Philosophy Of Plato
Plato is renowned as one of the world's greatest
philosophers. Born in 429 BC around the time of the death of Pericles,
he lived for nearly eighty years up until the period that began
with the birth of Alexander the Great. He belonged to an aristocratic
Athenian family who were by the standards of those days relatively
rich. A large number of Plato's relatives played an active role
in Athenian politics, but this was an activity that Plato himself
shied away from.
During his youth he became fascinated by the teachings
and thoughts of Socrates, so much so that he attended the academy
that Socrates set up. Plato was only thirty years old when Socrates
was killed in prison for committing crimes against the gods.
Though incredibly distressed by the death of Socrates,
Plato set about writing down the conversations he had held with
his teacher. Today, most of what we know about Socrates, the man
and his thinking, comes from the texts created by Plato.
Over time, he began to develop his own concepts
and ideas relating to philosophy. One of his most famous works is
"The Republic". This is a text that describes his thoughts
on how a better government could be formed than that what was in
power in Athens at the time.
As was common amongst the ancient philosophers
of that age he was not a fan of democracy. It was his impression
that uneducated people should not have a say in electing officials
that were to govern. He put forward a suggestion that the most intellectually
accomplished in society should be those that hold power and make
decisions. A cynic may say that due to his upbringing amongst the
aristocracy he would always suggest that the elite class should
govern.
Plato had a passion for the natural world and how
biological systems interact and develop. He believed that all matter
and thoughts had a perfect form. One of the most famous methods
he used to explain his concepts was a metaphor relating to a cave.
He suggested that if there was a cave inside which
there were a group of men chained up against a wall and they could
only see the back of the cave and no more, all that would be visible
to them would be shadows, and these shadows encompassed all reality.
He proposed that if one of these cave prisoners was to escape and
take in the beauty of the outside world, if he then returned to
visit the remaining captives and tell them what existed outside,
it is likely that he would be told that he was crazy and perhaps
even hallucinating.
Plato suggested that we are all very similar to
those men stuck in a cave. We believe that we know everything about
the world and existence, but we are trapped in our bodies just as
the men in the story were trapped on a cave. It was his mission
to help people make more sense of the real world, both in practical
and theoretical ways.
* * *
Socrates never put his thoughts and beliefs down
on paper. Only after his death did Plato write down some of the
concepts that had been taught by this great man.
Find out about non
believers and famous
atheists.
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