Plato Essay, Research Paper

Plato was born to an aristocratic family in Athens, Greece. When he was a child his

father, Ariston, who was believed to be descended from the early kings of Athens died, and his

mother, Perictione married Pyrilampes. As a young man Plato was always interested in political

leadership and eventually became a disciple of Socrates. He followed his philosophy and his

dialectical style, which is believed to be the search for truth through questions, answers, and

additional questions. After witnessing the death of Socrates at the hands of the Athenian

democracy in 399 B.C., Plato left Athens and continued to travel to Italy, Sicily, and Egypt.

(Internet)

In 387 B.C. Plato founded the Academy in Athens otherwise known as the first European

university. The Academy provided a wide range of curriculum including subjects such as

astronomy, biology, philosophy, political theory, and mathematics. Aristotle was the Academy’s

most outstanding student. (Internet)

The internal affairs of the academy ruled the next 20 years of Plato’s life and he wrote

nothing. Many Greek youths were attracted to the new school. Plato then went to Syracuse to

supervise the education of the ruling prince. Plato was not certain about the success of this

adventure although he felt he could not refuse this opportunity of putting his ideas to a test. It

did not work out for Plato and he returned to Athens in 360 B.C. He then devoted himself to

teaching and lecturing at the Academy. He died at age 80 in Athens in 348 B.C. Before his

death Plato completed the Sophist, the Politicus, the Philebus, the Timaeus and finally the Laws.

(Internet) DIALOGUES

The Symposium is the most widely read of Plato’s dialogues with the exception of the

Republic and it is with good reason. It’s literary merit is outstanding with philosophical and

psychological sources (Allen)THE EARLY DIALOGUES

In the early dialogues Socrates always played the leading roll. In all of them, Plato was

trying to keep the spirit of Socrates alive. There are also early dialogues that portray Socrates in

whimsical moods but always with a serious purpose. (Allen)

The Republic was the most revealing of all Plato’s early writings. Plato believed that one

could not seriously construct a political theory without a metaphysics. Therefore, we find an

outline of human life as it should be lived according to nature. (Allen) THE LATER DIALOGUES

In the later dialogues Soctates does not always play the leading role. He does not enter

into the conversation of Laws. More interest was shown in the possibilities of politics. Law and

legal government were stressed and it greatly influenced Aristotle. It is clear that in later years

Plato became more aware of the difficulties in attempting to combine science with government.

Plato’s main interest at the end of his life was to guide human effort as indicated in his last

dialogues, the Laws. (Allen)

Many students of the Academy were reaching into positions of power in the Greek world.

Plato planned a trilogy at the end of his life, the Timaeus, the Critias, and the Hermoncrates.

(Allen)THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE

Plato’s theory of knowledge can be found in the myth of the cave. The myth describes

people chained within a cave. The only images they see are the shadows of objects

and animals

held in front of a fire that is behind them that reflects on the cave walls

in front of them. That is

all they had ever seen so that is what they believe to be real. One day a man

escaped the cave

and went outside. With the sun he saw what was real in the world and realized

all he ever saw

were just shadows. He went back to the men in the cave and told them all this.

He told them

that they too could see the outside if they broke free of their chains but they

didn’t believe him. The

environment of the cave to Plato symbolizes the physical world of appearances.

Escaping into

the sun-filled world means the transition into the real world that is full and

perfect being the

world of forms, which is the proper object of knowledge. (Hare p.39)NATURE OF FORMS

The theory of Forms may be understood best in terms of mathematical entities. This

theory was his way of explaining how the same universal term can refer to so many particular

things or events. An individual is human to the extent that they resemble or participate. In the

Form “humanness” if “humanness” is defined in terms of being a rational animal and human

being to the extent that he or she is rational. An object is beautiful to the extent that it

participates in the Idea, or Form of beauty. Everything in the world of space and time is, what it

is by virtue of it’s resemblance to, or participation in, it’s universal Form. The supreme Form is

the Form of Good, which like the sun in the myth of the cave, illuminates all the other ideas.

The theory of Forms is intended to explain how one comes to know and also how things have

come to be the way that they are. (Internet) ETHICS

Plato’s ethical theory rests on the assumption that virtue is knowledge and can be taught,

which has to be understood in terms of his theory of Forms. One of his famous arguments is that

to “know the good is to do the good”. Along with that he states that anyone who behaves

immorally does so out of ignorance. He also says that a truly happy person is a moral person and

they become individuals and always desire their own happiness. They always desire to do that

which is moral. (Dolan p.76)

TRUTH

Plato illustrates truth by telling the well-known story of Gyges. Gyges one day stumbled

upon a chasm in the opening of the earth after a heavy rainfall. He came upon a horse made of

bronze which had a door on the side of it. He opened it up and saw the body of a man of

superhuman stature, wearing a gold ring. He took the ring off the finger of the body and placed

it upon his own. He later realized that if he turned the bezel of the ring inwards in the direction

of the palm of his hand he would become invisible. He would use the ring to his advantage

many a time. He would kill off anyone that stood in his way and he got whatever he wanted

without anyone suspecting him. He even quickly rose to be the King of Lydia. Now, think of the

same ring in the hands of a wise man. He would not consider that it would give him the right to

do wrong any more than if it did not belong to him. For to act secretly is not what a good man

aims at, it is what he wants to do to act rightly. (Grant 172,173) WORKS

Plato’s writings were in dialogue form. The earliest collection of Plato’s work includes

35 dialogues and 13 letters. It is still disputed if some of them are authentic or not.

The works of Plato can be split up into 3 groups. The earliest dialogues represent his

attempt to communicate the philosophy and style of Socrates, many of the dialogues take the

same for of the writings from him. (Internet)PLATO’S ACHIEVEMENTS

Plato’s actual achievements in his field was great. He had a greater claim than

anyone

else to be called the founder of philosophy. What is unique about Plato is the

progress towards a

much tougher, more precise logical and metaphysical theory, a moral philosophy

and a

philosophy of language. Through discussion and criticism, they shaped the entire

future of

philosophy. (Hare) Plato’s development of the topic “The one and the many” sought

an explanation of the

variety of things on reason. The search started with the question “What were

their origins” and

“What are they all made of “. Scientists went on asking this question and answering

it. Plato

grasped the truth that understanding is different from science and just as imporant.

(Hare)INTERVIEW

One of Plato’s most famous ideas is the idea that the world is a rational place

and that

we are all here for a reason. People are good because they want to be good not

because they will

be punished if they are not and rewarded if they are. Plato works from top to

bottom with his

philosophy as opposed to bottom to top. It is shown by his work that you do

not run into as

many problems doing it the reverse way that he does. Rationality is used to

eliminate the feeling

in a person. It is the complete opposite of emotion, rationality is used in

all views. Emotion

causes more problems because none of the acts such as hate, love, murder, lust,

fear….are

rational.

This idea of reason usually conflicts with the ideas of the bible but in Plato’s

case the views were

quite similar. Art is a form that is not looked upon as highly in society as

rationality because

there is so much emotion put into it. One of the best examples is love love

is not a rational

thought and with art love is expressed a lot throughout important pieces. “Rational

thought” is

known to be able to start government and lifestyles, although not all lifestyles

can be controlled.

Take for instance an alcoholic is an alcoholic because they are not being rational

and it is not

that they can’t stop drinking it is that they don’t have enough willpower to

stop. It all comes down

to lack of control and lack of reason. Most of what we do is not based on rational

thought and

even though we know that it should be we too do not have the willpower to change

our lifestyles

around. First of all, we wouldn’t be able to survive because it would mean getting

rid of all

emotional thoughts and feelings and that is close to impossible. Second to live

like that would

seem so far out and unreal that no one would even try to attempt it. No one

can live life without

love, lust, hate, and fear they are things that every human being is born with

and will die with. Plato always

presumed that rational was good, and right, but to us in this world rational

is impossible.

(Swanson)

Allen, R.E. The Dialogues of Plato, Volume II. London: Yale University Press Publisher,

1991. Grant, Michael. Cicero, Selected Works. Blatimore: Penguin Books Publisher, 1960. Dolan, John P. The Essentials Erasmus. New York: The new American Library Publisher, 1964 Internet. Plato (circa 428-C.-347 B.C) Plato Page. http://www.connect.net/ron/plato.html. Hare, R.M. Plato. London: Oxford University Press, 1892