no knowledge of the art of navigation, deny that this is a necessary qualification for a pilot, and heap abuse on anyone who does not help them to achieve their goals. Socrates then acknowledges that many philosophers are indeed corrupt, but attributes this to the fact that they are brought up in a corrupt society. Only in the ideal state will a philosopher be able to achieve his full potential, "and be the saviour of his country, as well as of himself". Having returned to the subject of the ideal state, Socrates elaborates on the way in which his Guardians would be educated, in order to lead them to a full and total knowledge of the Forms. This education will last thirty-five years, and prospective Guardians must then spend a further fifteen years occupying lesser offices, in order to gain experience of life. At the age of fifty, they will be qualified to rule. As philosophers, however, they will have no desire to engage in politics; they will do so only from a sense of duty. Socrates concludes this portion of the dialogue by reaffirming that the ideal state is capable of being realised, but only if one or more philosophers were to somehow come to power in a city. He further suggests that if this were to happen, the quickest way for a philosopher king to bring the perfect state into existence would be to send away every inhabitant over the age of ten, so as to be able to bring up the younger generation in accordance with philosophic principles. History of interpretation Aristotle, in his Politics, criticises many aspects of Plato's political theory, and sets out his own ideas about how a perfect city should be governed. Rather than proposing, as Plato does, the establishment of a ruling class, Aristotle argues that all citizens should take an equal share in the administration of the city. However, in one passage (book 3, ch. 13), Aristotle does write that if one or more people happened to be found who far excelled their fellow citizens in virtue, it would be against the natural order for such people to be subject to the rule of their inferiors, and they should therefore be made "kings in their state for life". While Aristotle here comes close to endorsing the philosopher-king ideal, he does not expressly state that this virtuous leader should be skilled in