General Context - Plato. Flashcards
What was Plato’s upbringing like?
He was born into a rich Athenian family. He lived 427 - 347 BCE.
Who inspired Plato and what happened after his death?
Socrates (469 - 399 BCE) inspired Plato greatly. After his execution, Plato travelled the Mediterranean. Later, he returned to Athens to found the school of Philosophy: the Academy.
What did Plato write and what were they?
He wrote ‘dialogues’. These were imagined discussions between often real life characters. Socrates features as a character in almost all of these.
What can we tell about Plato’s own opinion?
We can’t! Since he uses other characters to voice theories, his own ideas are hard to grasp.
Plato had four different ideas for making fulfilled:
1) think more.
2) let your lover change you.
3) decode the message of beauty.
4) reform society.
Plato’s belief of the Tripartite Soul:
Your soul is driven by reason/logic, but you also Appetite and Spirit (the horses).
Like a man driving a chariot (reason). Your rational voice is trying to balance your Appetite horse and Spirit horse. To be a good person, you have to be in control of both horses.
The Forms:
These are perfect examples of everything we perceive in this world. Everything we perceive with our senses in an imperfect version of these. The most important of these are the Form Good, Beauty and Justice.
Where is the relationship between the soul and the forms described?
The dialogue ‘Phaedrus’
