Plato (429 – 347 BC)

PLATO (429 – 347 BC) Plato was born in Athens, Greece, around 429 BC. of parents who were members of the Greek aristocracy. Because of his social class. Plato was taught by many prominent educators. However, no individual will have as much social impact as he or she and his ability to debate and create dialogue. In fact, the written works of Plato are much of the information we know about Socrates comes from. While he was expected by his family to pursue a career in politics, the reality was that two events took Plato away from this lifestyle: the Peloponnesian wars (where, after the Spartan victory, some of Plato's relatives were part of the dictatorship but were displaced due to corruption) and the execution of Socrates in 399 BC by the new Athenian government. Plato's Philosophy Through Written Change Like Socrates, Plato believed philosophy was a process of continuous question-andanswer and dialogue. The two most interesting things about this dialogue are that Platos' own opinions about the things he wrote were never explicitly fabricated (although with in-depth research, one might be able to deduce his attitude) and that he was never a character in his work. In writing, Plato wanted readers to have the ability to form their own opinions about the subject and not be told how to think (this also proves how skilled he was as a writer). For this reason, many of his dialogues do not reach a concise conclusion. However, things that allow for rebuttals and doubts. Platos' dialogues deal with a wide range of subject issues, including things like art, theater, ethics, eternity, the mind and metaphysics. There are at least thirty-six dialogues written by Plato, as well as thirteen letters (although historians dispute the authenticity of the letters). FORM THEORY One of the most important concepts that Plato developed was his theory of Form. Plato stated that reality exists on two specific levels: 1. A visible world made up of sights and sounds 2. An intelligible world (the world of Form) that gives the existence of the real world. For example, when a person sees a beautiful painting, that person has the ability to identify beauty because he has an abstract concept of what beauty is, beautiful things are seen as beautiful because they are part of the form of beauty. While things in the real world can change and lose their beauty, the form of beauty is from the outside, never changes and cannot be seen Plato believed that concepts such as beauty, courage, kindness, simplicity, and justice exist all over the world, forms beyond space and time, unaffected by what happens in the visible world. While the idea of "form" appears in many of Plato's dialogues. Plato's concept of "form" differs from the text, and sometimes these differences are never fully explained. Through Plato's theory of "form", Plato incorporated abstract thought as a means to achieve greater knowledge. TRIPARTITE THEORY OF THE SOUL In one dialogue Plato discusses his understanding of rationality and the soul. The soul, according to Plato, can be broken down into three parts; intellect, passion and lust. 1. Mind. It is the part of the soul that is responsible for thinking and understanding when something is right or wrong, real or unclear, and making rational decisions. 2. Spirit. It is the part of the soul that is responsible for all the desires that desire victory and honor. 3. Lust. It is the part of the soul where very basic desires and desires originate. For example, things like thirst and hunger can be found in this part of the soul. To explain these different parts of the soul, Plato first divided three different levels in a just society: the guardian, the helper, and the laborer. By maintaining the relationship between these three parts in the right way, an individual will achieve individual justice. Similarly, Plato believed that in a perfect social life, reason would be represented by the guardian class (rules led by philosophy, which would wholeheartedly follow), the spirit would be represented by the auxiliary class (the army that would force the entire social society to obey the guardian class) and the passions would be represented by the workers, workers and merchants of society. The Importance of Education Plato placed great emphasis on the role of education and believed it to be one of the most important places in creating a healthy life. Plato saw the fragility of the child's mind and understood how easily it could be formed. He believes children should be taught from an early age to always seek wisdom and live a wise life. Plato even went so far as to make detailed directions on what exercises a pregnant woman could do so that she would have a healthy fetus and what kind of arts and sports children should engage in. Education is essential to have a just society.