PHI 312 Introduction to Philosophy

Plato Student of Socrates. Founded the Academy in Athens.

Plato said most people live in ignorance most of the time and don’t realize it. The allegory of the cave represented ordinary life and how most people live.

We rely on our senses to tell us about reality. Is what we see the way things really are? What are ways we accept things at face value and find ourselves misled?

Plato is saying that many live in prisons of their own making. To know reality one must rely on reason rather than on your senses (feelings).

Geometry The triangle merely represents an idea of a perfect triangle that exists somewhere else. That “somewhere else” is the world of Forms. The world of forms has the perfect “prototypes.” What we see are imitations – not the real thing.

Matter + form = objects we see Wood + “tableness = wooden table

Two different worlds:  World of perfect forms  World of imperfect objects of sense perception  Idealism: The real world is the world of forms, or ideas.

Images: shadows & reflections The shadow is dependent upon the tree for its existence.

Sensible objects are more real than the shadow or image, but not absolutely real because they are not permanent and are dependent. Dependent on the sun and on the Forms.

This takes objects from the world of the constantly changing and moves them into the realm of theory or idea. The concept of a tree makes it possible for us to have knowledge of the tree.

Forms Forms are archetypes of everything existing in the visible world. –They exist outside time and space. –They are not physical, but they don’t just exist as ideas in a person’s mind. –They cannot be grasped by the five senses. –They can only be grasped by the intellect. –They are uncreated, indestructible, unchanging, and therefore eternal.

The Sensible World and The World of the Forms The Sensible WorldThe World of the Forms images of thingsthingsmathematical forms higher forms

Forms are not absolutely real because they are still dependent upon what Plato calls the Good. The Good is the ground of all reality – the center of Plato’s entire system of thought

Morality Form of justice. We saw the forms before we were born. It takes reason to “remember” it.

“Only a culture that accepts Plato’s ontology, or something close to it, believes there are absolutes – Ideas and ideals worth dying for.” (Mitchell) “One implication of this view is that our proper home is not in this imperfect world but in another realm where things exist in a perfect state, the world of Form revealed by our reason.” (Mitchell)

The tripartite soul –Desire: appetite for food, drink, sexual pleasure, etc. –Spirited aspect: anger, courage –Reason should rule the other two.

Plato’s Republic Question: What makes a just person? The Ring of Gyges. Socrates says, “What makes a just society?

The Tripartite Soul REASONSPIRIT DESIRE Virtue: Courage Virtue: Temperance Virtue: Wisdom

The Ideal Society In a polis, each fulfills his or her role. Three classes exist: –rulers, –warriors, –merchants/craftsmen. Each corresponds to one of the three elements in human nature: reason, spirit, appetite.

Plato’s Three Classes REASONSPIRIT APPETITE Virtue: Courage Virtue: Temperance Virtue: Wisdom RULERS WARRIORS MERCHANTS The Ideal Society

In a polis, each fulfills his or her role. Three classes exist: –rulers, –warriors, –merchants/craftsmen. Each corresponds to one of the three elements in human nature: reason, spirit, appetite. When each person does what he or she is best suited for, that benefits both the individual and society as a whole. The key to good and just government is the type of education it gives its citizens.

What we know will determine what we do. Those who do wrong should be educated rather than punished.

Five Types of Societies Aristocratic Timocratic Oligarchic Democratic Tyrannical

Plato circa B.C.E. Nationality: Athenian Group Alliances: "Angry" Ancients "Ragin'" Rationalists AKA: Play-Doh® Plato the Great-o Plato Ya Love to Hate-o Powers: talented dramatist, invulnerable skin Weaknesses: his mentor was executed early in Plato's career, leaving him to come up with some pretty weird stuff on his own Notes: Comes with Plato's Guide to Shadow Puppets: step-by-step instructions on how to make fun and convincing animal shapes with nothing more than your hands and a bright light! This fully-illustrated booklet includes Bunny, Dog, Bird, and Many-Headed Beast. Plato figures are left unpainted, in deference to the popularly held notion that classical statuary was white rather than flamboyantly, gaily colored (notice the intimidatingly creepy empty-eye effect this creates).