[525b]
“They are, indeed.”
“And the qualities of number appear to lead to the apprehension of
truth.” “Beyond anything,” he said.
“Then, as it seems, these would be among the studies that we are
seeking. For a soldier must learn them in order to marshal his troops, and a
philosopher, because he must rise out of the region of generation and lay hold
on essence or he can never become a true reckoner.1” “It is so,” he said.
“And our guardian is soldier and philosopher in one.”
“Of course.” “It is befitting, then, Glaucon, that
this branch of learning should be prescribed by our law and that we should
induce those who are to share the highest functions of state
1 Cf. my review of Jowett, A.J.P. xiii. p. 365. My view there is adopted by Adam ad loc., and Apelt translates in the same way.
Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969.
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