Plato’s Philosophy of Beauty, Truth, and Governance
Provided there is neither born nor perishes, neither grows nor decreases, and secondly, it is beautiful in appearance and ugly in another, or sometimes beautiful and sometimes not, or beautiful about one thing and ugly over another, not here beautiful and ugly there, as if for some beautiful and others ugly. Nor will you get this beauty in the form of a face or hands or anything else of which involve a body, nor as an argument, or as a science, or as existing in something else, for example, a living creature on earth, in heaven or somewhere else, but beauty itself, which is always specific to itself only (211th).
This translates into the idea of beauty as we raise sensitive to the intelligible. Philosophy seeks beauty and truth, so is the end of love. Therefore, philosophy and love are one and the same (the etymological concept of the word philosophy is love of wisdom). Applied to the work, we could say that the ideal of love is wisdom, or as Plato expresses it, trying to reach what is lacking and therefore craved: Wisdom is one of the most beautiful things, and Eros is love of beauty, so Eros is not necessarily a lover of wisdom. Being a lover of wisdom places one amidst the wise and the ignorant (204 b).
In The Republic, it is first proposed that the governor must be a philosopher (the philosopher ruler). This is the only way to make a perfect state, as Plato asserted that power should be reason and wisdom. However, this does not indicate that those who govern are in the form of bad government, carrying the oligarchy or tyranny among others: Unless philosophers come to reign in the cities or rulers or kings, so called now, to philosophize sincerely and fully, and agree on the same political power and philosophy, and are excluded by force of nature so many are now going to one of the two, there is no way to stop evil, dear Glaucon, nor Cities nor, I believe, in mankind (473 d).
Plato indicates that philosophy falls into the wrong hands, outraged by wanting to please the wishes of the world. The greatest achievement for a philosopher will be prestige and honor rather than being on the cusp of the state and helping the public achieve the ultimate idea, the Idea of Good. Subsequently, the discussion of Doxa and Episteme, the sensible and intelligible world, is very important in Plato’s thought. This separates philosophy or knowledge from trivial ideas, opinions, and deception in which people live. The power to escape this situation comes from discovering the world of knowledge, made known by the simile of the cave. The person leaves the cave (the world of sense) to reach the outside and discover things (the intelligible world), then catches sight of the sun without any problems (Good Idea): In the end, I think, to see the sun, not in water or in an odd place your images bright, could see him and to the it by himself and in his own home and contemplate what it is (516 b).
In Gorgias, rhetoric is represented as the art of argumentation in order to convince, which clashes with the Socratic postulate of the search for truth. Rhetoric posits a relativism in discourse taken to the extreme by Gorgias. This idea is contrasted with Socrates’ postulate that truth can be reached. I will refer to the educational work that makes him a philosopher and the sophist, for which Gorgias opposes a philosophy late in life of people: However, I think they more reasonable is to take part in both things very well deal with the philosophy as far as it serves to education, and philosophizing is not dishonor while young, but if and when an old man is still philosophy, the Indeed it is ridiculous, Socrates, and I experience the same feeling to those who philosophize than to those who mispronounce and Toys (485).
It is better to endure an accusation, instead of making it. Perhaps this is another justification to reach the Supreme Good, another excuse not to commit libel against others and against the Polis: I firmly believe that I, you and Other people believe that doing injustice is worse than receiving and that escape the punishment is worse than suffering it (474 b).
In Euthyphro, Socrates searches for the concept of mercy (or sacred) and perhaps not to answer (since none of the dialogue or search for concepts do that) but to show that Euthyphro also makes a mistake while doing something he does not know the meaning of: You may not see it at the moment, but at the naming I think if those issues are right and wrong, beauty and ugliness, good and bad. Are not these the points that if disputáramos and we could not reach a proper decision, we would become enemies, if we were to do so, you and I and all other men? (7 d).
Perhaps Euthyphro himself gives a response to what is the work by saying “you do these things, cause you surprised that you think that your reasoning does not remain fixed, but that walk, and accused me of being a Daedalus and make them walk, since you are much more skilful than Daedalus, as you walk in a circle? Do not you realize that our thinking has turned around and is once again in the same spot? Remember that before us was that pious and pleasing to the gods were not the same thing, but something different one from the other? Do not you remember? (15 c).
First, it must be stated that the Sophists discuss the same lack of not knowing what they postulate as hard. The aim of philosophy is to find the Ideas of things, or give the definition of the concepts of Ideas, because ultimately, find the Ideas.
In Laches, the attempt to define value and link it to a secondary status is the education of their children, and the assertion that such integrity is consistent with all fine things in general. Then value would be not only knowledge of things frightening or comforting. For it refers not only to goods and evils to come, but also of past and present and any conditions, as with other knowledge (199 c).
The only valid solution of this dialogue is to refuse to accept views without prior reasoning and to recognize the folly of the participants as to the virtue ready for inquiry. Socrates will encourage the search and always try to give an explanation to all things: I think you are ignorant, if one is close to Socrates in a discussion or comes close dialogue with him, even if it must be started talk about anything else he did not crawl until you get the dialogue to give explanation of himself, about his life and the current mode has been in the past (187 e).
In Plato, the main thing in his doctrine is to find any idea, concept, or theory to give order to changing things (his theory of ideas). Also important is his political intention to propose an ideal state that would achieve the good. In the background is the desire to arrange the influential thinking of the Sophists, proposing a theory that applies to all. He also tries to follow the steps initiated by Socrates, as his primary idea is the theory of ideas from which he gradually made his point of support. It is not just a metaphysical theory, but also draws on other ideas. In the case of Plato, it is the influence of the Sophists who were linked to a relativism, not only of speech and truth, but also of the educational work that leads him to start its work.
In The Symposium, Plato refers to love as the search for the sublime, beauty, and goodness, which translates to also seeking the truth, the highest goal for a philosopher. He reproaches love against wisdom, as the desire to seek sensible things, like the external beauty of men, and not what truly fills the soul, which is the highest wisdom. The major objective will be to find the idea of beauty itself, not in body or anything that contains the ideal of beauty.