it would not have been wise to let them “taste the dear delight too early;. . . for young men, when they first get the taste of philosophy in their mouths, argue for amusement, and are always contradicting and refuting,. . . like puppy-dogs who delight to tear and pull at all who come near them” (539). This dear delight, philosophy, means two things chiefly: to think clearly, which is metaphysics; and to rule wisely, which is politics. First then, our young Elite must learn to think clearly. For that purpose they shall study the doctrine of Ideas.
