Plato: The Start of Western Thought

1. Plato: The Start of Western Thought

2. Get to Know Plato… Plato (c.427-348 B.C.E.) is actually the nickname of Aristocles, which came from Platon, meaning wide or broad (one story has it that he had wide shoulders, and another that he had a wide forehead). Aristocles meant “best, or most renowned,” and he did well in practically everything. Plato was the son of one of the oldest and most elite families in Athens. Through his mother’s family he was related to the celebrated lawgiver, Solon. His father’s family traced its lineage back to the ancient kings of Athens.

3. Plato and Politics Plato was born into a family with connections, a family in the Aristocracy of the time. Plato was dear friends with his teacher Socrates, about whom he wrote most of his works. At the time, Athens was democratic, so this was the world Plato knew But remember how Socrates died, at the hands of a democratic vote, by the many. This, no doubt, cast a shadow on that form of gov’t for Plato.

4. The Academy After the revolt of the Thirty and execution of Socrates, Plato left Athens and wandered for nearly twelve years. He studied with Euclid. He traveled to Egypt where he studied mathematics and mysticism, both of which influenced his later philosophy. At about age forty, after finishing most of his writings, he founded his Academy (c.388 B.C.E.), named after the Greek hero, Academos. It was a philosophical retreat, isolated from the turmoil of Athenian politics. His chief function was probably as teacher and administrator. Here Plato spent the next forty years, lecturing “without notes” until he died. (around 347 B.C.E)

5. The Chaos Plato Inherited • Heraclitus: • All is in flux. You never step into the same river twice. • This makes knowledge all but impossible. If all we experience is never the same, never stable, then what are the objects of our knowledge? It seems that we’ll be stuck with Relativism.

6. Chaos cont’d • Parmenides • There is no real change, the change we sense and think we know is only opinion.

7. Plato’s Epistemology Plato was determined to show that skepticism and relativism of the Sophists was mistaken. He also aimed to reconcile the claims of Heraclitus (“change alone is unchanging”) and Parmenides (“change is an illusion”). While both theories were to be avoided by themselves, Plato saw enough merit in each man’s points to attempt a reconciliation.

8. The Theory of Forms In Plato’s metaphysics, the level of being consists of timeless essences or entities called Forms. Such a metaphysics is sometimes called transcendental, because it asserts that there is a plane of existence that transcends, or goes beyond, our ordinary perception of things. The Greek root for form (eidos) is sometimes translated as idea or concept. A form, then. is a purely mental entity, but one that is independent of all minds (in other words, its reality does not depend on the minds that think it). And although the forms actually exist, they are not physical objects. Their reality is purely ideal or conceptual.

9. Why Plato Needed the Forms Plato wanted the theory of Forms to provide a rational explanation of how knowledge is possible. Since we do have knowledge (e.g., mathematics and geometry), how does it happen, and what is its object? If I say “I know that a triangle has angles that add to 180 degrees,” what is the object of that piece of knowledge? He also wanted a way of identifying those who are wise and those who are not – in other words, a means of determining when something was actual knowledge versus when something was simply a matter of opinion. Remember:

10. The Divided Line Plato used the concept of the divided line to illustrate the relationship of knowledge to opinion, of appearance to reality. He claimed there are levels of awareness – from imagination to perception to reasoning to understanding – and that one can move from the lowest to the highest by thinking in terms of a hierarchy of Forms.

11. Plato’s Divided Line The divided line expresses Plato’s hierarchical view of reality and wisdom.

12. The Form of the Good At the top of this divided line is “the Form of Forms,” the Form of the Good. This Form cannot be observed with the senses, but known only by pure thought. Comprehension of the Good is unlike other forms of knowing, in that it is holistic, rather than partial. Plato compares the Good to the Sun in order to give an idea to those at a lower level of awareness: just as the Sun enables vision, so the Good enables understanding and intelligibility. This “Simile of the Sun” occurs in a passage from the Republic in which Plato (as Socrates) contemplates their likeness as sources of seeing and “seeing.”

13. The Allegory of the Cave In Book VII of the Republic, Plato tells a tale to illustrate the idea of the divided line. At the beginning, prisoners are shackled to images and mythical accounts, and then one breaks free to find that the images are being produced by perceptible objects. The shift from perception to reason is then illustrated by someone leaving the cave entirely (Plato, thanks to Socrates). That person then realizes that they have been in a “cave” all along, and that what they had taken to be most real is simply the limitations of their senses. If they use their minds, they are able to “see” that there is much more to the world than meets the eye.

14. The Rule of the Wise The person who makes the ascent out of the cave, from illusion to enlightenment, is wise. They can return to the cave – to inform the others of their predicament – but they should not expect to be understood when they return. Plato believes that these people – who have escaped the cave of opinion, who think in terms of the Forms – should be the rulers of the state, for they better than anyone are able to rule for the sake of the whole community. Hence, Plato’s fundamental vision is deliberately hierarchical and aristocratic rather than egalitarian and democratic.

15. The Search for Justice This “rule of the wise” is the idea behind Plato’s ideal state, the Republic. Plato argued that a reciprocal relationship exists between the individual and the kind of society he or she lives in. He claimed there was a dynamic relation, so that a good society makes it easier to produce good people, and good people make it easier to produce a good society. And if the wise are in charge of ordering things, that reciprocal relationship is more likely to occur.

16. Function and Happiness The Republic contrasts two views of morality: the instrumental and the functionalist. instrumental theory of morality - right and wrong are treated as means to, or instruments for, getting something else (in other words, being good for some ulterior motive). functionalist theory of morality - happiness is the result of living a fully functional life (in other words, being good is part of functioning well). Plato argues for the latter theory, based on his view of the soul.

17. The Parts of the Soul Plato felt that there were three parts of the human soul: appetite, spirit, and reason. Appetite- cause us to move in order to get things we want, such as food and mates. Spirit - drives us to achieve things, to do better (than others) in school, at work, etc. Reason- guides our appetites and spirit, like a charioteer does the horses that pull the chariot, so that things don’t get out of control. Reason is the only part of the soul capable of fulfilling this function, because it is the only part that is capable of “knowing.”

18. The Cardinal Virtues Plato identifies four “cardinal virtues” that are necessary for a happy individual. They are: Temperance – self-control or moderation. Courage – necessary for one’s protection. Wisdom – necessary for training and guiding. Justice – balanced functioning of the whole. All of these virtues are also necessary for a good society, so Plato decides that the ideal state should be comprised of people who exhibit such virtues.

19. The Republic Just as there are three parts to the human soul, so there should be three parts to the ideal state. There should be workers who provide for our basic needs for food and shelter. There should be warriors who protect us – as the military does from foreigners and the police do from neighbors. And there should be guardians who watch over us and order things for our collective welfare. This job would go to the wise and able leaders, to those Plato called “philosopher-kings.”

20. Societies and Individuals In Plato’s ideal state, justice results from individuals acting well in relation to each other, just as a happy individual results from the parts of its soul functioning well together. Plato believes that it is in each individual’s own best interest to act well – even when it might seem better to do whatever they can get away with. Here Plato is thinking of long-term happiness, of the state we have to live in after we have done whatever we could get away with (think back to his dialogue between Socrates and Thrasymachus).

21. The Tyranny of Excess Just as individuals can let their appetites and spirit get the best of them, “tyrannizing” their lives, so states can be controlled by individuals who rule for their own sake – tyrants. For this reason, Plato thought tyranny the worst form of government. Overindulging wouldn’t be beneficial for an individual’s overall well-being. Likewise, Plato thought that letting the unwise, the “masses,” run things was hardly any better for society as a whole.

22. Plato on Democracy • Plato makes it a point to say that Democracy seems like the best form of government because its implications are “attractive”. Namely, people get to establish their own rules, based on their immediate wants and needs. • But is what we want “right now” always in our best interest? • If we’re still mentally “in the cave”, not seeing things as they really are, then it seems like Democracy will merely get us what we want based on our lack of information. In the end, we won’t make any progress, and if we do, it will be accidental, like true opinion, as opposed to knowledge.

23. Utopia The utopia that Plato envisioned would avoid such problems (by ensuring that people performed duties dictated by their natural abilities, just as the parts of the soul were controlled to perform their proper functions). The Republic, then, is the form of government best suited to human happiness.