I found books three and four to be very cringy. I mean, to me the idea of structurally producing good soldiers/guardians through heavy censorship is somewhat inhumane. I feel as if human beings should be allowed to experience every bit of knowledge they can at some point in their lives. To me, it seems as if the guardians are being guarded against information throughout their entire lives so they can solely fulfill the duties they were birthed into.
However, the influence and importance Plato places on poetry and music do make me wonder what it would be like if we had the same values as our military today. What if the United States military invested in the souls of its soldiers and placed within them emotional and intellectual values outside of what they have learned previously. Perhaps the military instills values and principles within soldiers to fulfill the same purpose as the guardians would in Plato's Republic and that is to only be that which the government wants you to be.
What are your thoughts and ideas?
P.S. I commented on Rachael Gregson's and Caroline Tucker's posts.
When I say I got whiplash reading your post, I mean it. Your post perfectly reveals how "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" handled the clones. All of them are clones to begin with, and they are only taught what they needed to serve the republic, and the clones that stood out to the audience are the ones that saw things outside of their "class".
ReplyDeleteBecause I wrote on the positives of Books III and IV, it's nice to read about the negatives. I highly respect Socrates's careful handling of integrity and value, but I really wish he wouldn't have made censorship mandatory. You start to question the intention behind things when they are forced and not so much suggested...
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. The censorship for the production of soldiers and the brainwashing of its citizens is something we would consider to be so inhumanness, so unjust. It just feels wrong. Yet, all this is necessary to maintain the social structure that will maintain the most amount of justice and good for the city as a whole, and because the citizens are basically brainwashed, they have no idea what they're missing out on. In theory, they are happier. It makes one question what we are giving up by placing such a high value on freedom.
ReplyDeleteWell what it begs to tell the difference of is the value America places on Personal choice. We don't seek to train clones. The us military seeks order but at the same time relies on the personal decision making and critical thinking of the moment. Hooray Improv fighting! I joke but the stories I have been told by my grandfather and other military relatives consistently reveals the power in one single decision.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point of view. I feel like their idea of education for the guardians is not true education. They are teaching the guardians what to think, not how to think for themselves, which ultimately produces clones.
ReplyDelete