Platone : pupil of Socrates

1. Platone: pupilofSocrates

2. Plato's philosophy (of all three periods) All the works of Plato are in dialogue form, taking the importance of dialogue of his teacher Socrates. • Plato expresses his philosophy through the use of myths (like the parable in the Gospels) because they make clear the elements of his philosophy, explained through the characters of the stories. • Myth of Er: Er is a warrior who dies and rises after 12 days. Tells men what happens after death. Is the soul that decides in which body incarnate. This myth serves to explain the question of destiny: are we the creators of our destiny? • -Myth of the cave: explains philosophical problems. • Myth of the winged chariot: the chariot is drawn by two horses, one white (excellent) and one black (bad). The chariot is driven by Auriga.

3. - Myth of androgins: What is the origin of Eros and its function? Because the man must always try his half?Plato tells the myth of the Androgyne, contained in the Symposium, the reason for looking for a person to be with all the life.There was in fact a time when there were three kinds: Male, Female and Androgynous, who had both characteristics. He had a round, perfect, four legs and four arms and two heads. The explanation for these three generas was that the male descendant of the sun, the earth and the androgynous female from the moon, which participates in both the Idea of the sun of the moon. The androgyne was happy, because complete.But Zeus and the gods were jealous of their happiness, and gathered in council: unable to destroy them as they had done the giants, or let them live that way, Zeus decided to split them in two. They walked upright on two legs.But when the human body was divided into two, each half seeking its own and tried to get back together again. And when one died and the other half remained alive, that he was looking for a similar one. But it died of hunger and sloth.Zeus then felt so sorry, moved their genitals in front, so as to constitute by their means the process of procreation. In this way, once satisfied the men would return to work, thus allowing survival.Each of us so it is a half man cut. Or the woman cut.

4. 1° period youth/socraticperiod. Plato exposes the philosophy of Socrates through works that were always two characters: Socrates (positive character) and one sophist (negative character).He agrees to defend Socrates, from criticism of the Sophists (Protagoras and Gorgias also including) processing the “Apology” that means “defense”. The “Cratylus”regards the propertiesoflanguage; whatis the originofwords? Are the words linked to objects or their names are just conventional? These doubts arise from the fact that the language describes the facts, but sometimes creates misunderstandings. In the “Protagoras” Plato argues that virtue is not teachable because it doesn’t exist. The “Gorgias” discusses the rhetoric comparing the art of cooking saying that what we like is not necessarily what heals us. In the “Euthydemus” Plato goes against the eristic (the art of sophistry battle with words and destroy opponent’s arguments) In the “Crito” who was a student of Socrates, wonders the possibility of Socrates refused to escape his death sentence. His philosophy is divided into three periods:

5. 2°period mature period Plato becomes a philosopher and spreads the “Theory of ideas" which was a continuation of the Socratic conception of the concept. According to Plato, the objects are subject to becoming and are imperfect. No ideas. In fact, it’s necessary to distinguish the objects from ideas. Universality: the cast in general doesn’t exist but the particularity of the object is. The modern psychological conception says that ideas are in the mind and reality, which is one, is in the objects. BUT according to Plato there is only one world but two: the world of reality and the world of objects, so ideas aren’t in the mind, but in their world. SO WORLD OF IDEAS OR IPERURANIO: world in which all the objects of reality should be guided WORLD OF REALITY: Phenomenal world,thatwillceasetoexist

6. We can never know completely the world of reality. The world of ideas is considered the realm of science, of true knowledge. Relying on the ideas we know scientific knowledge. SCIENCE: eternal, accessible only through ideas, universal knowledge that never changes. OPINION: changeable, imperfect knowledge Not for all there is an idea: - Math • Concrete things - Idea of justice

7. Two forms of knowledge The "theory of knowledge“ is based on memory because Plato resume Pythagorean concept of transmigration of the soul. The soul approaches the world of ideas and remember what they have learned in another life. (Freudian slip). If knowledge means remember, our soul fights the problems as it did in a previous life. SENSITIVE KNOWLEDGE: to know the objects through the 5 senses. It’s imperfect as objects. RATIONAL KNOWLEDGE OR INTELLECTUAL: to perceive the idea through the intellect, perfect ideas

8. The doctrineof love. Love is a force that lifts us in the iperuranio, is an attempt to complement. For Plato love is the pursuit of beauty through different degrees (earthly, spiritual and institutional). 1° degreeof beauty: Is the beauty ofbodies. 2° degreeof beauty: is the spiritual beauty of science, knowledge. 3° degreeof beauty: is the beauty of institutions, rules. The pathelevationto the iperuraniomay be favored by the beauty that helps to know the true. For Plato philosophy is an exercise that prepares the separation from the material world (death) to access anything more perfect. Love is the completeness that each alone hasn’t.

9. Political doctrine Plato thought to build an ideal state to give justice to all. This ideology is remembered as Platonic communism (communism of Marx today). Justice, according to Plato, is the highest form of beauty and to seek justice, we’d better to divide society into three social classes which he defines as "functions" as the members are distinguished only by the tasks that are assigned but have equal rights: philosophers, warriors and producers. Classofphilosophers Which have to govern the state in a wise and rational way. They must be wise to ensure a wise state and they mustn’t have FAMILY because they may promote their family members (CONFLICT OF INTEREST) however, can have children but can not know who they are and their children must be educated by the state. Also they can’t own PRIVATE PROPERTY. Classofwarriors The warriors mustn’t be wise but courageous, be impulsive.

10. Classofproducers They must ensure productivity and support the other two classes with their production activities. Must be able to stay in their place and have a soul hardened. While Marx would abolish all social classes and private property, Plato doesn’t talk about this. The division into three classes is the fact that Plato thought that the soul was divided into three parts corresponding to the classes. Rational soul: wise man, philosopher. Irascible soul: impulsive people, warriors Carnal soul: temperate people, producers We have to be in our place to ensure an harmonious between souls, so social classes and so justice.

11. 3° periodoldageofPlato. He rejects the theories of the first period, he composed a work calledTimaeusin which he speaks of Atlantis, a continent inhabited by an advanced civilization, an island later destroyed by a tsunami that was located beyond the Pillars of Hercules.At the time of Plato the Pillars of Hercules did not coincide with the Strait of Gibraltar but with the Sicily Strait, located between Sicily and Tunisia.According to the writer Frau Sardinia corresponds to the wording relating Plato of Atlantis.Plato introduced in this period, the Demiurge was an identity that shapes the material, give it a shape. • -Condemnationof art :considered as knowledge is not adequate. According to Plato, education is fundamental to become philosophers, and you have to learn the disciplines. In fact the success of the state depends from education. Also contemplated social mobility, according to him, even a peasant can become a philosopher, if he has a wise soul. In fact, unlike caste, social classes can be passed between a class and the other.