孟子与柏拉图的国家教育理想比较

Comparison of Mengzi and Plato's National Education Ideals

孟子的教育强调内化,把人性善———以善养人———服天下直接挂钩;柏拉图认为人性贪欲,教育注重外化,从教养灵魂———个人正义———到国家正义,以法律规定对公民监控教育。王权专制下的孟子其教育思想是开放的,希望以教育王天下;民主制度下的柏拉图主张封闭式的愚民教育。孟子和柏拉图的国家教育理想具有互补性,对当代教育乃至治国都有启发。

The national education ideal of Mengzi emphasizes internalization which directly combines the ideas that the basic human nature is good and honest, so the emperor should cultivate his people by righteousness, then he will get the respect from the people. On the contrary, Plato＇s national education ideal put emphasis on externalization, which is upon the premise that the basic human nature is greedy, so people rely on religions to train their spirit to be a righteous person, this will further lead to a justice of the whole nation. He believes to monitor civil education by using principles of law. Comparatively speaking, the ideal of Mengzi under an autocracy system is open which aims to govern the nation by education, while the ideal of Plato under a democratic system tries to limit people＇s thoughts through education. The complementarity of the ideals of Mengzi and Plato can give enlightenment on modern education and the govern of countries.