TOPIC:PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION (PART II) PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS OF PLATO

PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS OF PLATO

Plato lived between 427 – 347 BC. At the age of 40 years Plato established a school at Athens for education of Athenian youth and the Academy described as the first European University. It provided a comprehensive curriculum including such subjects as astronomy, Biology, political theory and philosophy.

As a young man Plato had political ambitions but he became disillusioned by the political leadership in Athens. He eventually became a disciple of Socrates, accepting his basic philosophy and dialectical style of debate: the pursuit of truth through questions, answers and additional questions.

Plato talked about the theory of form or ideas, the nature of the soul, the question of immortality, the nature of justice, nature of knowledge, ethical questions, and obedience to the law of the state, the relationship between the pleasure and the good, views on natural science and cosmology and more practical analysis of political and social issues.

The theory of knowledge. In this theory Plato believed that knowledge is attainable as he believed that knowledge must be certain and infallible (reliable) and knowledge must have as its object that which is genuinely real as contrasted with that which is an appearance only.

Plato rejected Empiricism which claims that knowledge is derived from sense experience. He thought that propositions derived from sense experience have at most a degree of probability. Furthermore, the objects of sense experience are changeable phenomenon of the physical world. Hence, object of sense experience are not proper objects of knowledge.

He distinguished between the between two levels of awareness: opinion and knowledge by saying that both common sense observation and propositions of science are opinions only. The higher level of awareness is knowledge because reasons rather than sense experience.

The theory of forms. In this theory he said that form exist but not in the physical world of space and time. It exists as a changeless object in the world of forms or ideas which can be known only by reason. Forms have greater reality than objects in the physical world both because of their perfection and stability.  For instance A circle is defined as a plane figure composed of a series of points, all of which are equidistant from a given point. No one has actually seen such a figure, what people actually seen are drawn figures that are less or more close approximations of the ideal circle.

Plato’s political theory which concerned much with the question of justice and therefore with the questions “What is a just state?” and “Who is a just individual?” The ideal state according to Plato is composed of three classes. The economic structure of the state maintained by the merchant, security needs met by the military class and political leadership is provided by the philosophers or King.

A particular person’s class is determined by an educational process that begins at birth and proceeds until that person has reached the maximum level of education compatible with interest and ability and those who complete the entire educational process become philosopher or Kings.

He concluded by saying that the Just state is the one in which each class perform its own functions well without infringing on the activities of the other class and the Just person/individual is the one in whom the rational element supported by the will, controls the appetites. 

Plato’s Ethical theory, it rests on the assumption that virtue is knowledge and can be taught. He argued that to know the good is to do the good. The consequence of this is that anyone who behaves immorally does so out of ignorance. He believed that moral person is the truly happy person, and because individuals always desire their own happiness they always desire to do things which are moral.  

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