Book 12
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Ath. It is not possible at this stage, Megillus and Clinias, to enact laws for such a body, before it has been duly framed; when it is, its members must themselves ordain what authority they should possess; but it is already plain that what is required in order to form such a body, if it is to be rightly formed, is teaching by means of prolonged conferences.
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Clin. How so? What now are we to understand by this observation?
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Ath. Surely we must first draw up a list of all those who are fitted by age, intellectual capacity, and moral character and habit for the office of warden; but as regards the next point, the subjects they should learn,—these it is neither easy to discover for oneselfCp. Plat. Rep. 528b ff. nor is it easy to find another who has made the discovery and learn from him. Moreover, with respect to the limits of time, when and for how long they ought to receive instruction in each subject, it were idle to lay down written regulations;Cp.Epp. 7. 341 C. for even the learners themselves could not be sure that they were learning at the opportune time until each of them had acquired within his soul some knowledge of the subject in question. Accordingly, although it would be wrong to term all these matters indescribable, they should be termed imprescribable, seeing that the prescribing of them beforehand does nothing to elucidate the question under discussion.
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Clin. What then must we do, Stranger, under these circumstances?
