A long hand of education

Many modern scholars use the terms ‘liberalism' and ‘liberal ideas' uncritically from a historical point of view. For example, we can assume that Plato's judgments from the Republic about the absence in Callipolis external regulations for the activities of the ‘economic class' (425 d-e) resemble the ideas of Adam Smith's political economy. However, these judgments should not be taken as indications of the liberal spirit on the part of Plato; in fact, they are caused by the mere fact that political sphere in Callipolis was alienated from the economy. This and other examples show that one must try to take into account the real historical context of any of the judgments made by the ancients, as far as possible.