Plato's philosophy

Plato's philosophy

1. Where did Plato's ideas come from?

   • The Sophists
     • Earlier Greek philosophers - followers of relative ethics, believed in no one true morality. Plato disagreed with them.
   • Socrates
     • Plato's teacher, who was killed because of a democratic election. Plato therefore disagreed with democracy

2. The Forms

   • We live in a world of appearances. The real world is that of the Forms
     • Forms are the eternal, perfect idea of what a thing is
   • We have immortal souls which remember the Forms - a dualistic belief
     • Metempsychosis - the rebirth of the soul
     • Education is about remembering the Forms
   • The highest Form is the Form of the Good, the source of all other Forms, existence and perfection
     • It allows us to understand and assess things. We require knowledge to see it

3. The Analogy of the Cave

   • Explains the idea of the Forms
   • Chained prisoners believe the shadows they see are reality
     • One who is brought out of the cave sees the real world and the sun
       • But the other prisoners do not believe him when he tells them about them
   • Prisoners in the cave are people in the world of appearances
     • Prisoner who leaves the cave is a philosopher who learns about the Forms

4. The Divided Line

   • This idea appears in Plato's book 'The Republic'
   • On one side is subjective opinion, on the other is objective knowledge
     • On the 'opinion' side are images and objects, and on the 'objective' side are thoughts and ideals
     • Knowledge is superior to opinion
       • But only philosophers are on that side of the line

5. For and against the Forms

   • For
     • A dualist will support it
     • Physical and mental properties do seem to be different (physical can be seen, mental cannot)
     • It explains how we have concepts of unteachable, abstract concepts such as love and wisdom
     • It explains how objects that can be vastly different in appearance (eg dogs and chairs) are all recognisably the same thing
     • 'Bad' Forms, eg those of evil and disease, could be explained as an absence of good Forms
     • It seems impossible, but Plato says that most people will believe that
     • Explains imperfections in the world
   • Against
     • Relativists and theists will not accept it
     • Plato says change is bad - you may not agree
     • Are there forms of bad things? How could they be perfect?
     • Self-containing forms - eg the Form of a triangle, and the Form of a line?
     • How detailed? Form of a black cat, a tabby cat, a ginger cat, etc?
     • What about people who have learning disabilities and can't be philosophers?
     • Plato gives no satisfactory explanation for where and what they are
     • Dawkins's criticism: ideas exist in people's minds
     • Aristotle's criticism: We gain knowledge from experience
     • Plato's self-criticisms: How do the Forms interact with the physical world?
     • What about actual things like viruses which cause suffering?

6. Keywords

   • Metempsychosis
   • Dualism
   • A priori
   • Epistemology

7. The Demiurge

   • Plato's idea of God
     • 'Sculpts' the world out of pre-existing chaotic matter
       • Brings order
       • Uses the perfect Forms as a template
         • The world is not perfect because the chaotic matter resists his will
         • Is not the source of morality - that is the Forms
           • Is not involved with the universe