ALBERT M.

PALLAYA Page 1 of 2
SOCIO POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY APRIL 07, 2010
LANGE: THE FUNCTIONOF EDUCATION

According to Lange, Plato appears to be inconsistent in his treatment on women. In her article, Lange is
clear and sure that there is really irregularity between the equality being held by Plato between the rights of men and
women, she even include children. In the Republic, Plato offers education on both sexes it is therefore quoted from
Lange writing, “Males and Females should be educated equally for the highest function,” pointing this out to be
clear, Plato emphasizes that education is open for both sexes. For clarification, what Plato would like to infer is that
both sexes should be educated equally with regards to virtues that are essential and is important to the State, these
virtues are wisdom, courage, temperance and justice. Lange on the other put emphasis on the next quote “while at
the same time he believed that women were ultimately not as good as men”, in this, Lange is trying to point out that
this is the inconsistency showed by Plato in his Feminism. Based on my own understanding and interpretation of the
article of Lange, she is overshadowed by the Plato’s experience with his wife. Plato’s prejudice on women
accordingly is influenced by his experience on his wife. In this point of view, Lange interpreted the work of Plato in
this light.

Plato’s feminism is all about the total omission of women from men’s role in the society in which he
shows his bias on the treatment to women of his period. Accordingly, women on Plato’s period are treated as
property. In this regard, Lange is trying to criticize Plato’s notion regarding to the discrimination of sexes in Plato’s
Republic, it is plain and obvious according to her that Plato is anti-feminism. Her justification is that on Plato’s
concept on women as an inferior class compared to men’s class is derived from Plato’s bias notion towards the sexes
in their role to the society. For Lange that there is no clear indication of Plato’s concern to fairness and equality
regarding women and as to what is his motive in his suggesting the exclusion of women from any social function.
In this manner, Lange interpreted it as “is not an equal participation for women in the good life he was concerned
about, but some other good for the whole city,” in regard to the vagueness of Plato on his claim. It is then true for
her that Plato’s nation of guardianship is only limited for male sexes due to the fact that are soft. This connotation of
Lange interpretation of Plato’s work is from the notion that women on Plato’s period were claimed only as property
and that they are just subordinates of their husband. She therefore jumped into the conclusion that women in Plato’s
Republic could not be treated equally because women are weaker in every aspect.

For my own interpretation on the work of Lange, the only point in which she is clear in presenting the
unequal treatment of women in the society is that of the difference between private and public sphere in the society.
In defense to Lange criticism and interpretation, Plato allows equal treatment on women in order for them to learn
virtues. In contrast now a day, women are given the opportunity to live with equal right to other sexes. We can
observe that in our society, we now had different works that are offered in for women. Plato also emphasizes the
importance of labor in a society, in this manner he pointed out that women should not be treated as mere property.

In the Philippine context, women are provided with equal opportunities in contrast to the opposite sex. We
can now observed that there women that are pilot, president, welder and not only that even of becoming a security
guards and becoming a police. In this manner, it is just proper to share equally the benefits of education to both
sexes. Plato himself accepts that it is necessary to have equal education because it is important in identification of
the member of the society’s function. For Plato, in a society it is necessary to have a division of labor, by virtue of
education; member of the society is directed on to what field of work opportunity they are suited.

For Plato’s feminism he states that “community of women and children as he cause of unity of the sate”
therefore he is accepting that there is really a need for women to be treated equally with the opposite sex. As for my
own interpretation, Plato showed in the Republic the essence and importance of women on the society and the
should also have proper education, guardianship is not only limited to men, it is also for women if and only if these
ALBERT M. PALLAYA Page 2 of 2
SOCIO POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY APRIL 07, 2010
women knew the proper virtues on how to govern a state and if and only if they are trained well on this art of
governing.

In defense to Lange: Plato on Women

To defend Plato from Lange I would like to quote from the Republic, “men and women are to have
common way of life such as we described – common education, common children; and they are to watch
over the citizen in common whether abiding in the city or going out of war; they are to keep watch
together….women are to share with men,” the contention in this is that there should be equality on both sexes. Plato
described everything on the Republic with regards to women as they are to be given opportunities in as much as they
can manage to do it well. He accepts that women are weaker in nature but they are not the basis of unequal treatment
for women on the society. For Plato, man and women “will have a common interest in the same thing they will call
“my own” and having this interest they will have a common feeling of pleasure and pain,” should have unity in
order to create harmonious society.

Opportunities should not only limit to women because they are weaker in stature and that they are weaker
in nature, accordingly they can also do the functions of men. Not all women according to Plato are weak, they are
some who are strong and willed individual, and this is the point in which Plato is raising the idea that women should
have equality with men. Lastly on this defense, Lange is not focused in his writing, she focuses her attention on the
role of women according to the Republic well in fact the title of her article is all about education. She should have
focused it on the education of women not on the roles of women on the society. Even when she included the role of
women on the society, she is still lost on her track because there is, in the Republic there is opportunity opened to
women, in contrast to the idea of Lange that there is inequality to the treatment of women on Plato’s Republic.

What Plato tries to explain in his Republic especially on Book V is that women are given the equal
opportunity with the opposite sex in regards to the benefit they contribute to the state. In analysis to Plato’s work, he
does not fully explain his notion on feminism and equality in education but the standing of women on the society
based on the regard that women can contribute something in regard to the wellness of the state. Plato gave
importance to women social status on the state not as they are to be treated as property but as co-individual that exist
on the same plane of the state. On guardianship, Plato establish the point in which women can also become a
guardian, women are given the chance to function as such in a manner that they are given equal status on the state as
what is given to the opposite sex. it is true that Plato shows a difference between the roles of the sexes within the
society with respect to their function, But the idea of what role would the women would do is based on the
distribution of roles or divisions of labor.

As a conclusion, Plato never intends to build in his writing position of feminism but instead, he paved the
way for the creation of feminism. He only establish the position of the women on the society, he opened up the
opportunity for the women to be as equal with the opposite sex in terms of their beneficial contribution to the
society. Plato admits that in some fields women are superior to the opposite sex and on the other hand he also points
out men’s superiority on other fields such as the use of masculine power.