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Plato

Page 6

by Roy Jackson


  Having said that, we cannot be sure that all the works that are attributed to Plato are actually his, for some may well be spurious; either notes of Plato’s that have been compiled (and altered) by his students, or possibly works written by someone else entirely. Therefore, although 35 dialogues are attributed to Plato, some of the shorter works may not have originated from Plato’s own hand. For example, one work, usually translated as Rival Lovers (Greek Erastai), is included in the traditional corpus despite doubt as to its authenticity as a work by Plato, largely because the character of Socrates (who engages in a dialogue with an unnamed man who, it has been suggested, could have been Democritus who did visit Athens) comes across more like the less philosophical character portrayed by Xenophon than by Plato.

  Plato’s works are frequently divided into three periods: early, middle and late. This, it should be pointed out, is useful to give us some idea of the ‘phases’ in Plato’s thought, but it is by no means certain what the chronology of Plato’s works actually is. To some extent, then, this is an artificial division:

  • The early period was mostly concerned with moral issues and heavily influenced by Socrates. These are referred to as the aporetic dialogues (derived from the Greek aporia, ‘impasse’) because some of them (but not all) conclude in a state of aporia. This is a rhetorical device adopted by Socrates who begins by expressing doubt (possibly feigned) concerning his position on a particular subject (for example, love, courage or virtue) and asks his interlocutors to explain or define a concept. The dialogue concludes with Socrates expressing aporia, or uncertainty, as to whether a concept has yet been fully defined. From the perspective of the reader it is then left to them, quite deliberately, to speculate further, rather than for Socrates to provide the answer. One good example of aporia is the dialogue Lysis, which will be looked at in Chapter 8.

  • As already noted, it is quite possible that much of this work really features the philosophy of Socrates rather than much originality from Plato himself. Perhaps it is more accurate, and more fruitful, to see these works as Plato being as yet unprepared and, perhaps, too philosophically immature, to assert himself and go on an all-out attack on certain accepted (especially sophistic) positions. Usually included in the early dialogues are Apology, Charmides, Crito, Euthyphro, Hippias Minor, Ion, Laches and Lysis.

  • The break from this early period to the middle period comes first with the works of Protagoras and Gorgias, where the character of Socrates expresses a greater concern with such issues as politics and metaphysics, and shows how Plato now begins to assert his voice more. The characters of Protagoras and Gorgias were both well-known Sophists, and so Plato is setting out here to attack them directly, often through ironic humour, which expresses a confidence of writing style and philosophical maturity. The middle period, then, was Plato at his peak, producing other important works such as Meno, Phaedo, Symposium and, best known of all, Republic. The Republic is a rich book in which all aspects of philosophy are connected in a grand scheme for the kind of state Plato wished for – a state ruled by the wisest and best: the Philosopher-Kings. These rulers would be the wisest because, through training in the sciences especially, they would have learned how to gain access to truth itself: the Forms. It is not just a book on political philosophy but provides views on education and a theory of human nature based upon his belief in the eternal soul. What is particularly characteristic of this period of dialogue is that Socrates’ arguments tend to be more extended and developed, containing such key Platonic ideas as his Theory of the Forms (see Chapter 4).

  • Plato’s later works, written in the last 12 years or so of his life, are perhaps less dramatic in terms of his poetry and humour, and more engaged in logical analysis. Many of these works, such as Theaetetus (an aporetic dialogue) and Parmenides, are a further development of Plato’s earlier philosophy, with the character of Socrates playing a smaller part in conversations. For example, in Laws the main character is simply called the Athenian Stranger which, one suspects, is Plato himself. In fact, this dialogue, which was most likely Plato’s last, is the only work that does not feature Socrates at all. The works Sophist and Statesmen also have Socrates taking a backstage role, with the main character called the Eleatic Stranger (which may have been Parmenides, who came from Elea). Timaeus, which may belong to the later period (although some argue it is part of the middle period), contains an interesting creation myth of a divine craftsman who imposes order on a chaotic world (see Chapter 11). This echoes Plato’s own concern for order and the belief that such logical and systematic structures do exist. These later dialogues tend to be more technical and, therefore, more philosophically demanding for the reader.

  Key terms

  Aporetic dialogue: From the Greek aporia (‘impasse’), a style of dialogue that occurs in some of Plato’s works in which Socrates concludes by expressing aporia as to whether a concept has been defined or not.

  Helot: The subjugated population of Sparta. Essentially slave labour that, largely, worked in agriculture.

  Sparta: An ancient Greek military city-state. During Plato’s life, Athens was frequently at war with Sparta.

  Dig deeper

  Annas, J. (2003), Plato: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford Paperbacks.

  Hare, R. M. (1982), Plato. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  Melling, D. J. (1987), Understanding Plato. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  Scott-Kilvert, I. (trans.) (1973), Plutarch: The Rise and Fall of Athens. London: Penguin.

  Waterfield, R. (1993), Republic. Oxford: Oxford Paperbacks.

  Fact check

  1 The name ‘Plato’ may have been a nickname. Why was he called this?

  a Because he liked to eat from big plates

  b Because he had broad shoulders

  c Because he was born on a plateau

  d Because he was very playful

  2 Who said that European philosophy is but ‘a series of footnotes to Plato’?

  a Ludwig Wittgenstein

  b Aristotle

  c Bertrand Russell

  d A. N. Whitehead

  3 What was the name given to the ‘university’ that Plato founded in Athens?

  a The Academy

  b The Lyceum

  c The Parthenon

  d The Acropolis

  4 What was the name of the war between Sparta and Athens?

  a The Polynesian War

  b The Peloponnesian War

  c The Persian War

  d The Peninsular War

  5 What were the names of Plato’s two older brothers?

  a Glaucon and Adeimantus

  b Adeimantus and Charmides

  c Glaucon and Potone

  d Potone and Charmides

  6 What is the name of Plato’s ancestor who was one of the Seven Sages?

  a Colon

  b Zolon

  c Holon

  d Solon

  7 What was the name of the group of philosophers who influenced Plato and who believed in the immortality of the soul and in reincarnation as well as a belief that nature was subject to a mathematical order.

  a The Pythagoreans

  b The Spartans

  c The Hindus

  d The Presocratics

  8 Which of the following is a translation of the Greek word aporia?

  a Knowledge

  b Illusion

  c Impasse

  d Enlightenment

  9 Which one of the following is a work by Plato?

  a The Sage

  b Ethics

  c Lysis

  d Metaphysics

  10 Which one of the following was a pupil of Plato?

  a Pythagoras

  b Democritus

  c Socrates

  d Aristotle

  4

  The Forms

  In the last chapter we examined Plato’s life and put him into historical context. In considering his dialogues, his great work Republic stands out. When students learn about Plato, Repub
lic tends to be the focus. To some extent this is a great shame since Plato wrote many other excellent dialogues that examine important and still relevant issues and it is hoped that this book will encourage the reader to look beyond Republic. Nonetheless, there are many valid reasons why Republic is placed on such a pedestal, and so it is only fitting that a good proportion of this book is devoted to the arguments within it. This chapter, and the next three, will, therefore, focus largely on Republic and, no doubt, this dialogue will crop up on a number of occasions elsewhere. Indeed Chapter 12 will also be entirely devoted to Republic.

  The death of Socrates had a profound influence upon Plato. Any political ambitions he had held were now of no concern to him. He was disillusioned with politics and saw his mission to carry on the legacy of his mentor, to be a philosopher. After a number of years travelling and soul-searching, Plato returned to his native Athens and began to teach and write. His early dialogues (as much as we can be certain that they are his early dialogues) were records of conversations that Socrates might have had with various individuals: for example, with Euthyphro on what it means to be pious, or with Crito on the subject of civil disobedience.

  Plato also wrote an Apology, which was a defence of Socrates against his critics. However, it was one thing to defend the life of Socrates, it was another to demonstrate that the ‘examined life’ was the best life to live. To achieve this Plato set out to prove that the philosopher, more than any other profession, was after Truth. In this sense Plato was going much further than Socrates, for his mentor never claimed to know anything – to have absolute knowledge of truth. It was this belief that we can have true knowledge that developed into Plato’s famous Theory of the Forms.

  The Analogy of the Cave

  One reason why Plato’s works have remained so popular after all these years is that he was aware of his audience. His dialogues were designed for popular consumption, and there is evidence that Plato did not write down his more advanced philosophy, as it was not meant for the general public. He appreciated the importance of explaining often-difficult concepts in a way that could be more readily understood. To achieve this, Plato often made use of analogy. An analogy is when you make a relationship between two or more entities to bring out their similarity; for example, to make an analogy (though not a very good one) between the structure of an atom and the solar system. To explain his Theory of the Forms, Plato used the well-known Analogy of the Cave.

  This analogy is from Plato’s Republic. As usual in his dialogues, the main character is Socrates. It is Socrates who describes the cave to his fellow interlocutors:

  • Deep down at the very bottom of the cave is a group of prisoners. The prisoners are firmly shackled so that they cannot move, or even turn their heads. They all face only one direction, the wall of the cave. These prisoners have been in this condition since they were young children.

  • Behind the prisoners a fire burns away, and between this fire and the prisoners there are many people who are walking by, talking and carrying artificial objects such as figures of men and animals made of wood and stone. The people walking by are hidden by a screen, so that only the artificial objects appear above the top of the screen

  • The fire casts a shadow of these artificial objects upon the wall of the cave. It is this wall that the prisoners can see. The prisoners are not aware of what is happening behind them and so, for them, the whole of their reality consists of shadows on the wall. They can only see the shadows of the artificial objects, which, of course, are also, in a way, ‘shadows’ of their makers. When they hear talking or other sounds they believe it comes from the shadows.

  • One day, one of these prisoners is let loose from his chains and is forced to turn around, look and walk towards the fire. The released prisoner finds all of these actions painful and is dazzled by the light, having spent his life in almost complete darkness and not being able to move. He is told that the objects he now sees are the real objects and that what he had experienced all his life were mere shadows.

  • Confused and frightened, the prisoner wants to return to the bottom of the cave, but he is dragged further away and up towards the entrance. Faced by the daylight he is unable to see a single object. Only over time can he gradually grow used to it, first by perceiving the lights of the night sky, then the shadows of objects cast by the sun and finally the objects themselves in broad daylight.

  • Finally, after a period of getting used to the light of day, the released prisoner is even able to gaze at the sun itself.

  ‘“A strange picture,” he said, “– and strange prisoners!”

  “Ones that resemble us”, I said.’

  Plato, Republic, 515a

  A more modern analogy today would be the cinema, where the audience would watch the play of shadows thrown by the film coming from a light behind them. The audience would believe that the events in the film are ‘real’ to them as opposed to the events outside the cinema.

  Plato and The Croods

  The Croods (2013) is a 3D animated film from DreamWorks. This storyline might sound familiar once you have read about the cave analogy: a family of cavemen, who believe they are the only cavemen in existence, live in a dark cave which they rarely leave. Grug (voiced by Nicolas Cage), the head of this family, tells his children every night that it is important that they obey the rules that are marked on the cave walls if they are to survive. It is only as a result of an earthquake that they are forced to venture further out and come across a nomad called Guy who shows them fire and how it can bring light to the darkness of a cave.

  The path to enlightenment

  As Socrates tells his tale he asks his colleagues to imagine what the prisoner must have thought and felt during this whole experience. The released prisoner’s initial reaction is fear and confusion; a desire to return to the comfort and security of what he had lived with all his life, even though he has been told that it is an illusion. Forced to experience the world outside, he experiences a gradual awakening; an awareness that there is a more beautiful and real world so very different from the dark world of shadows where he has spent his life. In time, the prisoner also realizes that all things he had cherished and felt were so important to him previously, now no longer mattered. The chained prisoners would, among themselves, gain status and honour by attempting to determine the sequence of events that would occur among the shadows and so on. The released prisoner, however, realizes that this quest for glory was illusory.

  By perceiving the sun itself, the prisoner realizes that it is the source of all things; it produces the changing of the seasons and controls everything in the visible world, including the fire and, from that, the shadows that he used to think were the only reality. Aware of all this, the prisoner would rather be ‘a serf to a man with nothing’ (516d) than to be the person he was before he was released.

  Socrates then speculates on what would happen if the prisoner were to return to the bottom of the cave; not to return to the life he led but to tell the other prisoners what wonderful things lay beyond the darkness of their experience. He asks us to imagine how the others would respond to this. Would they welcome him with open arms and want to see this world for themselves? Quite the opposite, Socrates thought. For the released prisoner, having grown accustomed to the outside world, would fumble in the darkness and could no longer engage in the complexities of divining the motion of the shadows. The prisoners would see him as a fool, a bumbling idiot. In fact, if he made any attempt to free them from their shackles, they would gang together and kill him.

  And yet, even if the prisoner knew that his companions at the bottom of the cave would not understand him and that his own life would be in danger, Socrates thought that the prisoner should return. To keep his knowledge to himself and allow his companions to remain in ignorance is a crime.

  This curious tale works on many different levels. What is it meant to teach us? First of all, his audience will have known who the prisoner represents: it is Socrates himself. The man who
had no concern for the conventions of everyday society, of the quest for glory or honour; the man who talked of higher things, who saw it as his mission in life to tell people that their dearly held beliefs are a sham; the man who was often mocked because of his appearance and lack of practical sense. Ultimately, the man who many feared and whose life was not only in danger but, in the end, was ended by those who refused to understand. In a much broader sense, the prisoner is every philosopher: the searcher for truth and whose purpose in life is to teach this truth to others.

  The Matrix

  Another film, more philosophically sophisticated than The Croods, is The Matrix. This is often considered an example of Descartes’ sceptical doubt (see Case Study in Chapter 5), but it can also be seen as inspired by Plato’s cave analogy. Just like the prisoners in the cave, Neo is a prisoner in the matrix and does not realize he is a prisoner, believing that the world as perceived is the real one. Morpheus represents the freed prisoner, the ‘Socrates’, who gives Neo the choice to remain chained or to be freed both physically and mentally.

  The Realm of the Forms

  The Analogy of the Cave is not only about the quest of the philosopher. It is also a way of explaining Plato’s Theory of the Forms. What are the Forms? In the story The Little Prince, by the French poet and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–44), the author recounts how, as a young boy, he lived in a house where there was supposed to be some buried treasure. The treasure was never found, but the possibility that it might exist gave the house a special quality and beauty.

 

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