Just as some men have a natural talent towards music and some do not, it is possible that some women are natural philosophers and some are not. Plato believed that everyone should contribute to society by exercising their own naturally given talents to their utmost. Plato's ideas sound similar to Marx's Communism in which an individual is required to contribute to the state according to their ability. On the other hand, important egalitarian aspects, such as belief in human equality with respect to social, political and economic rights and privileges are also evident.
Education of all members of Athenian society according to their natural abilities as well as the equality of those members is required for Plato's ideal society to prosper. Education in Athenian society was not affordable for everyone. Most of the population worked as laborers and had no time to expand their horizons. In fact only the aristocratic, elite families were able to send their children to school or hire private tutors to teach their children the fine arts of music, rhetoric, philosophy and gymnastics, which was considered very important by the Greeks. Plato states that everyone possesses natural abilities that should be refined by education. Plato realized that everyone should be educated in his or her field of expertise in order to maximize the total level of productivity in society. He argued that no man is the same "whereas the physicians and the carpenter have different natures." In this manner resources are not wasted towards the education of naturally gifted carpenter to be a physician. In Plato's mind such a separation of tasks should benefit society as a whole because, "can there be anything better for the interests of the State than that of the men and women of a State should be as good as possible." The right of every individual in a given society to receive an education is the basic notion of egalitarianism.
