SELF-CLASS 53rd BATCH

PLATO(428-347 BC)

Note Prepared by: Slide Making:

Hadiya Sultana Himel, Faisal
Question Analysis:
Srijon,Shibli,Orney,
Rashed,Jishan
 Introduction to Plato :
 Plato was a student of Socrates (470-399) , most of what we know about
Socrates comes from the writings of Plato.

 At the time Athens had democratic government but Socrates preferred a

form of government where the ruler would be one wise individual. Whereas
this free mindedness an open opinions of his influenced many like Plato, Some
others wasn’t so happy about it.

 So Socrates was arrested in charge of corrupting young minds and sentenced

to death by poison. Though he had the chance to appeal for leniency (mercy)
but he stood by his belief. So he died by drinking poisonous hemlock.
 Introduction to Plato :
• Plato then wrote many philosophical writing in forms of dialogue, where
Socrates was the main character and also the wisest.

• Plato was a rationalist (who bases his opinions and action on reason and
knowledge).

• He was also dualist (who believes body and soul exist separately but
connected in some ways).
 The Republic:

• Is a Socratic dialogue authored by Plato around 375 BC, Concerns justice,

the order and character of the just city-state and the just man.

• Portrays argument in defense of the just life and its necessary link with happy life.

• Presents anti-poetry stance.

• Depicts a philosophic vision of a realm of eternal truth.

 The Republic:

• Upholds the importance of educating both men and women, and the need for
both mental and physical activity.

• The ultimate classic in the entire discipline of philosophy.

• Admits “philosophical wisdom is the only way to escape the prison of existence.”

• Also Says, “Ethics can be rationally—and not just morally—defended.”

Plato’s Influencers:
 

1.Socrates
2.Pre socratic philosophers
3.The Sophists
 Theory of Knowledge:

• Socrates believed that to be moral, you have to have the knowledge

of right and wrong.

• Plato believed that there were two types of knowledge –

1. Empirical knowledge- knowledge that is gained through senses.

2. Innate knowledge – knowledge that is gained through mind
rather than senses.
 Theory of Knowledge:
 Plato didn’t believe that we could gain knowledge through sense as
they are unreliable because of the fact that the world is in constant
state of change.
 Because he was a dualist, he believed that our innate knowledge is in
our soul and that the soul comes from the world of forms (reality).
 So he believed in two worlds –
1. World of Appearances ( the visible world)
2. World of Reality ( intelligible world)
Thus comes The Allegory of cave and The Divided Line theory.
 Allegory of Cave:
1. The cave represents the world appearances and the prisoners are the
human trapped in this illusory world, whose minds and lives are
empty of philosophy.

2. The shadows represent illusions within the cave. Also symbolizes the
states of mind, the lowest level of understanding based on opinion.

3. The puppeteers represent the powerful members of society. Using

artificial surrounding they control and manipulate the information
the prisoner receives. Like the prisoners their life is also false.
 Allegory of Cave:
4. The released prisoner represents Socrates who has a very different belief from
others in his day, and died upholding this belief. It also represents every
philosopher seeking truth, who challenges the reality of the world.

5. The prisoner´s intellectual journey represents a philosopher´s journey when

finding truth and wisdom.

6. The world beyond the cave is the intelligible world. The world of reality and forms
beyond the shadow.
7. The Sun is used metaphorically that represents the source of absolute truth. When
the released prisoner sees the sun, it represents the philosopher achieving
enlightenment.
 
 The Divided Line:
In the divided line Plato explains his theory of knowledge diagrammatically,
as he explained it allegorically in the cave theory .

THOUGHT OBJECTS
REASON HIGHER
(DIALECTIC) FROMS
KNOWLEDGE UNDERSTANDING FROMS OF SCIENCE INTELLIGIBLE
(SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS
MATHEMETICS
BELIEF THINGS,
(PERCEPTION) OBJECTS
CONJECTURE SHADOWS, VISIBLE
OPINION
(IMAGINING) IMAGES WORLD
REFLECTIONS
 Visible World/ Opinion (Images/ Imagination): The eye makes guesses
upon observing likeness or differences of visible things. ( the shadows
from fire,the echo from the wall)

 Visible World/ Opinion (Things/ Belief): The eye makes probable

prediction upon observing visible things. ( Prisoners believing the
shadow and echo to be real, and the puppeteers believing the cave
to be the real world, and fireas sun).
 Intellectual World/ Knowledge (Forms/ Understanding): Assumes
hypotheses ,always moving forward to the final question. ( The freed
prisoner recognizing the fire and shadows)

 Intellectual World/ Knowledge (Higher Forms/ Reason): Examines

hypotheses, Ideas are cognized through reason. ( The freed prisoner
seeing the sun and the real world).
 Plato’s Theory of Forms:
 Plato denies the reality of the material world. His theory of forms
typically refers to the belief that the material as it seems to us is not
the real world, but only an image or copy of the real world.

 Plato was a dualist. He believed that our innate knowledge is in our

soul and that the soul comes from the world of forms.

 He says the intelligible world contains fixed forms which are absolutely
true for all the time, people and place. Therefore it is objective.
 Plato’s Theory of Forms:
 Whereas the material world , is in a constant state of flux. Plato
believed that there must be a world that is unchanging and contains
perfect forms of things we know on earth, AKA the intelligible world.
And our world is a pale imagination and imitation of that real world.

 Forms are timeless/ spaceless / perfect/ eternal/ divine .

 Plato says we recognize the Forms because we are born with dim
recollection of our prior existence.
 Plato’s Theory of Forms:
 The most important Form of all is the Form of Good. And it is the
source of the other forms.

 The Ideal Forms are greater than others as they have presence of
Good in them.

 Such as Justice, Truth, Beauty are the aspect of goodness.

 The Tripartite Soul:

 Plato suggests that the human soul has three parts.

 The appetitive and desiring part (Appetite)

 The ambitious and irascible part (Spirit)

 The thinking and rational part (Reason)

 The Ideal State:
 Justice has the same form in the state and in the person.

 Same as the tripartite soul ideal state means tripartite state.

 Artisans or the worker class driven by their appetite.

 Auxiliaries or the military class driven by the spirit.

 The philosopher king, leader of the ideal state, whose reason

has reigned over spirit and appetite.
 The philosopher king :

 The Platonic ideal of a ruler, philosophically

trained and enlightened.

 Is reliable.

 Willing to live a simple life.

 Ethics:

 A virtue-based conception of attaining true happiness.

 A branch of philosophy including the nature of good and evil, right

or wrong, duty and obligation.

 Asks a question, “Is there a highest good for human beings?”

 Highest good is absolute, eternal and immutable for Plato.

 Ethics:

 Happiness or well-being coming from execution of 3 parts of

the soul is the highest good.

 Merely bodily appetite is not the highest good for humans.

 Harmony of the soul is required for attaining highest good.

 Self-knowledge and self-mastery are needed for harmony in soul.

 Ethics:

 Reason’s dominance over other two parts of the soul.

 The few have ethical knowledge and they are to control others.

 The motto “Virtue is knowledge” is the heart of Plato’s ethics.

THANK YOU