Download PLATO - “Is There a Perfect World?” 429BC-347BC

PLATO - “Is There a Perfect World?”
429BC-347BC
Plato is known today as one of the greatest philosophers
of all time. He was born in Athens in 429BC, right
around the time of Pericles’ death, and died in 347BC,
just after the birth of Alexander the Great. He served in
Plato’s real name was Aristocles
(son of Ariston). He got the
name Plato because of his wide
forehead. “Platus” means broad
or widespread in Greek.
the Athenian army from 409BC-404BC during
the Peloponnesian War.
Plato was born to a very wealthy family. When he was a young man, he went to listen to
Socrates, and learned a lot from Socrates about how to think, and what sort of questions to
think about. After Socrates’ death, Plato began to write down Socrates’ conversations and
teachings. Practically everything we know about Socrates comes from what Plato wrote in his
book called the “Dialogues”.
Many of Plato’s relatives were involved with Athenian politics, but Plato was not. When
Socrates was executed in 399BC, Plato was devastated. (He actually left Greece for 12 years,
traveling to Italy and Egypt. He was 30 years old at the time). Plato thought democracy was a
bad form of government because in his mind, a good government would never have murdered
a man like Socrates.
Plato thought that most people were pretty stupid (truly!), and so they should not be voting
about what to do. Instead, he thought the most intelligent and best-educated men AND
women should be chosen to be the “Guardians” of the rest. These Guardians would then
choose the best and brightest students to join them in ruling. Plato wrote down all of his ideas
about government in a book called “The Republic”.
Because Plato believed that education was so important, he opened a school called the
Academy in 387BC. The Academy is considered to be the world’s first university and operated
for over 900 years. (It was eventually shut down by Emperor Justinian c.529AD because it
was considered to be a pagan institution). The Academy was a big success, and Plato taught
political science there for 40 years until his death in 347BC. One of Plato's students was the
famous philosopher, Aristotle.
Plato imagined there was another world in which existed the perfect form of ALL things, both
living and non-living (like a desk). He called this perfect world the “House of Ideas”. This
world was separate from our own and contained the perfect form of everything. The only way
to achieve the perfect form that existed in this other world was through seeking knowledge,
which would lead to enlightenment. Plato expressed this belief in his allegory of the cave.
Plato continued writing throughout his life, eventually penning over 200 books. He spent
much of the last part of his life writing another political book called “The Laws”, in which he
wrote about how corrupt politicians are and warned that they have to be watched every
minute.