The Corruption of Education and the Decline of the Regime: An Analysis of Book Ⅲ of Plato's Laws

In Book Ⅲ of Laws, education is regarded as the decisive factor in the rise and fall of a regime. The harem education in Persia led to the decline of monarchy, while the musical education in Athens led to the decline of democracy. The harem or court education was indulgent, fostering the monarch's capriciousness and enslavement of the people; musical education was likewise indulgent, fostering the people's capriciousness and fearless attitude towards the authority of law. Good education must be "temperate" and "moderate", that is, it must maintain a middle course in the relationship between freedom (pleasure) and slavery (awe), without leaning to either extreme. Only on such a foundation can a stable and virtuous regime be built.