INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY-PHILOS 001

The Reconstruction of Plato’s Philosophy

Plato, the student to Socrates, and the teacher to Aristotle, has clear philosophy on life. He borrows on the teachings of Socrates. The article focuses on the foundations’ of Plato’s philosophy. They engage metaphysics, the theory of forms, the soul, and epistemology. Additionally, the article discusses Plato under the ethics, politics, and art. Plato’s philosophy entails rhetoric, which is a writing approach in the dialogues. The discussion shows that Plato’s philosophy supports the super-empirical aspect of life, the importance of good, and the divisions in society. Furthermore, he creates importance of the arts as an imagery of the happenings in society. Therefore, Plato’s philosophy explains the way of life in modernity and contemporary society.

Metaphysics (100)/-

Plato’s philosophy is based on metaphysics. He examines the origin of persons, the world, and knowledge. He is focused on the link that the physical world has to the innate aspect of humanity. As a result, he brings out reason as a critical attribute of man as it develops the relationships in society through philosophy.

The Soul

Plato’s philosophy discusses life as being powered by the soul. The “Phaedo” shows arguments between Socrates and Cebes (Plato, 2021: 91). They agree that the soul is eternal, since it does not undergo the physical death. Consequently, Plato terms the souls as indestructible and formulates a god-state for life. He shows that the human soul follows the imagery of Zeus as an eternal life force. Consequently, Plato formulates his philosophy around the existence of the supernatural world that supersedes the material world.  Socrates adds that humanity needs to take care of the soul for the sake of eternity, (Plato, 2021; 92).

The Forms

Plato discusses metaphysics through the platonic idealism, which is documented in the “Phaedo”. Plato denotes Socrates perspective about the soul as an explanation of existence. He refutes the claim that the world is made up of the material aspect. He adds that the world consists of the abstract as well as the logical form, which entails the mind images. Correspondingly, Plato brings out a standard system of forms that explains the relations and processes of a universe dictate the existence of the same. For example, the laws of the material world explain that solid items are visible. Similarly, the psychological system is governed by logic, justice, and ethics. (Plato, 2022: 93).

Epistemology

Justified Factual Belief

Plato creates a definition for knowledge as the justified belief that is factual to the believer. In the dialogue, “Meno,” he describes Socrates justifying that virtue is a gift from the gods and is the basis for knowledge (Plato 2021: p. 897). Plato implies that a person that believes in an object should question the virtue of its existence, which should provide the ground for its justification. Plato follows Socrates description of political leaders and argues that their lack of virtues means that they lack knowledge, which is a gift from the gods.

Recollection

Plato’s epistemology follows the concept of recollection as the explanation for a person’s level of knowledge. Plato agrees with Socrates argument that knowledge is not a matter of observation or learning, but is the collective state of a person prior to his birth (Plato, 2002: 26). Thus, Plato implies that knowledge is not a natural state or happening, but is induced by the godly nature of a person. It is god given. Also, Plato believes that he cannot explain the beginning of knowledge as a matter of birth, but the combination of the super-empirical aspects of a human. Therefore, a person does not rely only on the sensory capacity to become knowledgeable.

Ethics

Plato highlights Socrates arguments with Euthyphro about the persecution of his father, which shows the discussion on ethics. Socrates believes that the moral aspect of humanity conforms to the ethics in society. He states that people are not bad, but their acts make them bad. Likewise, people may not realize good outcomes, if they are engaged in good deeds, (Plato 2021; p. 5). Thus, Plato brings out ethics as the effect of right and justice in society. If humanity undertakes positive actions to others and the environment, then they will exercise ethical behavior that will result in good experiences.

Plato philosophy of forms gives explanation on justice and social obligation. He states for the benefit of the communal good, persons should face justice for their deeds. It is the law of the world for good to be paid with good and vice versa. He describes Socrates in “Crito” in his answer about injustices (Plato 2021: p. 6). Persons that understand virtue tend to do well and encounter good results. Thus, they should be paid in a just manner. However, persons found in the wrong may have to be punished as a balance set by the theory of forms.

Politics

Plato views politics as the subdivision of the society into three categories. He describes Socrates ideas of the workers, the protectors, and the governors (Plato 1963: 753). The three aspects make up the soul of the society. The workers form the appetite, which generates to the materialistic view of the world. The protectors align with the spirit part of the soul, which is interested by courage and adventure. The rulers form the reason part of the societal soul, which corresponds to the decision making roles. Plato believes that the parts of society must be in the correct place; otherwise they may cause problems over time.

Art and poetry

Plato writes about the theater as a right thing in philosophy, regardless of the multiple representations of immoral features. He argues that the soul should be accustomed to the developments in the theater, if the audience makes the right interpretations from the proceedings (Plato 1963: 750). Thus, he supports the existence of art and poetry as a reflection of the people, which requires understanding the message as put by the act.

Rhetoric

Plato brings out a rhetoric nature in the manner that he presents Socrates dialogues. He writes about complex issues that may not require answers to the reader. For instance, the case of death may not have definite answers, since people have not agreed on the aftermath of the same. However, Plato writes about death and immortality as sides of the same coin. Consequently, he allows the society to address unseen issues such as emotions, leadership, and judgment. He improves the way that persons address philosophy as a practical subject.

Therefore, Plato’s philosophy begins with the belief of a link between humans, the physical world, and the super-empirical. He explains that the gods exist, man is knowledgeable as a gift from them, and the society is influenced by the same. He develops the philosophy to include different worlds that have rules that govern the existence of life. He explains that the physical world is dependent on people and the way that they think in their minds, which makes the god given gift of reason. He discusses epistemology as the justification of knowledge on the basis of facts. Correspondingly, he argues that ethics and justice are the results of good acts, rather than the influence of a person’s nature. The instance guides the motivations and roles of persons in society, which formulates their classes as well as responsibilities. People should be judged in terms of their actions, whereby death is not the eventual end to the soul part of humanity. Thus, Plato’s philosophy is grounded in positivity, godly-nature of humans, and positivity in human interactions.

Works Cited

Plato. The Allegory of the Cave. Hamilton and Carns, Random House, 1963, pp. 747-753.

Plato. Five Dialogues. Hacket Publishing Company, 2002, pp. 20-45.

Plato. Crito. Otbebookpublishing, 2021, pp. 1-12.

Plato. Euthyphro. Otbebookpublishing, 2021, pp. 1-16.

Plato. Meno. Otbebookpublishing, 2021, pp. 870-898.

Plato. Phaedo. Otbebookpublishing, 2021, pp. 49-100.