Download
1 / 13
130 likes | 466 Views
Plato & Socrates. 5 th CENTURY BC. Socrates & Plato. The real story of Western Philosophy starts with Plato and with his mentor Socrates, whose teachings he (Plato) put down in writing.
E N D
Plato & Socrates 5th CENTURY BC
Socrates & Plato • The real story of Western Philosophy starts with Plato and with his mentor Socrates, whose teachings he (Plato) put down in writing. • Many of the pre-Socratic philosophers (eg. Thalis, Pythagoras etc) are known to us only through fragments or summaries of their main ideas. • With Socrates (thank to Plato) we have a complete picture of his ideas and philosophies. And the way that Plato did it was through the process of doubting and questioning EVERYTHING that we believe in order to discover or uncover truth.
Socrates & Plato • The Pre-Socratics were concerned with the NATURE OF REALITY … • Questions like – • What is the world made of? (Thalis) • Is the world a unified thing? Are seemingly opposing ideas referring to the same thing from a different perspective and therefore united? (Parmenides) • Is the world in a changing state all the time? (Heraclitus)
Socrates & Plato • By the 5th century Athens was a flourishing city state and the lucky ones were enjoying democracy if they happened not to be slaves. • School of philosophers named SOPISTS was teaching the citizens of Athens how to win arguments • The Sophists (like modern lawyers) were more concerned about HOW to win an argument rather than with ideals of justice or truth (eg. Slavery vs Democracy)
Socrates & Plato • Socrates very often clashed with the SOPHISTS. Why? • Socrates believed that philosophy should be used/employed to discover truth NOT simply to win the argument/discussion • His student Plato fictionalized many dialogues between Socrates and the Sophists in which Socrates is debating such matters as ‘What is the highest form of love?’ ‘what is virtue?’ • Socrates (according to Plato) was aiming for the ideals in life, not simply filling his head with the knowledge of the nature of things.
Socrates & Plato • Socrates accepted to be executed because his contemporaries did not want him around, challenging their thoughts. He was given the choice of renouncing his philosophy and being exiled OR to hold on to his ideas and die. • He chose to die.
Socrates & Plato • Socrates had a way of asking questions to his fellow Athenians on their beliefs and slowly slowly with his questions showing them that they were wrong in what they proposed. • Then he would proceed to tell them his perception of the truth. • Today when we read his philosophies we may consider them strange or even self justifying • Eg – at the end of the Symposium Socrates ‘proves’ that the highest form of love is the one that is shared between an older teacher and an attractive young student) like most of his contemporaries they considered homosexuality as perfectly normal.
Socrates & Plato • So why is he so high up on the list of philosophers and a central figure of the philosophical world? • Firstly the profile of the philosopher he presents is of a restless inquisitive seeker of truth who will question everything from a complex to the simplest matters of reality and experience in order to learn more about the world • Secondly the Socratic method of philosophizing/ doing dialect is at the heart of over two thousand years of philosophy. His method tests out possible answers to a question, rejecting any inconsistencies in logic and he slowly slowly approaches the truth
Socrates & Plato Plato’s writings for Socrates’ philosophy • Two of the most well known works of Plato presenting the beliefs of Socrates are: • ‘The Republic’ is the most complete statement of Socrates’ beliefs (or how Plato presents those beliefs). It centers around the meaning of justice and with that in view present a system of beliefs about reality and human society. • ‘The Allegory of the Cave’ gives one of the most important images of philosophy. …
Socrates & Plato • In “The Republic’ Plato tries to answer the question of what is justice and in his attempt to reach to an answer he suggests that if we think clearly and perceive the true forms of reality we will naturally desire to do the just thing in any situation. • Of course all of this is questionable but he takes it to be true and from there he goes on to describe a society in which people would want to do what is just and better perceive justice and truth. • Plato rejects the democracy of his time and suggests the idea of a society in which men and women are equally educated and in which children are removed from their natural parents and brought up for the good of society.
Socrates & Plato • He suggests that art and fiction should be banned from society, the republic, because they infere with the idea of truth and beauty. • The laws in the republic are to be made by those citizens that have a higher state of knowledge. Of course these citizens would be the philosphers. • So by a simple questions on justice he ends up talking about philosopher kings among whom he considers himself to be one. • This is the danger of Socratic method – that even the most stupid arguments could be presented with such skill as to persuade.
Socrates & Plato • One thing that Plato teaches is that the first steps on the road to knowledge are doubt, intelligent debate and a burning desire for the truth. • ‘An unexamined life is not worth living.’
HomeworkGo on the web and read the Allegory of the Cave.Write down what do you understand for it to mean. Write your opinion without consulting the experts.
