Plato’s Philosophy: Ideas, Knowledge, and Society

Posted on Dec 3, 2024 in Philosophy and ethics

1. Platonic Philosophy

1.1. Historical Significance

Platonic philosophy significantly influenced subsequent philosophical doctrines. Aristotle, Plato’s main disciple, built upon similar concepts but developed opposing doctrines. The Academy persisted until its closure between the 1st century BCE and 1st century CE. With the rise of Christianity, Neoplatonism emerged, blending Stoic and Neopythagorean elements. St. Augustine’s Christian Neoplatonism held considerable sway during the Middle Ages. The Renaissance saw a resurgence of Platonic philosophy with a substantial cultural impact.

2. The Theory of Ideas

Plato posits two worlds: the intelligible world and the sensible world.

The intelligible world, encompassing all ideas, exists independently from the sensible world. This cosmos represents true reality. Plato’s description of ideas centers on three realities: Good, Beauty, and Justice, with the latter two deriving from the first.

Wisdom lies in possessing or knowing the ideas.

2.1. Ideas

Synonymous with Essence, an idea is the being (essence) of things. Ideas are realities the soul knew before birth and are remembered because physical objects evoke them. Ideas are grasped through reasoning akin to mathematics.

For Plato, ideas are not mere universal concepts derived from experience. They are independent of particular things or facts. They are eternal, immutable, and self-identical. The set of ideas constitutes the order of the intelligible.

Ideas are the essence of things, the true cause and end, eternal and immutable. They possess simplicity and unity. They are real entities, outstanding, perfect, pure, intangible, and immobile. They form an organized whole, with the idea of Good at the forefront.

2.2. Sensible World

This is the collection of beings or things of a material or physical nature. Its qualities are the opposite of the world of ideas.

2.2.1. Relationship Between the World of Ideas and the Sensible World

A twofold relationship exists between the intelligible and sensible worlds:

  • Imitation: Things in the sensible world are made in imitation of their corresponding model in the world of ideas.

  • Participation: Sensitive things participate in or copy the ideas of Good, Beauty, Justice, etc. They reflect the ideas.

3. Theory of Knowledge

3.1. Degrees of Knowledge

Plato divides knowledge into sensitive knowledge and intelligible understanding.

3.1.1. Sensitive Knowledge: Conjecture and Faith

Sensitive knowledge comprises belief or faith (objects perceived by the senses) and imagination or conjecture (knowledge of something not perceived by the senses). These correspond to intelligible knowledge and thought, respectively. Faith and conjecture produce general opinion (sensitive knowledge leading to truth), equivalent to intelligence, in order to reach the generation (the material world).

3.1.2. Intellectual Knowledge: Knowledge and Science

Intelligible knowledge consists of knowledge or episteme (science, the highest degree of philosophy) and thought (rational sciences based on assumptions). These correspond to belief and imagination in sensitive knowledge. Knowledge and thinking lead to intelligence or truth (intelligible knowledge leading to truth), equivalent to understanding, in order to reach essence or eidos (world of ideas).

3.2. Dialectic

Dialectic has logical and anthropological aspects.

Logical dialectic is the art of discussing an issue through dialogue with questions and answers. It is a method for arriving at scientific knowledge, elevating expertise to universal concepts of logic. Ontological dialectic is the supreme science studying the absolute and universal realities of the intelligible world. The supreme degree of being (ideas) is the highest degree of knowledge.

In dialectic, reason ascends to the idea of Good as the pinnacle of all ideas. Other sciences and arts are means of preparing for this ascent.

3.3. Reminiscence

In Greek, anamnesis, reminiscence is the soul’s recollection of ideas previously contemplated. As part of the sensible world, this memory is updated based on knowledge of sensible things. Thus, learning is remembering a prior experience. Plato employed the Socratic method, maieutics, also known as the art of midwifery.

Reminiscence has two parts:

Asceticism: The first part involves the soul’s control over the body.

Mysticism: The second part involves the soul’s return to the world of ideas, its union with “God.”

3.4. Virtue

Virtue is the ability to reason practically. For Socrates, knowledge was synonymous with virtue; the wise person is the good person who knows how to act. Intellectualist ethics prioritizes reason over will in determining human behavior.

4. Anthropology

4.1. Anthropological Dualism: The Soul

Plato understood the soul as the intellectual, non-empirical part of man. In the Phaedo, he outlines his ideas about the soul. Greek philosophers acknowledged the soul’s existence, with two main approaches:

  • The soul as the principle of life: All living things have souls, beings perish at death, and the soul is naturally attached to the body.

  • The soul as the principle of knowledge: Only humans have souls, which are immortal and accidentally united with the body.

Plato chose the second conception.

He proposed three parts of a single soul:

  • Rational soul (reason): Destined to understand ideas, located in the head, its virtue is prudence.

  • Irascible soul (spirit): Willpower to overcome problems, located in the chest, its virtue is fortitude.

  • Concupiscible soul (appetite): Basic needs and desires, located in the lower body, its virtue is temperance.

These virtues control the body, with the rational soul governing the others. The Phaedrus myth depicts this as a charioteer (rational soul) pulled by two horses: one white and noble (irascible soul) and one black and unruly (concupiscible soul).

For philosophers, earthly life is an exercise in separating the soul from the body, a preparation for death.

Socrates, on his last day, argued for the soul’s immortality. Philosophy is preparation for death, requiring liberation from bodily obstacles like pleasures. Death is the separation of body and soul. He offered three arguments:

1. All things are born from their opposites; living souls come from the dead.

2. The soul, remembering things before birth, must have existed before birth.

3. If ideas exist, there are two types of existence: eternal, immutable ideas (objects of knowledge) and temporal, mutable particulars (objects of belief). The soul, like ideas, is simple and incorruptible.

4.2. Relationship Between Body and Soul

The soul and body are accidentally united, two conflicting realities. Plato compares this to a rider and horse. It is an awkward juxtaposition; they limit each other. The soul’s natural place is the world of ideas; the body is a prison. Man is essentially soul.

To recall ideas, the soul must be freed from the body. Humans are an accidental union of body (sensible world) and soul (intelligible world).

5. Ethics

Plato’s ethics are hedonistic; man seeks happiness. The Philebus divides this into two parts:

Monastic Ethics: Man as an individual.

Political Ethics: Man as part of society.

5.1. Monastic Ethics

Man is both body and soul. Happiness is a mixture of pleasure (honey) and wisdom (water), with wisdom predominating. True happiness lies in the autarkic good, the idea of Good. Two paths lead to this:

  • Purification (asceticism): Practicing virtue to free the soul.

  • Dialectic: Practicing wisdom, the highest form of reasoning. This requires knowledge of mathematics before reaching the dialectic, which leads to enlightenment and the idea of Good.

Happiness is achieved through virtue, with each part of the soul having a specific virtue.

5.2. Political Ethics

In the Republic, Plato designs an ideal society, the Callipolis, where wisdom governs. Justice and happiness arise from wisdom. Society is divided based on the division of labor:

Rulers (philosophers): Legislate, educate, guided by the world of ideas. Their virtue is wisdom.

Guardians: Defend the city. Their virtue is courage.

The People: Meet material needs. Their virtue is temperance.

Plato rejects the family as an institution to prioritize public over private interests. Women should have equal treatment.

6. Education

Education determines social position. The state provides equal initial education. Further education depends on individual effort and interest:

1st Grade (up to 20 years): Gymnasium, Music, and Arts.

2nd Grade (20-30 years): War arts and higher sciences (Physics, Mathematics, etc.).

3rd Grade (30-50 years): Dialectic (30-35), followed by practical experience (35-50).

At 50, individuals are prepared for leadership roles.