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Home , Codrus, Euclid of Megara, Perictione, Platonic realism, Potone, Pyrilampes

Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Vol-2, Issue-12, 2016 ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in

Plato: The Great

Ajaj Ahemad & Mazar Ali Shah Ph.D. Students, Department of and Political AMU (Aligarh Muslim University)

Abstract: is one of the most important named Aristocles after his grandfather, and only Western , exerting influence on later dubbed "Plato" or "Platon" (meaning "broad") virtually every figure in philosophy after him. His on account of the breadth of his eloquence, or of The is known as the first his wide forehead, or possibly on account of his comprehensive work on . Plato generally robust figure. also contributed foundationally to , , and . His student, His father was Ariston (who may have traced his , is also an extremely influential descent from Codrus, the last of the philosopher and the tutor of Alexander the Great of legendary kings of ); his mother Macedonia. was (who was descended from the famous Athenian lawmaker and poet , and Key Word: Plato’s life discipleship and the most whose family also boasted prominent figures of the influential philosophical works. oligarchic regime of Athens known as the Thirty Tyrants). He had two INTRODUCTION brothers, Adeimantus and , and a sister, . Plato later introduced several of his Plato (c.428-348 B.C.) was a hugely important distinguished relatives into his , Greek philosopher and mathematician from the indicating considerable family pride. Socratic (or Classical) period. When Ariston died early in Plato's childhood, his He is perhaps the best known, most widely studied mother married her own uncle, , who and most influential philosopher of all time. was also a friend of (the leader of the Together with his mentor, , and his democratic faction in Athens), and who had served student, Aristotle, he provided the main opposition many times as an ambassador to the Persian court. to the Materialist view of the world represented by Together, they had another son, Antiphon, who was and , and he helped to lay the therefore Plato's half-brother. foundations of the whole of . Coming as he did from one of the wealthiest and In his work, especially his many dialogues, he most politically active families in Athens, Plato blended Ethics, Political Philosophy, must have been instructed Epistemology, Metaphysics and Moral and in grammar, music and gymnastics by the most psychology into an interconnected and systematic distinguished teachers of his time, and certainly his philosophy. In addition to the they contained quickness of mind and modesty were (such as his doctrine Platonic , widely praised. He had also attended courses , , his famous of philosophy and was acquainted with , a and ideal of “”), many of his writing disciple of , before meeting Socrates. are also considered superb pieces of literature. This life-changing occurred when Plato was about twenty years old, and Plato was the founder of the the intercourse between master and pupil probably famous Academy in Athens, the first institution of lasted eight or ten years. As a youth he had loved to higher learning in the western world. The write poetry and tragedies, but burnt them all after philosophical school which he developed at the he became a student of Socrates and turned to Academy was known as (and its later philosophy in earnest. It is plain that off-shoot, Neo-Platonism). no influence on Plato was greater than that of Socrates. Life Sketch Plato was in military service from 409 to 404 B.C. Plato was born in Athens (or possibly in Aegina, and, for a time, he imagined a life in public affairs according to some sources) sometime between 429 for himself. He was even invited to join the and 423 B.C. (most modern scholars use estimate administration of the regime of the Thirty Tyrants of 428 or 427 B.C.) He was possibly originally

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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Vol-2, Issue-12, 2016 ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in

(through the connected with his uncle, , authenticity of at least some of these remains in who was himself a member), but he was soon ) of superb dialogues, written in the form of repelled by their violent acts and backed out. In conversations, a form which permitted him to 403 B.C., democracy was restored to Athens, and develop the of question and Plato had renewed hopes of entering politics again, answer. In his dialogues, Plato discussed every although the excesses of Athenian political life in kind of philosophical , including Ethics (with general persuaded him to hold back. The execution discussion of the nature of ), Metaphysics of Socrates in 399 B.C. had a profound effort on (where topics include immortality, man, mind, and him, and be decided to have nothing further to do Realism), Political Philosophy (where topics such with politics in Athens. as censorship and the ideal state are discussed), (considering topics such as After Socrates' death, he joined a group of Socratic Atheism, Dualism and Pantheism), Epistemology disciples who had gathered in the Greek city of (where he looked at ideas such as a priori under the leadership of of Megara, knowledge and ), the Philosophy of before leaving and travelling quite widely Mathematics and the (especially in Italy, Sicily, Egypt and Cyrene. During his time dance, music, poetry, architecture and drama). in Italy, he also studied with students of and came to appreciate the value We have no material about of mathematics. exactly when Plato wrote each of his dialogues, nor the extent to which some might have been When he returned to Athens in about 385 or 387 later revised or rewritten, nor even whether all or B.C., Plato founded the Academy (or Academia), part of them were ever "published" or made widely one of the earliest and most famous organized available. In addition to the ideas they contained, schools in western civilization and the prototype though, his writings are also considered superb for later universities, on a plot of land containing a pieces of literature in their own right, in terms of sacred grove just outside the city walls of ancient the mastery of language, the power of Athens, which had once belonged to the Athenian indicating character, the sense of situation, and the hero Akademos. Plato had been bitterly keen eye for both tragic and comic aspects. disappointed with the standards displayed by those in public office, and his intention was to train None of the dialogues contain Plato himself as a young men in philosophy and the science in order character, and so he does not actually declare that to create better statesmen, as well as to continue the anything asserted in them are specifically his own work of his former teacher, Socrates. Among views. The characters in the dialogues are Plato’s more noteworthy students at the Academy generally historical, with Socrates usually as the were Aristotle, (396-314 B.C.). protagonist (particularly in the early dialogues). It is generally thought that the view expressed by the Except for two more rather ill-advised and ill-fated character of Socrates in Plato’s dialogues were trips to Syracuse in Sicily in 367 B.C. and views that Socrates himself actually held, and the 361 B.C. to tutor the young ruler Dionysius II, works had the effect of gradually rehabilitating Plato presided over his Academy from Socrates’ rather tarnished image among Athenians 387 B.C. until his death in 347 B.C., aged about 80. in the wake of his death. As time went on, though, He was supposedly buried in the school grounds, the dialogues began to deal more with subjects that although his grave has never been discovered. interested Plato himself, rather than merely providing a vehicle for the ideas of Socrates. It On Plato’s death, his nephew seems likely that Plato's main intention in his succeeded him as head of school (perhaps because dialogues was more to teach his students to think his star pupil Aristotle’s idea had by that time for themselves and to find their own answers to the diverged too far from Plato’s). The school big questions, rather than to blindly follow his own continued to operate for almost 900 years, unit (or those of Socrates). A.D. 529, when it was closed by the Byzantine Emperor Justinial I, who saw it as a threat to the Among the (likely earlier) Socratic dialogues are: propagation of Christianity. “”, “Charmides”, “”, “”, “”, “”, “Lesser ”, “”, PHILOSOPHICAL WORK ” and “”. The following are often considerd “transitional” dialogues: “”, Plato is perhaps the first philosopher whose “” and “”. The middle dialogues complete works are still available to us. He wrote are generally seen as the first appearance of Plato’s no systematic treatises giving his views, but rather own view: “Cratylus”, “”, “”, he wrote a number (about 35, although the “”, Republic”, “” and

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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Vol-2, Issue-12, 2016 ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in

“Parmenides”. The late dialogues probably indicate This idea was most famously captured and Plato’s more mature thought, including of illustrated in Plato's , from his his own theories: “”, “”, best-known work, "The Republic". He represented “”, “”, “” and “”. The man's condition as being chained in the darkness of huge “Republic” in particular is considered one of a cave, with only the false light of a fire behind the single most influential works in the whole of him. He can perceive the outside world solely by Western Philosophy, although his account of watching the shadows on the wall in front of him, Socrates’ trial in the “Apology” may be the most not realizing that this view of existence is limited, read. wrong or in any way lacking (after all, it is all he knows). Plato imagined what would occur if some Central to Plato's Metaphysics is his theory of the chained men were suddenly released from of , which inverts the common this bondage and let out into the world, to sense intuition about what is knowable and what encounter the divine light of the sun and perceive is real. Confusingly, this is also known as Platonic “true” . He described how some people Idealism, and indeed Idealism may be a better would immediately be frightened and want to description. Plato believed return to the familiar dark existence of the cave, that universals (those properties of an object which while the more enlightened would look at the sun can exist in more than one place at the same time and finally see the world as it truly is. If they were e.g. the quality of "redness") do in exist and then to return to the cave and try to explain what are real. However, they exist in a different they had seen, they would be mocked mercilessly way than ordinary physical objects exist, in a sort and called fanciful, even mad. In the allegory, Plato of ghostly mode of existence, unseen and saw the outside world, which the cave's inhabitants unfelt, outside of space and time, but not at any glimpsed only in a second-hand way, as the spatial or temporal distance from people's bodies (a timeless realm of Forms, where genuine reality type of Dualism). resides. The shadows on the wall represent the world we see around us, which we assume to be Part and parcel of Plato’s Platonic Realism is his real, but which in fact is a mere imitation of the theory of Forms or Ideas, which refers to his real thing. that the material world as it seems to us is not the real world, but only a shadow or a poor copy of the Plato’s theory of Form was essentially an attempt real world. This is based on Plato’s (or to solve the dichotomy between ’ view Socrates’ through Plato) of hylomorphism, the idea (that there is no real change or multiplicity in the that substances are forms inhering in matter. He world, and that reality is one) and that of Heraclitus held that substance is composed of matter and (that motion and multiplicity are real, and that form, although not as any kind of a mixture or permanence is only apparently) by means of a amalgam, but composed homogeneously together metaphysical compromise. Plato himself, though, such that no matter can exist without form (or form was well aware of the limitation of his theory, and without matter). Thus, pure matter and pure form in particular he later concocted the “Third Man can never be perceived, only comprehended ” against his own theory: if a Form and a abstractly by the intellect. particular are alike, then there must be another (third) thing by possession of which they are alike, Forms, roughly speaking, are the pure and leading to an infinite regression. In a later (rather unchanging or abstract unsatisfactory) version of the theory, he tried to representations of universals and of all the things circumvent this objection by positing that we see around us, and they are in fact the true basis particulars do not actually exist as such: rather, of reality. These ideal Forms are instantiated by they “mime” the Form, appearing to be particulars. one or many different particulars, which are essentially material copies of the Forms, and make In the "Timaeus", Plato gave his account of up the world we perceive around us. Plato was the natural (physics, astronomy, chemistry therefore one of the first Essentialists in that he and biology) and the creation of the universe by believed that all things have essences or attributes the . Unlike the creation by the of that make an object or substance what it medieval theologians, Plato's Demiurge did not fundamentally is. According to Plato, true create out of nothing, but rather ordered the cosmos knowledge or intelligence is the ability to grasp the out of already-existing chaotic elemental matter, world of Forms with one's mind, even though imitating the eternal Forms. Plato took the four his evidence for the existence of Forms elements (fire, air, water and earth), which he is intuitive only. proclaimed to be composed of various aggregates of triangles, and made various compounds of these into what he called the Body of the Universe.

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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Vol-2, Issue-12, 2016 ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in

In recent years, more emphasis has been placed on the passions are attributes such as ; and the Plato's unwritten teachings, which were passed excellence of the spirit is . on orally to his students and not included in the Finally, is that excellence which consists in dialogues (on several occasions, Plato stressed that a harmonious relation of the other three parts. He the written transmission of knowledge was faulty believed, then, that virtue was a sort and inferior to the spoken logos). We have at least of knowledge (the knowledge of good and evil) some idea of this from reports by that is required to reach the ultimate his students, Aristotle and others, and from good (or eudemonia), which is what all human the continuity between his teachings and the desires and actions aim to achieve, and as such he interpretations of and the Neo-Platonists. was an early proponent of Eudemonism or Virtue One recurring theme is that the first principle of Ethics. everything, including the causation of good and of evil and of the Forms themselves, is the One (the Plato's philosophical views had cause of the essence of the Forms). It can be many societal and political implications, especially argued, then, that Plato's concept of God on the idea of an ideal state or government (much affirms Monotheism, although he also talked of influenced by the model of the severe society an Indefinite Duality (which he also of Sparta), although there is called large and small). some discrepancy between his early and later views on Political Philosophy. Some of his most famous In Epistemology, although some have imputed to doctrines are contained in the "Republic" (the Plato the remarkably modern analytic view that earliest example of a , dating from his knowledge is justified true belief, Plato more often middle period), as well as in the associated knowledge with the apprehension of later "Statesman" and the "Laws". unchanging Form and their relationships to one another. He argued that knowledge is always In general terms, Plato drew parallels between proportionate to the realm from which it is gained, the tripartite structure of the individual soul and so that, if one derive an account of something body ("appetite-stomach", "spirit-chest" and experientially the (because the world of sense is "-head") and the tripartite class structure of always in flux) the view attained will be mere societies. He divided human beings up, based on opinions. On the other hand, if one derives an their innate intelligence, strength and courage, into: account of something by way of the non- sensible the Productive (Workers), laborers, farmers, Forms, then the views attained will be pure and merchants, etc, which corresponds to the "appetite- unchanging (because the Forms are unchanging stomach"; the Protective (Warriors), the too). In several dialogues, Plato also floated the adventurous, strong and brave of the armed forces, idea that knowledge is a matter of recollection which corresponds to the "spirit-chest"; and (“”), and not of learning, or the Governing (Rulers or Philosopher Kings), the study, thus knowledge is not empirical, about intelligent, rational, self-controlled and wise, who essentially comes from divine insight. are well suited to make decisions for the community, which corresponds to the "reason- To a large extent, it is Plato who is responsible for head". The Philosophers and the Warriors together the modern view of the Sophist as a greedy and are thus the Guardians of Plato's ideal state. power-seeking instructor who uses rhetorical sleight-of-hand and of language in Plato concluded that reason and (rather order to deceive, or support fallacious reasoning. than and persuasion) should govern, thus He was at great pains in his dialogues to exonerate effectively rejecting the principles of Socrates from accusations of Sophism. Plato, and Athenian democracy (as it existed in his day) as Aristotle after him, also believed in a kind of Moral only a few are fit to rule. A large part of Universalism (or ), opposing the the "Republic" then addresses how the educational Moral of the . system should be set up (his important contribution to the ) to produce these In Ethics, Plato had a teleological or goal- Philosopher Kings, who should have their reason, orientated worldview, and the aim of his Ethics was will and desires united in virtuous therefore to outline the conditions under which a harmony (a moderate love for wisdom, and society might function harmoniously. He the courage to act according to that wisdom). The considered virtue to be an excellence of the soul, image has been used by many and, insofar as the soul has several after Plato to justify their personal political beliefs. components (e.g. reason, passions, spirit), there will be several components of its excellence: the He also made some interesting excellence of reason is wisdom; the excellence of about states and rulers. He argued that it is better to

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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Vol-2, Issue-12, 2016 ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in be ruled by a tyrant (since then there is limiting themselves to the mere pleasures of only one person committing bad deeds) than by physical beauty. On an unrelated note, he is also a bad democracy (since all the people are now responsible for the famous of , which responsible for the bad actions). He predicted that a first appears in the “Timaeus”. state which is made up of different kinds of souls will tend to decline from an aristocracy (rule by the Plato's consideration of epistemology, or the theory best) to a timocracy (rule by the honorable), then to of knowledge, comes mainly in the "Theaetetus". an oligarchy (rule by the few), then to In it, he (through the person of Socrates) considers a democracy (rule by the people) and finally three different theses - that knowledge to tyranny (rule by a single tyrant). is , that knowledge is true judgment, and that knowledge is true judgment together with an In the "Laws", probably Plato's last work and a account - refuting each of them in turn, without work of enormous length and complexity, he leaving us with any definitive conclusion or concerned himself with designing a solution. One is left, though; with the impression genuinely practicable (if admittedly not ideal) form that Plato's own view is probably that what of government, rather than with what a best constitutes knowledge is actually a combination possible state might be like. He discussed the or synthesis of all these separate theses. empirical details of statecraft, fashioning rules to meet the multitude of contingencies that are apt to Although the study to Plato’s thought continued arise in the "real world" of human affairs, and it with the Neo-Platonists, his reputation was marks a rather grim and terrifying culmination of completely eclipsed during medieval times by that the totalitarian tendencies in his earlier political of his most famous student, Aristotle. This is thought. mainly because Plato’s original writings were essentially lost to Western civilization until they Plato's views on were somewhat were brought from Constantinople in the century compromised and he had something of a love-hate before its fall by the Greek Neo-Platonists George relationship with the arts. He believed that Gemistos Plethon (c.1355-1452). The Medieval aesthetically appealing objects were beautiful in Scholastic philosophers therefore, did not have and of themselves, and that they should access to the work of Plato, nor knowledge of incorporate proportion, harmony and unity among Greek needed to read them. Only during the their parts. As a youth he had been a poet, and he Renaissance, with the general resurgence of interest remained a fine literary stylist and a great story- in classical civilization, did knowledge of Plato’s teller. However, he found the arts threatening in philosophy become widespread again in the West, that they are powerful shapers of character. and many of the greatest early modern scientists Therefore, to train and protect ideal citizens for an and artists who broken with saw ideal society, he believed that the arts must Plato’s philosophy as the basic for progress in the be strictly controlled, and he arts and sciences. By the 19th Century, Plato’s proposed excluding poets, playwrights and reputation was restored, and at least on par with musicians from his ideal Republic, or at Aristotle’s. least severely censoring what they produced. He also argued that art is merely imitation of the Plato's influence has been especially strong objects and events of ordinary life, effectively a in mathematics and the sciences. Although he made copy of a copy of an ideal Form. Art is therefore no important mathematical discoveries himself, his even more of an illusion than is ordinary belief that mathematics provides the finest , and so should be considered at training for the mind was extremely important in best entertainment, and at worst a dangerous the development of the subject (over the door of the delusion. Academy was written, "Let no one unversed in geometry enter here"). He concentrated on the idea In the “Symposium” and the “Phaedrus”, Plato of "proof", insisting on accurate introduces his theory of or love, which has and clear hypotheses, all of which laid come to be known as “Platonic love”. Although he the foundations for the systematic approach to invented the image of two lovers being each mathematics of Euclid (who flourished around “other’s half”, he clearly regards actual physical or 300 B.C.) sexual contact between lovers as degraded and wasteful forms of erotic expression. Thus, unless However, Plato also helped to distinguish between the power of love is channeled into “higher pure and applied mathematics by widening the gap pursuits” (culminating in the knowledge of the between “arithmetic” (now called Number Theory) Form of Beauty), it is doomed to frustration, and and “logistic” (now called Arithmetic). Plato’s people sadly squander the real power of love by resurgence in the Modern era further inspired some

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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Vol-2, Issue-12, 2016 ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in of the greatest advances in since Aristotle, primarily through Gottlob Frege and followers Kurt REFERENCE Godel (1906-1978), Alonzo Church (1903-1995) and Alfred Tarski (1901-1983). • Brickhouse, Thomas C. and Nicholas D. Smith, Plato's Socrates (New York: Oxford Plato's name is also attached to the "Platonic University Press, 1994). solids" (convex regular polyhedrons), especially in • Brickhouse, Thomas C. and Nicholas D. the "Timaeus", in which the cube, tetrahedron, Smith, The Philosophy of Socrates (Boulder: octahedron, and icosahedrons are given as Westview, 2000). the shapes of the atoms of earth, fire, air and water, • Cooper, J. M. (ed.), Plato: Complete with the fifth , the dodecahedron, Works (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1997). • Fine, Gail (ed.), Plato I: Metaphysics and being his model for the whole universe. Plato's Epistemology and Plato II: Ethics, Politics, beliefs as regards the universe were that the stars, Religion and the Soul (Oxford: Oxford planets, Sun and Moon all move round the Earth University Press, 1999). in crystalline spheres. The sphere of the Moon • Grote, George, Plato and the Other was closest to the Earth, then the sphere of the Sun, Companions of Sokrates 2nd ed. 3 vols. then Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn (London: J. Murray, 1867). and furthest away was the sphere of the stars. He • Irwin, Terence, Plato's Ethics (New York and believed that the Moon shines by reflected sunlight. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995). • Kahn, Charles H., Plato and the (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996). CONCLUSION • Kraut, Richard (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Plato (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992). Plato was, simply, a student of Socrates. There are • Platonis Opera (in 5 volumes) - The Oxford two things that make Plato the greatest: First, he Classical Texts (Oxford: Oxford University wrote. Socrates left no writings behind. He wrote Press): nothing, he only talked, discussed. Today we know • Russell, Daniel C., 2005, Plato on Pleasure Socrates as Plato told us. Actually, we have to and the Good Life, Oxford: Clarendon Press. confess that we cannot be sure about who is • Rutherford, R.B., 1995, The Art of Plato: Ten Socrates. Is he really the man we see in Plato's Essays in Platonic Interpretation, Cambridge, dialogues, or is the totally different? MA: Harvard University Press. Whatever it is, Plato is the main wit behind • Smith, Nicholas D. (ed.), Plato: Critical Socrates, but I'm talking about Socrates emerging Assessments (London and New York: in the dialogues. Secondly, Plato systematized a Routledge, 1998) in four volumes: I: General Issues of Interpretation; II: Plato's Middle strong theory that entitled as "Theory of Ideas." He Period: Metaphysics and continued the "let's discuss..." attitude also. He Epistemology; III: Plato's Middle Period: sprinkled his ideas among dialogues and by doing Psychology and Value Theory; IV: Plato's that, he forced human mind to think, question, Later Works. discuss etc. • Santas, Gerasimos , Socrates: Philosophy in Plato's Early Dialogues (Boston The main reason behind this acceptance is Plato's and London: Routledge, 1979). interrogative attitude, according to me. He • Schofield, Malcolm, 2006, Plato: Political discussed almost everything possible. Almost all Philosophy, Oxford: Oxford University Press. idea movements in the Western Civilization, • Silverman, Allan, 2002, The of including Christianity, find their roots in Plato's Essence: A Study of Plato's Metaphysics, dialogues. Of course, he shown an incredible vision Princeton: Princeton University Press. • and produced really strong theories but all of them Volume I (E. A. Duke et al., eds., 1995): Euthyphro, Apologia Socratis, Crito, were to make people simply "think about what is Phaedo, Cratylus, Theaetetus, Sophista, true and what is the truth," but he did that by Politicus. writing, not only discussing. (For we do not know • Vasiliou, Iakovos, 2008, Aiming at Virtue in Socrates directly from himself since he wrote Plato, Cambridge: Cambridge University nothing, we appreciate Plato more.) Pre-Socratic Press. philosophers contemptuously claimed themselves • Vlastos, Gregory, Platonic Studies 2nd ed. as all-knowing and they were close to proper (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981). discussion; but Plato was humble, he opened his • Vlastos, Gregory, Plato I: Metaphysics and ideas to the public and bravely discussed. Epistemology and Plato II: Ethics, Politics, and Philosophy of Art and Religion (South Bend: University of Notre Dame Press, 1987).

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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Vol-2, Issue-12, 2016 ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in

• Vlastos, Gregory, 1995, Studies in Greek Philosophy (Volume 2: Socrates, Plato, and Their Tradition), Daniel W. Graham (ed.), Princeton: Princeton University Press. • White, Nicholas P., 1976, Plato on Knowledge and Reality, Indianapolis: Hackett. • Zuckert, Catherine H., 2009, Plato's Philosophers: The Coherence of the Dialogues, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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