Biography (427-347 B.C.E)

• Initially, was involved heavily in the political process of Athens. He was involved with several of the groups that governed the city, including the oligarchy of the Thirty Tyrants.
• Death of Socrates seemed to have a profound impact on Plato—who withdrew from political concerns and the active governance of Athens.
• Founded the Academos, a school of learning. Plato wanted to train young men to become statesmen, as he was bitterly disappointed in the conduct of those who governed the city.

  Plato and Socrates

• Plato was influential but not an ivory tower thinker.  He is best described by G.C. Field, who wrote that Plato’s life “makes it clear that the popular conception of Plato as an aloof unworldly scholar, spinning theories in his study remote from practical life, is singularly wide of the mark. On the contrary, he was a man of the world, an experienced soldier, widely traveled, with close contacts with many of the leading men of affairs, both in his own city and elsewhere.”
• Plato's main contributions are in philosophy, mathematics and science
• Plato wrote no systematic treatise giving his views. Instead, he wrote his philosophy in a series of dialogues.
• Random Trivia Note. Plato’s name was probably really Aristocles. Plato was most likely a nickname.

The World of Forms

• Plato argues for the existence of Forms, or Ideas, the unchanging archetypes of all things.
  1. Only these Forms are truly real, the physical world possesses only a relative reality
  2. Forms assure order in a world that is in constant state of change
  3. They provide the pattern from which the world of sense achieves meaning
• The supreme idea is the Idea of the Good
  1. Humans, in an uninstructed state, are chained in a world of shadows and false perceptions
  2. Harmony of the Universe comes from realization and acceptance of the Idea of the Good, which is the center of truth.

Allegory of the Cave

• Humans can think, speak, and move about the world without awareness of the World of Forms
• We can only see the shadows of things, projections…not their true Forms.
• What keeps us chained in the Cave is opinion, lack of knowledge. We are constrained, imprisoned, limited by our perceptions of the world, which keep us from seeing the World of Forms. “Education” can solve this.

Doctrine of Innatism

The Republic

Justice

• Justice is a 'human virtue' that makes a person self-consistent and good; socially, justice is a social consciousness that makes a society internally harmonious and good.
• Plato was concerned that excessive individualism and self-satisfaction (of the Sophists in particular) was leading to a breakdown of society.
• Questions the assumption that “might equals right”. Plato does not believe that power equates to justice.
• Plato: “Justice implies superior character and intelligence while injustice means deficiency in both respects. Therefore, just men are superior in character and intelligence and are more effective in action. As injustice implies ignorance, stupidity and badness, It cannot be superior in character and intelligence. A just man is wiser because he acknowledges the principle of limit.”
• Justice is not an external thing; it is internal, a part of humans. Justice is not derived from fear or negotiation, but of the human soul’s desire to do its duty.
• Justice is a form of specialization. By staying within our prescribed roles, not meddling in the affairs of another station , every citizen will be content.

Three Part Human and Governance

• The human organism contains three elements: Reason, Spirit and Appetite. An individual is just when each part of his or her soul performs its functions without interfering with those of other elements. Reason is preeminent; when all three agree among themselves that reason should rule, there is justice within the individual.
• These three human elements will be seen in the ideal state *Philosopher Kings who should rule the state *Auxiliaries, a class of warriorsthe country is the representative of spirit *Lowest Rung, artisans and farmers and the like who represent the appetite

Implications

• Authoritarianism. Plato’s republic assigns prescribed roles to people by nature of assumed characteristics. Plato talked about training young men to become the Philosopher Kings, but in practice, prescribed roles in history have tended to be hereditary, or based on wealth, race, or some other characteristic.
• Anti-Democratic. Plato despised the idea of democracy, comparing it to mob rule.