Plato's Philosophy PDF

PLATO name is Aristocles (428-348 BCE). He Plato's real was born Athens to one of Greece's aristocratic in families. He was nicknamed Plato because of his which means 'wide/broad...

PLATO name is Aristocles (428-348 BCE). He Plato's real was born Athens to one of Greece's aristocratic in families. He was nicknamed Plato because of his which means 'wide/broad.' Plato left physical built Socrates. When Athens for 12 years after the death of known as 'The he returned he established a school Academy.' Socrates left strong influence on a Plato. Both believed that philosophy is more than analyses but rather is way of life. Socrates did not write anything a wrote more than twenty Dialogues with Socrates as protagonist in but Plato most of them (Price 2000). Plato's metaphysics (philosophical study on the causes and nature of things) is known as the'Theory of Forms.' This was discussed in one of his Dialogues (The Republic). Forms, Plato explained that Forms refers In his Theory of towhat are real) They are not objects that are encountered with the senses but can only be grasped intellectually. Plato's Forms have the following characteristics: 1. The Forms are ageless and therefore are eternal. 2. The Forms are unchanging and therefore permanent. 3. The Forms are unmoving and indivisible. Inconnection with the Forms, Plato' also introduced to the West the existence of two realms. This is known as Plato's Dualism: 1. The Realm of the Shadows is composed of changing, 'sensible'things which are lesser entities and therefore imperfect and flawed. 2. The Realm of Forms is composedof eternal things which are permanent and perfect. It is the source of all reality and true knowledge.  PLATO'S VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE it animportant considered Plato made use Socrates' dialectic method and within the of lies that knowledge in discovering knowledge. He also ofthe tool believed universal microcosms person's soul. He considered beings ashuman found in people can also be macrocosm i.e. everything in the universe if the materials of the Even earth, air, fire, water, mind and spirit (Price, 2000). immortal, have the humans human body and the physical world are imperfect, divine. In his of the in the image rational soul which Plato_believed is created components: Republic, Plato described the soul as having three and truth. 1. The Reason is rational and is the motivation for goodness the or the drive toward action. non-rational and is will 2. Tne Spirited is is initially neutral but can be influenced/pulled in two Inis part of thesoul directions. for pleasures lean towards the desire 3. The Appetites are irrational and of the body. see things in their true nature. Reason seeks the true goal of man which is to Appetites want worldly pleasures and Usually, however, the Spirited and the believe that sensual pleasures are the can influence reason by making it source of happiness. Plato believed that people are intrinsically good. Sometimes, however, judgments are made in ignorance and Plato equates ignorance with evil (Price,2000). PLATO'S THEORY OF LOVE AND BECOMING Plato further illustrated his philosophy THE CAVE of the search for knowledge using the Allegory of the Cave.' In the Allegory of the Cave, what people in the cave see shadows of reality which they are only believe are real things and represents knowledge. What these people fail to realize isthat the shadows are not real for according to Plato, "only the Forms are real." Once these people get out of the cave and into the light, what they will see are the Forms which is what real knowledge is. This knowledge, thereforeis true because itis knowledge of what is. In knowing the truth accordingto Plato,. the person must become the truth. This is his Theory of Beina. To know for Plato is tobe. The more the person knows, the more he is and the better heis. Each individual has in his immortal soula perfect set of Forms that he can recallwhich constitutes true knowledge. To recallor remember the Forms is toknow the truth and then to become just and wise. But how can people get out of the cave and into the world of Forms? In Plato's Symposium (another Dialogue), he postulated that love is the way by which a person can move from a state of imperfect knowledge and ignorance to a state of perfection and true knowledge. Love is the force that paves the way for allbeings to ascend to higherstages of self-realization and perfection. Plato's love begins with a feeling or experience that there is something lacking. This then drives the person to seek for that which is lacking. Thoughts and efforts are then directed towards the pursuit of that which is lacking. The deeper the thought, the stronger is the love. For Plato, love is the way of knowing and realizing the truth. Love is a process of seeking higher stages of being. The greater the love, the more intellectual component it will contain. Lifelong longing and pursuit seek even higher stages of love which lead to the possession of absolute beauty. It is this pursuit that motivates man and transforms people and societies. To love the highest according to Plato is to become the best (Moore and Bruder, 2002).