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Note | Plato’s Theory of Ideas

Plato

Plato is the first philosopher set up philosophy as a total principle and a total human study. He was s pupil and the most influential successor to Socrates. Plato theorized Socrates’ act of life, his pursuit for virtue and truth, thought and questions, then established a philosophical principale theory (as a love of wisdom) for the first time.

And Plato, in his dialogues, treated many philosophical topics such as being, virtue, wisdom, beauty and politics which last until now.

The Theory of Ideas

Plato’s famous and important key concept is the theory of Ideas, also called the theory of forms, the doctrine of ideas.

The word origin of idea is “idein”, “to see” in ancient grec. The meaning of word idea in is “form or appearance is seen”. Also Aristotle’s eidos (form) has same origin and similar meaning. (But their actual meaning is different.) Idea is not unclear, airy, fluid or rough concept. It’s an abstract and unreal but solid and absolute form in the heaven, of which things and abstract concepts have. Plato’s idea is the original ideal form of each of things. Ideas belong to each species of things and concepts.

For example square. A square on a paper written by a man isn’t perfect, the lines are not completely straight and same length, and have thickness, the angles are not completely right angle, and the inner space is not completely closed or the lines stick out slightly. But we recognize it as a square. Like this, Plato thinks a square on a paper shares the idea of square. And Plato thinks each things (such as tree, desk and horse) and abstract concepts (such as good, love and beauty) have their ideas. Also things are in existence since they are provided, shared out by their idea.

Plato’s thinking is curious for us, but it supposed to have the aim to criticize the realistic view, materialism and decadence of Athens’ democracy, Presocratic philosophers and sophists. Their thoughts are things to leave to take its own course. Socrates and Plato thought the cause of the decadence is especially realism, practicalism and relativism of sophists.

Until Socrates, Presocratic philosophers researched the rule and system in the nature and they think there’s truth in the nature. Platon made the view to world reversed. Plato’s theory of ideas advocate the value of things and politics as they should be. The thought of Plato is order of spirit or mind makes a world. So the truth is in a mind of each persons.

Universal Principle and Problems of Platonism

The property of Ideas of each things are eternal and unchangeable. So an idea is identical and universal for everyone. By Plato’s thought, all wise men and men want to live good pursue and want the idea of good. And the idea of good is one and eternal, so they can understand mutually and have the universal principle of good. The theory of ideas shows possibility of mutual understanding and universal principle.

Plato’s philosophical thought by the theory of ideas called Platonism. Platonism teaches us the value of pursuit truth, virtue, wisdom and beauty. It’s a kind of idealism, positivism and optimism. There are ideal and perfect states of things in the world of idea, the model of the real world, and we can pursuit them and we should do it. A typical influence by Platonism is seen on education. Children must not be led nature take its own course, should be educated to become a good person.

On the other hand, there are any problems of Platonism. Platonism thinks the truth or the idea of good is one. So it can’t accept diversity of values. And Platonism bring about logical optimism, excessive rationalism and totalitarianism.

Platonism thinks there’s the world of ideas beyond the real world far in the distance, and offers pursuit for the world of ideas and truth, but we can’t never reach and grasp the true, ideal and perfect states of things. Platonism is an idealism, so it never fulfil the thought perfectly. And it regard reality or the real world is inferior to the world of ideas, the real world is provisional and temporary world. So Platonism possibly result in nihilism and cynicism.

Binomial opposition of ideas and reality of Platonism have been influenced on the Western thought and culture for good and bad.

Conclusion

Plato theorized Socrates’ philosophy, established the philosophy as love of wisdom in earnest which became the tradition of philosophy, and set up the first total philosophical principle unit ontology, ethics, beauty, politics and so on. Theory of ideas includes and units ontology, ethics, aesthetics and political thought. The theory of ideas and Platonism are a strong and influential ways of thinking.

Platonism have been influenced on the Western thought and culture. But it concealed the value of diversity, and regarded earthly world and life inferior and worthless.

References

Hiroyuki Ogino, Symposion of Philosophy: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle (NHK Publishing, 2003)

Julia Annas, Plato: Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2003)

Paul Strathern, Plato in 90 Minutes (Ivan R. Dee, 1996)

Seiji Takeda, Introduction to Plato (Chikuma Books, 2015)

Jean-François Revel, Histoire de la philosophie occidentale (Nil Éditions, 1994)

Luc Ferry & Claude Capelier, La plus belle histoire de la philosophie (Éditions Points, 2014)

Roger-Pol Droit, Une brève histoire de la philosophie (Flammarion, 2008)

Bertrand Russell, The History of Western Philosophy (Simon & Schuster, 1972)

Nigel Warburton, A Little History of Philosophy (Yale University Press, 2011)

Roger Scruton, A Short History of Modern Philosophy (Routledge, 2002)

Gen Kida, History of Anti-Philosophy (Kodansha Academic Library, 2000)

Seiji Takeda, An Introduction to Philosophy: To Know Thyself (Chikuma Arts-and-Science Library, 1993)

Shigeto Nuki, Philosophy Map (Chikuma New Books, 2004)

Sumihiko Kumano, The History of Western Philosophy: From The Ancient to The Middle Ages (Iwanami New Books, 2006)

Thierry Paquot & François Pépin, Dictionnaire Larousse de la Philosophie (Éditions Larousse, 2011)

Simon Blackburn, The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy (Second Edition Revised), (Oxford University Press, 2008)

Robert Audi, The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy (Second Edition), (Cambridge University Press, 1995)

Thomas Mautner, The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy (Second Edition), (Penguin Books, 2005)

Note | Philosophy of Socrates

The Man Set Up Philosophy as A Human Inquisition

Socrates is a philosopher who set up the philosophy as a human inquisition and a moral science for the first time. And it’s said that he invented the word philosophy. So that he is called “the father of philosophy”. And he is the creator of today’s ethics.

Philosophers before Socrates, such as Thales, Anaximander, Pythagoras, Heraclitus and Democritus utterly pursued and learned about rules and causes of the nature, the world or the universe. But the huge impact of Socrates changed the language game of philosophy. So philosophers before Socrates are named “Vorsokratiker (Presocratics)”.

The Socratic Problem

Socrates wrote nothing. He thought verbal words are only livid, written text is dead words. To know Socrates thought, it can be only from describes by authors of the same age. The representative authors are Xenophon, Aristophanes and Plato. Despite, these three descriptions about Socrates are utterly different. Xenophon describes Socrates as an ideal and sincere but strict teacher led truth and virtue, also told boring moral by common knowledge. Aristophanes’ character of Socrates is bold, unreliable and stupid sophist told the way of debate, took money for a charge, also researched natural studies. Plato’s Socrates is a cynical and ironic thinker always told paradoxical sayings, also have a god-like genius of thinking and debate.

By the philosophical contribution, I’ll comment on Plato’s Socrates.

Opposition to Sophists

The first half of Socrates’ life isn’t quite known. Socrates served in the military, went to the war three times. And he studied mathematics, astronomy and natural philosophy under Archelaus. But he soon noticed these study not useful for human understanding.

It’s said that in his forties, he began to tell and argue his philosophy at agora, and to dispute with the sophists. The sophist are a school philosophy of professional teachers told various knowledge and skills, especially rhetoric to win opponents and to attract audiences in an assembly or a court. They thought language is a tool and language itself has a sense and a truth, it’s right to win a debate by sophistry. By the technique of rhetoric, we can insist yes or no, good or bad in all subjects, they thought. And their thought is relativism. Protagoras’ famous saying “Man is the measure of all things,” stands for human thinking and sense are criterion of value of all things, and value of things are different each of men.

On the contrary Socrates insisted it should be extracted the truth and the value from things themselves. By using words and logic we must take out contradictions, demonstrate intuitions and prove the truth.

The Socratic Method : Elenchos (or Maieutike)

A day of late in life, Socrates’ friend Chaerephon received the answer that “no one was wiser than Socrates” by the Oracle at Delphi. Socrates felt the answer is not correct and thought “I know nothing expect the fact of my own ignorance”, and he decided to certify it. So Socrates visited and argued with politicians, poets (playwrights) and artisans (they were considered most honourable in Greek at that time).

Socrates argued about wisdom, temperance, courage and justice with notables. The argument is processed by the Socratic Questioning, a method of questioning, a question responses an interlocutor’s question to redefine his question. For example, an interlocutor presented a definition, Socrates told a further premise and the interlocutor approved of the premise, and Socrates further discussed and proved the definition and the premise are a contradiction, then Socrates insisted on the interlocutor’s definition is false or non-sense and the converse is true. This Socrates’ method indicate new consideration and refined definition, also interlocutors can’t say anything further and must recognize their ignorance and blunder.

This method of negatively aggressive questioning is named Socratic Method (Elenchos), also is named Maieutike (the way of midwife), . Because Socrates found a new knowledge or perception went through a hardships. And Socrates developed the dialectic which is made progress by Plato, Aristotle, Kant and Hegel.

“Knowing I Know Nothing” (The Socratic Ignorance)

By the arguments, Socrates recognized personages supposed to be wise, don’t know the truth and virtue, and only he know “I know that I know nothing”, so Socrates is wiser than others.

The Socratic Ignorance is a criticism to practical knowledge and vanity. Personages in Athens knew only separated practical knowledge. They didn’t know the importance of truth and virtue, the basis of things.

Some scholars think “knowing I know nothing” is a kind of knowledge and a self-contradiction. The true meaning of the Socratic Ignorance might be an “I understand just the importance of truth and virtue”.

The meaning of Socratic Ignorance is not only a nihilism or a cynicism. He found the importance of truth, virtue and moral issues. It’s a starting point to pursuit truth, virtue, humane study and ethics.

Why Socrates accepted the death penalty ?

Socrates’ emphasis on good spirit and virtue, his dialectic method look strange and abnormal for Athens citizens at that time. (Some researchers say Socrates extremely pushed forward very conservative and common thoughts such as faith gods, temperance and a proverb “know thyself”.) Socrates’ point of view and his method of debate is shocking for the citizens. So he was blamed, hated and feared by many people. Then Socrates was accused by a fake crime of atheism or faith in Damon by malicious men.

In the trial, Socrates testified against him and bitterly attacked accusers by his philosophical faith and principle. He made jury members angry more than necessary, and unfortunately received a sentence of death.

Socrates’ policy is pursuit of virtue, wisdom and truth, and inseparability of knowledge and action. Opposition to the law and the judgement of the nation is different with his policy. It’s an injustice. So he accompanied the law of Athens, accepted the death penalty, and took a cup of hemlock to follow his particular pragmatic philosophic view. He devoted his life to his philosophy and will to virtue. Therefore his act and thought remain permanently and they turned the meaning of philosophy.

Criticism to Socrates

Socrates is a martyr of philosophy. By his saintly activity, Socrates is worshiped as a saint equal to Jesus Christ and Buddha. But Socrates is criticized by many thinkers from the later modern era.

Especially Nietzsche severely accused the activity and the philosophy of Socrates. He really dislike Socrate’s belief of processes of thinking by dialectic must lead the truth, thought it as a very strange belief. What’s more Nietzsche said it’s further wrong Socrates took a cup of hemlock by himself to follow the validity of his logic. Socrates is the prototype of the theoretical optimist and the originator of the intellectualism about knowledge and logic.

By the modern and contemporary philosophers generally regard Socrates’ philosophy as an intellectualism, an anthropocentrism and a centrism of virtue, wisdom and reason. Socrates concealed the value of lively nature and the true nature of human in the nature are pursued by the Presocratics, and first divided philosophy into the human inquisition (today’s meaning of philosophy) and the natural science.

Conclusion

Socrates is a revolutionist of philosophy and a true activist of “philosophia”. His life and activity made a huge impact on philosophy and ethics. He launched the second birth of philosophy, and philosophy became a human inquisition and a moral science. His philosophy made huge impact on the Western culture and studies.

But he made an end to natural philosophy by the Presocratics, concealed the value of lively nature and the human nature in the nature pursued by them, and divided philosophy into the human inquisition and the natural science.

References

Christopher C. W. Taylor, Socrates: Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 1998)

Hiroyuki Ogino, Symposion of Philosophy: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle (NHK Publishing, 2003)

Louis-André Dorion, Socrate (Presses Universitaires de France, 2004)

Micheline Sauvage, Socrate et la conscience de l’homme (Éditions du Seuil, 1957)

Michitaro Tanaka, Socrates (Iwanami Books, 1957)

Paul Strathern, Socrates in 90 Minutes (Ivan R. Dee, 1997)

Dictionnaire Larousse de la Philosophie (Éditions Larousse, 2011)

The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy (Second Edition), (Cambridge University Press, 1995)

The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy (Second Edition), (Penguin Books, 2005)

The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy (Second Edition Revised), (Oxford University Press, 2008)

‘Plato (A Very Short Introduction)’ by Julia Annas, Oxford University Press

‘Plato: A Very Short Introduction’ by Julia Annas is a commentary and a introduction for beginners to philosophy of ancient Greek philosopher Plato. Annnas takes a critical approach to Plato’s thought and descriptions, renovates Plato’s philosophy and comments it clearly and concisely by the view and thinking of present-day.

First, in chapter 1, Annas introduces a example of Plato’s way of argument by Jury’s problem. Author writes what is the true brief to gain knowledge Plato thought. Knowledge requires that you acquire the relevant belief for yourself. And Plato’s most famous idea is knowledge is really a sort of ‘recollection’ which not required actual experiences. An example of the knowledge is a geometrical proof. Plato’s ‘theory of forms’ suggests what is true thing and what really we can know.
Chapter 2, author writes family and cultural Plato’s background and his life and career briefly. The teach of Socrates especially method of philosophical argument not making grand theory and doctrine, and emphasis of courage, justice, truth and virtue impressed Plato. Socrates’ thought influenced on teaching in the ‘Academy’ founded by Plato. Plato’s Academy was not a rigid ‘academic’ place like today’s university. The Academy is the centre for discussion. On the other hand Plato is the first systematic philosopher divided logic, physics and ethics, and integrated one principle, and made the word ‘philosophia’ (love of wisdom).
Chapter 3, author introduces Plato’s dialectic method (dramatic form) and its mean. In Plato’s dialogues he detached himself, the authority based on philosophical issues or developments of argument not his character. And author introduces history of interpretations of Platon, from ‘dogmatic’ Platonists and Neo-Platonists (Middle Platonists) to 20th century’s philosophers. Plato’s works were described by different approaches, but it shows development of his thought. establishing distinctive philosophy. Also Plato’s dialectic method presented us to questions to think not answers.
Chapter 4, author criticizes the problem of homoerotic love of Platonic love by gender theory. Plato’s view to love and sex are made by a kind of stoicism to philosophy. He thought, his dialectic method are possible only by arguments among noble men. Plato’s concept of platonic love and thinking of women’s social roles have been discussed from women’s movement19th century to the present. Some people have seen Plato as the first feminist.
In chapter 5, Author argues Plato’s happiness and virtue. Plato’s thought of happiness is abnormal. A well-live life, Plato thought, is the intelligent use of health and wealth, not material advantages. And virtue has a special role and special value. Virtue for Plato is the controlling and defining element in our life. happiness, virtue, virtue in the society and state. Plato’s view to state and government is ideal. Good state should be ruled by elite virtuous citizens. Otherwise democracy would be the worst form of government.
Chapter 6, Plato’s answers to questions about the soul. As an animated body, I function as a unity, but I contain distinct sources of motivation. And the good life is one in which reason rules the whole soul. Soul encourage reason to dominate spirit and desire. And, in Plato’s thought, there’s the disadvantage of the body.
Then, in chapter 7, Annas comments Plato’s view to the world, ontology related to his ethics and virtue. Plato’s thinking to God. Real world is the extent to lead the rational structure of Forms. The Craftsman God made the best world possible because he is good and so wanted the made to be as good as it could be. Plato’s God makes the product, which is an excellent one, but he is not responsible for the ‘Necessity’, the inescapable results by the materials. Plato’s basical element of ontology and knowledge is ideal mathematical knowledge. Forms emerge in front of you as knowledge, belief or various shapes. You can only ‘participate in’ the world of Forms. Then the author concluded Plato institutionalized philosophy, it’s total unified endeavour requires both a systematic pursuit of truth and a radical dependence on argument. And the most important message by him is not believing in Forms or the importance of virtue, but is that we should think and argue to pursuit good and virtue.

Annas’ interpretation on Plato’s philosophy in this book is positive and balanced, and takes advantage of and expands good points of Plato. It’s a fresh and practical approach, not a rigorous and formal one. And her description are concise and essential. Her critic and comment grasp historical contexts totally from the ancient Greek though the modern era to today, and can adapt to actual problems of modern society. But she isn’t make full use of her feminist view point to critique Plato’s the problem of homoerotic love of Platonic love.
In this book Annas concentrates on Plato’s way of argument, method of philosophy, thought to knowledge, mind-body problem, ethics and what it is philosophy for him. But she isn’t deal with Plato’s thought of beauty, logic and language.
This book is a commentary to Plato’s philosophy, not Plato’s itself. And she isn’t take up Plato’s whole philosophy and his entire life. Mainly she argues essence of philosophical method, manner and system of Plato rather than the content of philosophy of Plato. (The essence of Plato’s philosophy that we should obtain from is importance of argument and its development, not fixed theory.) It’s a Julia Annas’s interpretation to philosophy of Plato, and a practice of fixed commentary and interpretation. So this book is only a introduction, but very good introduction to philosophy of Plato for beginners.

Plato (Very Short Introductions)
Julia Annas
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 15 May 2003
120 pages £7.99 $11.95
ISBN: 978-0-19-280216-3
Contents:
List of illustrations
1. Arguing with Plato
2. Plato’s name, and other matters
3. Drama, fiction, and the elusive author
4. Love, sex, gender, and philosophy
5. Virtue, in me and in my society
6. My soul and myself
7. The nature of things
Refereces
Further Reading
Index