We shall have no conception of the proper limits and
distribution of activities -- what he called justice -- as a
trait of both individual and social organization. But how is the
knowledge of the final and permanent good to be achieved? In
dealing with this question we come upon the seemingly insuperable
obstacle that such knowledge is not possible save in a just and
harmonious social order. Everywhere else the mind is distracted
and misled by false valuations and false perspectives. A
disorganized and factional society sets up a number of different
models and standards. Under such conditions it is impossible for
the individual to attain consistency of mind. Only a complete
whole is fully self-consistent. A society which rests upon the
supremacy of some factor over another irrespective of its
rational or proportionate claims, inevitably leads thought
astray. It puts a premium on certain things and slurs over
others, and creates a mind whose seeming unity is forced and
distorted. Education proceeds ultimately from the patterns
furnished by institutions, customs, and laws. Only in a just
state will these be such as to give the right education; and only
those who have rightly trained minds will be able to recognize
the end, and ordering principle of things. We seem to be caught
in a hopeless circle. However, Plato suggested a way out. A few
men, philosophers or lovers of wisdom -- or truth -- may by study
learn at least in outline the proper patterns of true existence.
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