show further that by this means education so increases the effectiveness
of the conscious reactions of the child and so modifies his instincts
and his habits as to add to his social efficiency. As, however, many
divergent and incomplete views are held by educators and others as to
the real purpose of public instruction, it will be well at this stage to
consider briefly some of the most important types of these theories.

=Aristocratic View.=--It may be noted that the experience, or knowledge,
represented in the curriculum cannot exist outside of the knowing mind.
In other words, arithmetic, grammar, history, geography, etc., are not
something existing apart from mind, but only as states of consciousness.
Text-books, for instance, do not contain knowledge but merely symbols of
knowledge, which would have no significance and give no light without a
mind to interpret them. Some, therefore, hold that the school, in
seeking to translate this social experience into the consciousness of
the young, should have as its aim merely to conserve for the future the
intellectual and moral achievements of the present and the past. This
they say demands of the school only that it produce an intellectual
priesthood, or a body of scholars, who may conserve wisdom for the light
and guidance of the whole community. Thus arises the aristocratic view
of the purpose of education, which sees no justification in the state
attempting to provide educational opportunities for all of its members,
but holds rather that education is necessary only for the leaders of
society.

=Democratic View.=--Against the above view, it is claimed by others
that, while public education should undoubtedly be conducted for the
benefit of the state as a whole; yet, since a chain cannot be stronger
than its weakest link, the efficiency of the state must be measured by
that of its individual units. The state, therefore, must aim, by means