affairs. Just as the purpose of understanding order and limits in one's own life is to bring about order and restraint in one's own character and desires, the understanding of justice requires application in the public sphere (through education). A man who forgets the polis is like a man who forgets he has a body. Plato thus advocates educating both the body and the city (for one needs both), not turning one's back on them.

How, then, do we rightly assess the merits of education with regard to its it molding of the public character -- in its ability to produce "good" citizens. The answer to this hinges, I submit, on how we choose to define the "good" citiz

Some common words found in the essay are:
Metals Rousseau, Silver Guardian, Arts Sciences, Guardians Socrates, Ideal City, Furthermore Rousseau, , Nazi Germany, Book II, Iron Bronze, ideal city, argues rousseau, form education, role education, education --, socrates argues, one's own, protect city, process mimesis, unselfish devotion,
Approximate Word count = 1667
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)