PLATO

Ali Cebe

ID:101205359

ali.cebe@georgebrown.ca

George Brown College

ANCIENT GREAT THINKERS CRN-10939-202201

Dr. Thomas Ponniah

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 PLATO

Introduction

When we consider philosophy as footnotes to Plato, it seems possible to take

Plato and his teacher Socrates as the starting point, although many philosophers have
put forward their views on morality (Cormack 2006: 23). Socrates' views influenced
Plato, therefore, two philosophers were often evaluated together in readings on the
history of thought. In this context, we think that it would be right to consider Plato's
moral understanding, which is the subject of our article, together with Socrates' views.

The forms and rules of behavior that people have to comply with in a society are
called morality. In general, it can be thought of as a set of rules that are considered to be
absolutely good or that include a certain understanding of life (Muresan 2000: 16).
Morality is also the whole of the behaviors that are dominated by the individual and that
everyone wants to be subject to these dominant moral rules. Here, morality is thought of
as a form of behavior related to the individual rather than being attributed to the society
as a whole. Moral action is far from arbitrary, which means that the individual can
realize his will. Because it has an indispensable quality for human existence. The
canonical nature of morality can lead to alienation from it. However, morality is the
individual's living in society, as well as constructing his life in order to express himself.
Morality can neither be reduced to society nor to the individual. Morality has to be
related to both the individual and the society (Muresan 2000: 25).

1. Plato and Morality

Morality; It was expressed as the rules that people have to follow in society, but
are these rules valid for every society or are they specific to societies? The only way to
reveal this is to look at the way of life of societies. Because it would be illusory to think
that moral rules are universal. Therefore, in order to understand Plato's moral views, it is
important to look at the lifestyle of Antiquity. The psychology that dominated this
period is expressed in one word, plenexia, that is, “always wanting more”, greed and

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arrogance, greed for power and selfishness are the most prominent emotions in this
period. It is difficult for a society that is insatiable to always want more to establish
moral rules. Even if such rules are established, it is unlikely that they will be adopted in
an environment of selfishness (Saxonhouse 1984: 5). In addition, it can be said that the
Greeks had customs such as barren lands, burning down forests and cutting down fruit
trees just for the sake of evil. (It takes sixteen, eighteen years for an olive tree to bear its
first fruit in Mediterranean lands.) This barbaric attitude of the Greeks was not only
valid for their enemies, but also for the people they breathed the same air. In order to
eliminate the destruction caused by this situation, the big landlords took such places and
rehabilitated them (Saxonhouse 1984: 6). With this practice, which can be considered as
the first application of the capitalist system, the people, whose land or harvested crops
were taken from them, were exposed to the practices of the slavery system.

In antiquity, slavery carried risk of profit and loss, was perceived as a more or
less equal security, and meant regular income. Therefore, it had an economic dimension.
To what extent can moral coherence be expected in a society where the human being is
so little valued? With the devaluation of the individual, it becomes impossible for the
individual to construct his life, that is, to live a moral life. There is no moral attitude in
such a society (Plato 2000: 67).

Morality is the good state of mind, while immorality is the opposite. Likewise,
while a moral person leads a good life, an immoral person leads a bad life, and naturally
a person with a good life will be happy, while a person with a bad life will be unhappy.
When we generalize all these, the moral person will get more rewards than the immoral
person. In that case, morality is a two-world philosophy, and therefore it would not be
right to think about morality only for this world. Plato realized this situation and built
his philosophy on this plane (Annas 1976: 308). In other words, to understand Plato,
instead of being stuck in the sensory realm, you need to expand your space and go out
of the world. Just as Ludwig Wittgenstein put it in the early Tractatus, in which he
stated that to see the limits of language, one must go outside the world. Plato put his
teacher's ideas into practice. That is to say, Plato is after things that contain beauty
related to the sensory universe, are free from rubbish, are not ugly, are bright,
unchanging, remain as they are, and do not get lost in the darkness of the earth. This
search of Plato was to find the essence of these things in order to understand and explain

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the things he was after. Plato's search opened the door to ideals for him (Buchan 1999:
36).

2. Plato's Conception and Philosophy of the Dual Spirit

While Plato is telling us about morality, it is necessary to read from Farabi what
kind of person he is: Plato considers self-education at the top of the things that need to
be done, according to him, the soul of a true philosopher keeps himself away from
pleasures, passions, sorrows and fears, in this world, he is above truth and virtue
(Cormack, 2006: 60). According to him, this world is nothing but a prison. In short, a
person should live in this world in accordance with reason and wisdom, and should not
fall into the deadlock of money, honor and fame (Scott & Welton, 2008: 56). While
Plato was imagining the person who should behave in this way, he designed an allegory
of two worlds instead of a single world. With this imagination, Plato aims to lay the
foundations of his ideal society by sharing what he knows as "Right" with the society.
In order to understand this effort of Plato, it would be appropriate to look at the
statements he made about the need to build a moral society (Blundell 1995: 22).

Plato's understanding of the dual soul gives us the foundations of his

understanding of morality. Accordingly, while one of the two elements of the soul is
downward, the other takes an upward attitude, and these two spirits are constantly in
motion regarding their own realms. While the downward spirit is constantly striving to
comply with earthly pleasures, the upward spirit is constantly in motion towards the
realm of ideas, since it does not belong to the earth (Annas 2009: 92). As a result, the
two-element soul belonging to the different realm is in a constant state of contention.
The conflict between the two is the desire to achieve their own will and the realm they
want. However, the outcome of this conflict will not be positive for either of them.
Unless this conflict between the two leaves its place to sleep, it will not be possible for
the soul to go where it wants.

Conclusion

The incompatibilities between the soul and the body will continue until the
resurrection in the body, where rebirths will take place, and the purification of the evils
in this body. Perhaps what a man should do is not to pollute his immortal soul. For this,

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the truth is to live according to values. In order to live in a measured manner, besides
the harmonious movement of the soul and body, it should be known that this world is
deceptive and it should be acted on this level of consciousness. The soul that realizes
this will attain eternal life by going to the divine realm and Hades, where the good and
the heroes are located (Groneberg 2005: 39). While being moral is a necessity for Plato
to pass the filter of love in the dialogues of Şölen, Phaidon and Phaidros; In the state, on
the other hand, people should be knowledgeable and measured. It is clear that these
differences of expression between the dialogues are unifying rather than divisive.
Because it is wrong to reduce the issue of morality to a single point. Morality can be
thought of as a puzzle. This puzzle shows us the main theme as a result of the
combination of its pieces. Therefore, instead of looking at a single point while searching
for morality, it should be looked at holistically (Groneberg 2005: 49).

In order to be a moral individual, first of all, the soul and the body must be in
harmony. As a result, “the highest good” and “happiness” should be achieved. Reaching
the concept of good in Plato will be possible with virtue, that is, knowledge. The Good,
which is the point that all human actions want to reach, will lead people to happiness.
The line analogy expressed in Plato's book The Republic is important for understanding
the Good (Plato 2008: 25).

Plato grounds one of the two worlds, which he calls "Sun" and "Good", with the
help of the senses and the other with the help of reason. The world grounded through
the mind depends on a single idea, and this idea can be thought of as the reason for the
existence of other beings. That is, this perfect idea is the starting point of other ideas.
The world revealed by the senses, on the other hand, consists of perceptible entities, and
we can express this situation with a barren definition as follows: The visible universe is
the world that is the subject of the senses.

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References

Annas, J. (1976). Plato’s “Republic” and Feminism. Philosophy, 51(197), pp:

307-321.

Annas, J. (2009). An Introduction to Plato’s Republic, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Blundell, S. (1995). Women in Ancient Greece, Cambridge: Harvard University

Press.

Buchan, M. (1999). Women in Plato’s Political Theory, London: Macmillan

Press.

Cormack, M. (2006). Plato’s Stepping Stones: Degrees of Moral Virtue.

London: Continuum.

Groneberg, M. (2005). Myth and Science around Gender and Sexuality: Eros
and the Three Sexes in Plato’s Symposium”, Diogenes 52(4), pp: 39- 49.

Muresan, V. (2000). Comentariu la Republica lui Platon [Comment on Plato’s

“Republic”]. Bucuresti: Metropol Publishing House.

Plato, G. T. (2000). The Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Plato, H., M. C. (2008). The Symposium. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge

University Press.

Saxonhouse, A., W. (1984). Eros and the Female in Greek Political Thought: An
Interpretation of Plato’s Symposium”, Political Theory, 12(1), pp: 5-27.

Scott, G. A. & Welton, W. A. (2008). Erotic Wisdom: Philosophy and

Intermediacy in Plato's Symposium, Albany: State University of New York Press.