Understanding Plato: Life, Works, and Core Concepts
Chapter 3: Plato’s Philosophy
1. Biography
Born in 427 BC in Athens into an aristocratic family. Plato initially aspired to public life. He agreed with Socrates that there was a need to reform society, but later proclaimed that Athenian politics was so corrupt that it was able to condemn Socrates to death. He then dedicated himself to travel, notably in Sicily, where he connected with the Pythagoreans. Plato founded the Academy, a gathering place for friends and followers, which served as the first center for the intellectual and political education of young Greeks, often regarded as the first European university.
2. The Works of Plato: Four Periods
Plato’s extensive body of work can be broadly categorized into four periods:
- Period of Youth: Focuses on important concepts of Greek culture, often reflecting Socratic dialogues.
- Period from First Trip to Sicily and the Founding of the Academy: Political concerns dominate, alongside the development of the Theory of Ideas and the concept of the transmigration of souls, with learning understood as reminiscence.
- Period of Maturity: Deepens the Theory of Ideas, exploring practical applications of love and goodness.
- Last Years: Critically discusses and refines his own Theory of Ideas.
3. Plato and Earlier Philosophers
Plato’s philosophy was significantly influenced by his predecessors:
- Heraclitus: Believed that all reality is subject to constant change, though Plato viewed this sensible reality as merely an appearance.
- Pythagoreans: Emphasized mathematics and geometry as a high level of knowledge. They also held the belief that the body is a prison for the soul, which previously lived an incorporeal life outside the body.
- Parmenides: Argued that true reality (Being) is unique, eternal, and immutable. Plato adapted this concept to his Forms (Ideas).
- Anaxagoras: Introduced the concept of “Nous” (Mind or Intellect) as the organizing principle of the cosmos, which served as an antecedent to Plato’s Demiurge.
- Socrates: Plato’s teacher, whose method of “Maieutics” aimed to extract the truth that is within everyone, aligning with Plato’s concept of innate ideas.
4. Plato’s Theory of Ideas
4.1 Platonic Ideas
Platonic Ideas (or Forms) are universal concepts and mental constructs. Roughly speaking, they serve as the foundation and models for the real world, helping to categorize and understand the various senses of words. Plato posited two distinct worlds:
- The Sensible World: A world of continuous change, perceived through the senses.
- The Intelligible World: An unchanging world, perceived only through the understanding or intellect.
The sensible world is not truly real; it is merely an apparent world, a shadow of the intelligible world.
4.2 The Idea of the Good
The world of Ideas is hierarchical, with the Idea of the Good at its apex. This supreme Idea illuminates and makes intelligible all other Ideas, much like the sun illuminates visible objects and their shadows in the sensible world.
5. The Platonic Soul
5.1 Characteristics of the Soul
The soul is the animating life principle of the body, existing in opposition to the body itself. The soul is self-moving and transmits this movement because it is separable from the body. Plato defined the soul as immortal, intelligible, uniform, and indissoluble. In contrast, the body is mortal and irrational. The soul can be swayed by the body, which attracts it with its desires. However, if the soul, through philosophy, can resist the deception of the senses and gather itself, it can free itself from these bodily ties. This concept is closely linked to transmigration, or reincarnation.
5.2 The Three Parts of the Soul
The soul is composed of three distinct parts:
- The Rational Part (Logistikon): Located in the head, its mission is to guide and control the other two parts through reason and wisdom.
- The Irascible Part (Thymoeides): Located in the chest, it is related to spirit and emotion, serving as the source of moral courage and fortitude.
- The Concupiscible Part (Epithymetikon): Located in the abdomen, it deals with desires, appetites, and less controlled passions. When properly managed, this part leads to temperance.
When the rational soul performs its function well, guiding the other two parts, harmony and justice are produced within the individual.
6. Plato’s Theory of Knowledge
6.1 The Process of Knowledge
Plato’s theory of knowledge distinguishes between different levels of understanding, corresponding to the two worlds:
- The World of Becoming (Sensible World): Knowledge here is mere opinion (doxa), gained through sensation.
- The World of Being (Intelligible World/Ideas): True knowledge (episteme) is attained here through reason.
- The Idea of the Good: The highest form of knowledge, illuminating all other Ideas.
Scientific knowledge (episteme) cannot be attained from the sensible world, as it is constantly changing. True scientific knowledge is only possible of what is universal and unchanging, namely, the World of Ideas, accessed primarily through dialectic. The intelligible world, particularly the Idea of the Good, makes the rest of the Ideas intelligible. This is comparable to the sun, which illuminates visible objects and shadows in the sensible world, allowing them to be seen and understood.