PLATO 428 348 B C http safeshare tvvss

PLATO 428 – 348 B. C

http: //safeshare. tv/v/ss 56 cc 6 c 06125 f b • They believe the shadows are real • If you pay attention to the shadows you’ll succeed in life. They take pride in shadowy things and believe themselves to be wise • They don’t realize the shadows are only shadows • Leaving the cave: harsh, but over time his eyes adjust • Sees the true forms of all the shadows • Becomes enlightened • When he tries to explain what he’s experienced, the others want to kill him

Cave story = allegory of the life of all enlightened people Cave Dwellers The Sun The alienation of the returned philosopher Humans before philosophy The light of reason What all truth-tellers can expect when they try to bring their knowledge to those who have not devoted themselves to thinking

• Most of us live our lives in shadow • Many of the things we get excited about like celebrities and fame, Fortnite, or getting likes on an Instagram post, are infinitely less real / important than we think they are • These things are shadows projected by popular culture onto the walls of our minds

• No Democracy for Athens… Plato believed that a philosopher-king should rule This king would be wise, calm, and reasonable (like a Philosopher) • Socrates in The Republic comparison of election of government officials to the appointment of a captain of a ship • Letting citizens vote without an education is as irresponsible as making a random person the captain of a ship during a storm His reasoning: • Few people think properly before voting • Therefore: rulers = substandard • Plato wanted to prevent people from voting until they’d become philosophers themselves • Plato’s ideal leader: a philosopher • “The world will not be right until kings become philosophers or philosophers kings” • To help educate the people Plato started The Academy

• Plato believed the best way to spread his ideas was through education • Plato started an important school of higher learning called the Academy. • It stayed open for about 900 years • The Academy was not a school or college in the modern sense. Rather, it was an informal association of people interested in studying philosophy, mathematics and astronomy with Plato as a guide. • Think of it as a club for the really smart people of the ancient world.

Ideas shared in The Academy: • Plato’s goal in life: help people reach a state of Eudaimonia (fulfilment) • Plato wrote 36 books (all dialogues) The Republic (his best known) A couple of his main teachings: 1. Think more: subject your ideas to examination (Socratic method) 2. Reform society: inspired by Sparta • Sparta = city-sized machine for creating soldiers • Everything the Spartans did, how their economy was designed, how they raised their children, even what they ate was tailored toward the one goal: creating great soldiers • Rather than create soldiers, Plato wanted to create fulfilled people • It matters who we admire in a society • Shouldn’t admire celebrities or people with power/money - they give glamor to flaws of character • We should admire philosophers, and want to be philosophers