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The systematic philosophy of Plato is in some ways a culmination of the intellectual efforts that went before him, especially the great debate that divided Heraclitus and Parmenides. The former believed that all things were constantly changing and therefore unknowable: if there is no identical object there, how can we say we know “it”? Parmenides believed that all reality was one and unchanging. Plato combined these viewpoints by arguing that the physical world around us, which is the world of appearances, is constantly changing, but that there exists a realm of perfect Forms or Exemplars that is immaterial, unchanging, and truly knowable. For example, there are many beautiful objects in the physical world that we encounter through our senses, but none of them are perfectly beautiful and all of them are constantly changing. But there is an eternal form of Beauty itself, which is perfect and unchanging. This is what the philosopher seeks to understand—Beauty itself, prompted by our encounter with examples of beautiful things. In the famous painting by Rafael, “School of Athens,” Plato is the central figure on the left pointing to the heavens, as if to say: “That is where we find reality.” Aristotle is the figure on the right, responding “No, reality is down here on earth.”
We will study Aristotle next.In the Plato unit, you should read the following sections:
Section #5 Knowledge as Recollection and Definition (pp. 29-36), which is a part of Plato’s proof of the immortality of the soul. Plato argues in the Phaedo (which you might have read in Philosophy 1000c) that our true knowledge is not of this imperfect, ever-changing world – we must have pre-existed in a perfect realm of immaterial perfect forms. What we come to know in this realm is simply a recollection of what we have always had in our minds and souls. In a way, Plato is saying that our knowledge tells us that there is more to us and to reality than the physical world – this is literally a “meta-physical” argument.
Section #6 The Nature of the Philosopher (pp. 36-41), which compares the objects of belief and the objects of knowledge. Knowledge can only be of the real, although one can have beliefs about a multitude of objects. In this section from the Republic Plato shows the kind of knowledge that the philosopher seeks and what sets him or her apart from the normal inquirer. Philosophers have an appetite for general knowledge that is higher and more dependable than the belief about particulars.
Section #7 Allegories of Learning: The Line and the Cave (pp. 41-47), which presents the famous Allegory of the Cave. Plato describes the prisoners in the cave trapped looking at shadows, until one escapes and goes outside to see the light itself. This escaped figure has to endure a temporary blindness (as one has going from a dark room to a light room) as he or she ascends to the reality outside the cave. This pain and blindness represent the difficulty of learning new things – it is bewildering at first. Also, there is blindness when the escaped prisoner tries to speak to former colleagues, to explain what he has just seen, because now the dark room is difficult for him to navigate. This represents how the educated can sometimes find it difficult to explain to others what they know. In the Reflection Essay #3 you should read these sections and explain something that strikes you as interesting or intriguing. Do you think Plato is correct in his worldview (the denial that we can know anything of lasting importance on this earth, through our senses?).
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