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Who is Plato? Biography
| Name | Plato |
|---|---|
| Born | 428/427 or 424/423 BC Athens, Greece |
| Died | 348/347 BC (age c. 80) Athens, Greece |
| Era | Ancient Greek philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Platonism |
| Notable students | Aristotle Eudoxus of Cnidus Heraclides Ponticus Philip of Opus Speusippus Xenocrates |
Along with his teacher, Socrates, and his most famous student, Aristotle, he is usually regarded as one of the most important and influential men in human history, as well as a vital role in the history of Ancient Greek and Western philosophy. Plato is also credited with being one of the founding fathers of Western religion and spirituality.
Through Church Fathers such as Augustine, the so-called neoplatonism of philosophers such as Plotinus and Porphyry substantially affected Christianity. “The safest general categorization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato,” wrote Alfred North Whitehead.
Plato was a philosopher who pioneered the written dialogue and dialectic forms. Plato is also credited with establishing Western political theory.
Plato’s most renowned contribution is the Pure Reason Theory of Forms, in which he proposes a solution to the universals issue known as Platonism (also ambiguously called either Platonic realism or Platonic idealism). He is also the name of the Platonic solids and Platonic love.
Many people regard Plato to be one the greatest philosopher who ever lived. In philosophy, he is known as the father of idealism. His ideal ruler was the philosopher king, and his beliefs were elitist. Plato’s cave allegory, which appears in Plato’s Republic, is likely best known to college students.
Plato influenced By:
- Socrates
- Pythagoras
- Heraclitus
- Parmenides
Although few of his predecessors’ works survive, and much of what we know about these characters today comes from Plato himself, his most crucial philosophical inspirations are typically regarded to have been along with Socrates, the pre-Socratics Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and Parmenides.
Plato’s whole collection of work, unlike nearly all of his contemporaries, is thought to have remained intact for over 2,400 years. Plato’s works have never been without readers since they were created, despite their popularity fluctuating over time.
Pythagoras and Socrates influences on Plato
Though Socrates directly influenced Plato as related to dialogue, Pythagoras’ influence on Platon or in the larger sense seems to have been important for Pythagoreans, such as Archytas. “They say Plato learnt all things Pythagorean,” says Cicero, echoing Aristotle’s allegation that Plato’s philosophy closely matched the teachings of the Pythagoreans. Both were likely influenced by Orphism, and both believed in metempsychosis, or soul transmigration.
Heraclitus and Parmenides influences
Following in the footsteps of pre-Socratic Greek thinkers such as Pythagoras, the two philosophers Heraclitus and Parmenides move from mythology and begin the metaphysical tradition that influenced Plato and continues today.
The remaining remnants of Heraclitus’ writings show that everything is constantly changing or becoming. His depiction of the river is well-known, with its ever-changing waters. According to certain historical accounts, Plato learned these ideas from Heraclitus’ follower Cratylus, who held the more radical notion that constant change grounds scepticism since we cannot identify something that does not have a permanent character.
Parmenides had an entirely different approach, advocating for the concept of changeless Being and the belief that change is an illusion. “Parmenides’ differentiation among the principal modes of being, as well as his derivation of the traits that must belong to what must be, simply as such,” writes John Palmer, “qualify him to be seen as the creator of metaphysics or ontology as a realm of research distinct from theology.”
Plato’s theory of Forms was informed by these notions regarding change and permanence, or becoming and Being.
Who is the Teacher of Plato
Although Plato had been influenced by many philosopher but the most important and primary out of all them is Socrates. Socrates was the main Teacher of Plato and the one who influenced Plato with various Philosophy.
Plato was one of Socrates’ ardent youthful disciples. Scholars disagree about the exact relationship between Plato and Socrates.
Plato never speaks in his own voice throughout his dialogues, and in all but the Laws, he speaks as Socrates. “No work of Plato exists or ever will exist,” it states in the Second Letter, “but those currently supposed to be his are those of a Socrates becoming lovely and new”; assuming the Letter is Plato’s, the final qualification appears to cast doubt on the dialogues’ historical accuracy. In any event, Xenophon’s Memorabilia and Aristophanes’ The Clouds appear to depict Socrates in a slightly different light from Plato’s. The Socratic dilemma entails determining how to reconcile these disparate accounts. Socrates’ reputation for irony, according to Leo Strauss, puts doubt on whether Plato’s Socrates is expressing genuine convictions.
Plato & Socrates
Presocratic philosophers seem to have impacted Plato’s metaphysics and epistemology at first. Plato, on the other hand, became a student of Socrates as a young man and focused on the subject of what defines a noble life.
Plato wrote almost all of his works after Socrates’ trial and death. Although Plato had previously shown interest in politics, Socrates’ death sentence and disgust with the actions of an oligarchy known as the Thirty Tyrants, who came to power in 404, seem to have prompted Plato to devote his life to philosophical thought and writing.
(Plato is generally associated with the discredited eight-month dictatorship of the Thirty Tyrants since his mother’s uncle, Critias, and his mother’s brother, Charmides, both played major roles in that administration.) The oligarchy performed extensive killings of political opponents and plundered the property of affluent Athenians during their short reign of terror.)
The “Socratic” conversations (written from 399 to 387), the “Middle” dialogues (written from 387 to 361, following the formation of his Academy in Athens), and the “Later” dialogues (written after the establishment of his Academy in Athens) (written in the period between 361 and his death in 347).
The Euthyphro, the Apology, and the Crito are three of Plato’s four works on Socrates’ last days, all of which date from the early “Socratic” era. As Socrates prepared to enter the Royal Stoa to formally answer the charges brought against him by Meletus and other accusers, Euthyphro is an imagined dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro about piety—Socrates stood charged with impiety—as Socrates prepared to enter the Royal Stoa to formally answer the charges brought against him by Meletus and other accusers.
The Apology is a speech delivered by Socrates in his own defence during his trial in 399. The Crito is a work in which Socrates discusses his need to accept his death sentence, no matter how unfair he and his followers believe it to be. From Plato’s middle, or transitional time, comes the Phaedo, a conversation depicting Socrates’ views on death and other topics before he takes the deadly hemlock.
Many academics believe that, because of Plato’s clear admiration for his master, he refused to provide some of the most damning proof of Socrates’ wrongdoing in his Apology. Other scholars claim that, while acknowledging that the Apology is not an exact record of Socrates’ discourse, Plato’s version must be pretty accurate.
These academics argue that Plato wrote at a period when many of his readers were likely to have personal knowledge of the trial, eliminating any motive he may have had to depict Socrates’ case favourably. They also point out that both Plato’s and Xenophon’s accounts agree on at least two major points: first, Socrates’ speech had a defiant tone (one might call it a “unapologetic” apology), and second, Socrates could have gotten acquittal if he had only been willing to make certain concessions to his jurors.
Plato Philosophy
Plato believed that humans have two natures: body and mind, similar to reality’s dualism. The Philosophical idea of Plato says that reality is an imperfect mirror of the Forms, which are flawless ideals. He shows that this dual reality has an effect, and that his allegory of the cave requires education.
The theory of the forms or concept of philosophies is an attribution to Plato of philosophical theory, idea or world view that the physical world is not as real and true as ageless, timeless, absolute, unchangeable, unalterable, complete concepts. Nonetheless, the idea is regarded as a classic answer to the universals problem.
Philosophy of Education
In his Republic, Plato presented his teachings and philosophy of education. Justice is the fundamental theme of education. “What the meaning of justice?” is the fundamental matter around which the dialogue revolves. By creating analogy between society and person, Socrates defines justice.
Education, according to Plato, is a means of achieving justice, both personal and social justice. Individual justice, according to Plato, can be achieved when each person maximises his or her potential. Justice denotes perfection in this context. Excellence was virtue for the Greeks and Plato.
Plato said in The Republic that education was not restricted to youth and that people may study even after they reached adulthood. The Philosopher Plato saw no distinction between men and women’s abilities, and believed that both sexes needed to be educated in order for a perfect society to exist.
Plato also said the highest purpose of education was the knowledge of good; it was not merely an awareness of certain advantages and pleasures to nourish people for a better person;
Plato’s education plan for guards or rulers was developed. So, his fundamental question is how he should educate a person to become a philosopher, an amateur of wisdom and truth in the later years, in the earlier part of his life. How is a person a philosopher? Plato said that one becomes a philosopher by understanding the absolute good or the metaphysical truths. The objective of education in Plato is therefore to enable the students to understand the metaphysical truth. Thus the goal of education and learning is metaphysics.
Philosophy of Good life
There have been many supporters of this moral vision of the happy and good life. Both Socrates and Plato prioritised being a decent person over all other ostensibly nice things like pleasure, riches, or power.
Plato Theory of Justice
Justice, according to Plato, is a harmonic power, not just a force. Justice is the functional harmony of the whole, not the right of the stronger. The welfare of the whole—individual and social—is central to all moral beliefs.
Justice implied kindness and desire to respect laws to both Plato and Aristotle. It implied a balance of rights and responsibilities. In human interactions, justice was the goal of perfection. And the mentality that motivates people to carry out their responsibilities properly.