Plato(Circa429-347BC)

Lecture-2
27.7.2021
Plato was…….
Estimated to be born in Athens in 429BC in a well
known aristocratic and influencial family.
A classical Greek philosopher, Mathematician
Founder of An Academy in Athens, the first
institution of higher learning in Western world
Laid the foundations of western philosophy and
science with his mentor Socrates and disciple,
Aristotle.
His Philosophy
Knowledge is not sense-perceptions, not what it is
simply appears to be
Believes in- “Virtue is Knowledge” and the source of
Knowledge is “virtue”
According to him, virtue can be taught.. The four
cardinal virtue are------wisdom, courage, temperance
and justice.
Everything has a truth- so seek the truth
Concern with justice, virtue, character and human soul
Society is our ultimate teacher- may produce wrong
and evil
His ideas on politics
The Republic
 Virtue of justice
 Courage
 Wisdom(Individual and society
3parts Society
 Workers(Producing)
 Worrier(Protecting)
 Rulers( governing)
Education
• It is the function of education to lead people out of the
cave into the world of light
• Education is not simply a matter of putting knowledge
into a person’s soul that does not possess it, any more
than vision is putting sight into blind eyes. Knowledge,
like vision, requires an organ capable of receiving it
• It is necessary for the entire soul to turn away from the
deceptive world of change and appetite that causes
blindness of the soul
His theory
His prime philosophy is “theory of idea”
It is an answer to the question on :”what is truly real?”
Plato’s idea is immortal or eternal
Theory of forms
He illustrated the idea of forms in the allegory of the
cave
Plato believed that true reality existed beyond normal
perception of the world
What we perceive around us is just the shadow of the
truth
Conte….
According to him, the world we live in is just an
imitation of the real world
The world is constantly changing and we rely on our
senses to understand what is going on
He believe that the real world is beyond the world we
live in
The real world is unchanging and eternal. It is the
world of ideas where perfect forms of the things we
know on this earth reside
summary
A form is what a thing is
Forms for Plato are unchanging and eternal
Object in the world is just an imitation of form in the
real world
We are born with a recollections of what forms are
Forms are only accessible to philosophers
remember
In his book 10 of the Republic, he banished poet from the
society
According to Plato……..
 Art is an imperfect imitation of the real world
 A philosopher is the moral custodian of the welfare of his
people
 Art –an imitation of imitation is trice remove from reality.
In book 5 of the Republic he has a positive view of art in
so far as it contributes to the spiritual growth of the
people.