Plato:

Eternal Truths
and Values
By: Rhegee F. Escasinas
Who is Plato?
Plato, (born 428/427 BCE, 
Athens, Greece—died 348/347,
Athens), ancient Greek
 philosopher, student of Socrates (c.
470–399 BCE), teacher of Aristotle
 (384–322 BCE), and founder of
the Academy, best known as the
author of philosophical works of
unparalleled influence.
Eternal Truths
Platonic Idealism, Eternal truths exist in the
realm of Ideas ("Idealism" = "Ideas") rather than
in what we would call the natural, physical
world.  These eternal Truths can exist in your
mind, but they can not be observed or
perceived out in the physical world (think for a
minute what "physical world" refers to: that
world that operates on the laws of physics, or
that world of objects with mass); that is to say,
Eternal Truths
Truth does not exist in the world that we can
see with our senses: sight, sound, etc.  Plato
calls this not true world the "sensible" world,
meaning "the world perceived by the senses". 
 Ethernal Truths
Every person you see and spend
time with will some day die, but the
concept or idea of “person” is
unchanging or (relatively) eternal. 
Thus the physical, living people we
see in the natural world are transitory
but the concept -- the idea of --
"people" is eternal.
 Ethernal Truths
There is no single person who
encapsulates the entire concept or
idea person  or “human being” – yet
the idea “human being”
describes all human beings: so the
idea is more complete and thus
“truer” and everlasting, compared to
the people who live and die in the
natural world.
 Ethernal Truths
This is true of everything else in
the physical world: there is no one
example of any thing (a tree, a piece of
fruit) that perfectly represents all trees
or fruit) and every physical thing is
transitory: it changes.  Meanwhile the
concept of tree or fruit are eternally
unchanging.
The Sensible and the Intelligible:
Our knowledge is divided between that which we gain
through our senses, or sensible [or sensory] knowledge –
what I can see and hear etc. – and that which we know
intellectually, intelligible knowledge or the realm of ideas,
that which I think.  In Plato’s hierarchy, sensible/sensory
knowledge is faulty and a
mere shadow or representation of True knowledge. 
Idealism and The Platonic Forms:
Pythagoras (c.580-490), Geometry and Idealism:  This is
another way of approaching Plato’s Idealism.  Plato’s
Idealism evolves out of Pythagorean philosophy (, which
we now call “geometry” (actually, Pythagorean
"philosophy" was more of a religion): a belief that
mathematical formulas/proofs (which are essentially
concepts, ideas) accurately describe the true or essential
nature of all things. 
Idealism and The Platonic Forms:
Pythagoras (c.580-490), Geometry and
Idealism:  This is another way of approaching
Plato’s Idealism.  Plato’s Idealism evolves out
of Pythagorean philosophy (, which we now
call “geometry” (actually, Pythagorean
"philosophy" was more of a religion): a belief
that mathematical formulas/proofs (which are
essentially concepts, ideas) accurately describe
the true or essential nature of all things. 
 The concept π works well here, as
would the Pythagorean principle
(idea) or theorem 
If I draw a circle or triangle on
the chalkboard to represent the
concepts expressed in π or
you will see a sensible image: the
picture, which is a "fallen"
or imperfect representation of the
intelligible of ideal circle or triangle:
the perfect circle or triangle
expressed by π or
exists in your mind, in the realm of ideas (thus: it is "Idea-l").
 We cannot produce in this
world a picture that is as perfect,
as accurate, as true, as "ideal" as
that which we can represent with
mathematical formulas.  For Plato
this is proof that the mathematical
formulas -- and any kind of rational,
logical thinking: philosophy -- is a
better means of finding Truth than
looking for it in the physical world.
Innate Knowledge and the Soul:

At this point, Plato’s philosophy takes a

definite turn toward mysticism or religion:
since the truth of forms is not found in the
natural world, how do we come to know
them? 
Well, we must be born with them, and they
must precede our own existence (because they Aramaic
are eternal), so knowledge is innate and we in
fact recollect or remember or uncover truths. 
The "Platonic Ideal" or "First Principle" or
"The Good" or "The Form Of The Good": 
Plato and his translators used many
different terms to refer to this same/similar
concept:  all true ideas, or “the ideal forms”
originate from The Ideal or The Good or The
Form of The Good (represented by the sun in
“The Allegory of The Cave”).  This seems to be
a single metaphysical agent from which all Aramaic
good and true Ideas emanate – including
mathematical and factual truths and things like
justice, virtue, honor etc. 
The Soul: Essence, Descent and Ascent:

The True essence of man is located in our

souls, not our bodies -- remember that sensible
knowledge (knowledge gained through the
body's senses) is faulty.  The soul descends
from the "The Form of the Good" -- from eternal
truth or "The First Principle" -- and is thus in a
"fallen" state in this imperfect, shadow-world
(represented by the cave).
Reference:
https://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/engl257/classical/
platonic%20idealism.htm
Cultivation of Rationality
- Aristotle
Who is Aristotle?
Aristotle, Greek Aristoteles, (born
384 BCE, Stagira, Chalcidice, Greece—died
322, Chalcis, Euboea), ancient Greek
philosopher and scientist, one of the
greatest intellectual figures of Western
history. He was the author of a
philosophical and scientific system that
became the framework and vehicle for both
Christian Scholasticism and medieval 
Islamic philosophy.
 Cultivation of Rationality
Elements:
• Objective Reality
• Aristotle’s Curriculum
• Sensation as the root of knowledge
• Education as cultivation of
rationality
• Limited Role for women
 Aristotle argues that the
good, or socially just
community depends on its
citizens’ rationality.
 Aristotle held that reality exist
objectively.
Means that something is actual (so it exists)
independent of the mind.
Idealism & Realism
Recommended compulsory schooling.
Emphasis on sensory experience as the
beginning of knowing and of instruction.
Idealism
• Is believing in or pursuing
some perfect vision or
belief.
• the practice of forming or
pursuing ideals, especially
unrealistically.
• PHILOSOPHY
• any of various systems of thought
in which the objects of
knowledge are held to be in some
way dependent on the activity of
mind.
Realism
• concern for fact or reality and
rejection of the impractical and
visionary the practice of forming or
pursuing ideals, especially
unrealistically.
• Realism, in the arts, the accurate,
detailed, unembellished depiction
of nature or of contemporary life.
Realism rejects imaginative
idealization in favour of a close
observation of outward
appearances.
 In knowledge from knowing object
rather than preexisting ideas.
Limited role of Women
Women were intellectually inferior to
men, as to which Aristotle was concerned
only with male education.
In Aristotelian school’s primary
purpose is to develop each student’s
rationality.
Islam, Arabic Learning, and Education
The Arabic language has three terms for
education, representing the various dimensions
of the educational process as perceived by
Islam. The most widely used word for education
in a formal sense is ta'līm, from the
root 'alima (to know, to be aware, to perceive,
to learn), which is used to denote knowledge
being sought or imparted through instruction
and teaching.
Islam, Arabic Learning, and Education
Tarbiyah, from the root raba (to increase,
to grow, to rear), implies a state of spiritual and
ethical nurturing in accordance with the will of
God. Ta'dīb, from the root aduba (to be
cultured, refined, well-mannered), suggests a
person's development of sound social behavior.
What is meant by sound requires a deeper
understanding of the Islamic conception of the
human being.
 Education in the context of Islam is
regarded as a process that involves the
complete person, including the rational,
spiritual, and social dimensions.
The comprehensive and integrated
approach to education in Islam is
directed toward the "balanced growth of
the total personality…through training
Man's spirit, intellect, rational self,
feelings and bodily senses…such that
faith is infused into the whole of his
personality"
 Education in Islam is twofold:
acquiring intellectual knowledge
(through the application of reason and
logic) and developing spiritual knowledge
(derived from divine revelation and
spiritual experience). According to the
worldview of Islam, provision in
education must be made equally for both.
Acquiring knowledge in Islam is not
intended as an end but as a means to
stimulate a more elevated moral and
spiritual consciousness, leading to faith
and righteous action.
 References

https://education.stateuniversity.com/
pages/2133/Islam.html