An Analysis of The Benefits of The Platonic Doctrine of Education to The Nigerian Society

Abstract

TThis paper takes a critical look at the originality, importance and usefulness of the educational ideas of Plato. The paper shows that Plato's immense contributions to the field of knowledge and doctrine of education are relevant to our time. Although, Plato was from an aristocratic family, he was very interested about education and how it should be practiced, he advocated for public education for both boys and girls and emphasized the relevance of education in producing noble men and women for the harmonious functioning of the society. The virtues and values that Plato advocated are needed in Nigeria today for the proper functioning of our society that is bedeviled with many tooting problems that requires urgent attention, such as unemployment, corruption, leadership crisis, religious intolerance and excessive quest for materialism, among others. To Plato, materialism can only fill the vacuum created by lack of intellectual knowledge; when your internal world is deprived, it is only natural to want to fill it with external things. Unfortunately, this is like filling a sieve with sand. The sand may fit in the sieve temporally, but it will soon sift through the holes, leaving you empty again. Therefore, virtues such as wisdom, braveness, self-control and the happiness and well-being of others should be encouraged and sustained in learning.