Pl 100 Philosophy and the Human Condition
INTRODUCTION TO PLATO and his view of human nature
Plato was born in 427 BCE to an aristocratic family in Athens. This was the year after the death of
Pericles who strengthened the democracy began by Cleisthenes (570-508 BCE).
Plato=s father, Ariston, was believed to have descended from the early kings
of Athens. Perictione, his mother, was distantly related to the 6th century BCE
lawmaker Solon. When Plato was a child, his father died, and his mother married
an associate of the statesman Pericles. As a young man Plato had political
ambitions, but he became disillusioned by the political leadership in Athens.
Plato had a well-rounded and cultured education in the gymnasium and with
tutors in mathematics, poetry, music, etc.
Plato was particularly
interested in the ideas of thinkers like Heraclitus who argued that true
knowledge and reality is beyond what is found with the senses. His famous
teacher was Socrates who said: AThe unexamined life is not worth living.@
There was much political upheaval in his lifetime: democracy, then war
(the Peloponnesian war), then Sparta demanded that Athens appoint thirty men
(called the Thirty Tyrants) to rule. Democracy was restored in 403, and four
years later, in 399, Socrates was put on trial. Plato witnessed the death of
Socrates at the hands of the Athenian democracy in 399 BCE. Perhaps fearing for
his own safety, he left Athens temporarily and traveled to Italy, Sicily, and
Egypt. In Italy, he was introduced to the ideas of Pythagoras.
In 389 BCE, he founded the "Academy" in Athens, the
institution often described as the first European university. It provided a
comprehensive curriculum, including such subjects as astronomy, biology,
mathematics, political theory, and philosophy. The main purpose of the Academy
was to cultivate thought to lead to a restoration of decent government in the
cities of Greece. Pursuing an opportunity to combine philosophy and practical
politics, Plato went to Sicily in 367 to tutor the new ruler of Syracuse,
Dionysius the Younger, in the art of philosophical rule. The experiment failed.
Plato made another trip to Syracuse in 361, but again his engagement in Sicilian
affairs met with little success. The concluding years of his life were spent
lecturing at the Academy and writing. He died at about the age of 80 in Athens
in 347 BCE.
Plato
wrote 26+ dialogues on various philosophical themes, with Socrates as the main
character in most of them.
Plato's
Theory of Human Nature:
‚ The first part of his
theory is his view of the immortality of the soul as presented in
the dialogue, Phaedo. Plato
wrote in a dialogue style using Socrates as his main character
to illustrate important philosophical ideas. - See Handout
on Socratic questioning.
‚ Socrates discusses whether
or not the soul is immortal. He argues that the soul is similar
to immaterial things and therefore does not decay as the
body does. The soul continues
to exist after death.
‚ In discussing whether the
soul exists before birth, he talks about the myth of recollection
to prove the soul’s pre-existence. It is during the
pre-existence of the soul that the
soul knows perfection or “the Forms”. However, we
“forget” this knowledge at birth.
With the right kind of education, we can remember what
we learned previously and
we can think of things like “perfect circles”, even if
we cannot draw them or see them
in the physical world.
Summary of the first part of Plato's view of human nature: we
are made up of body and soul.
The soul is immaterial and the body is material. Our
soul has existed before and after its
existence in our body.
The Republic develops the second and third part of his view of
human nature.
Setting: Socrates is conversing with two young men named after Plato=s brothers: Glaucon and
Adimantus. They are having a discussion about whether being just or unjust is
better. Socrates asks ATi esti?@ and proposes to first look
at justice in the state, then justice in the individual and finally arrive at a
definition of justice itself.
Through the character of Socrates, Plato presents his views about the three
classes necessary for the proper functioning of the state:
Artisans: skilled laborers who
produce goods and cultural objects; they are hard-working and well-trained.
Guardians: law enforcers who uphold the state; they are courageous and patriotic.
Philosopher-ruler: ruler (man or woman) who looks out for good
of all; directs harmonious interaction of all classes; they have undergone a
rigorous, well-rounded education and training and must be wise and fair.
The society would be ruled by philosopher-rulers, and their children would receive a superior education with a very military gymnastic part and a non-degrading music part, since degrading art corrupts the soul. The best students who were destined to be leaders would receive further education in advanced mathematics.
Corresponding to the three classes of the state are the three parts of the soul:
Appetite: our desires and basic needs; what motivates our
actions in the first place
Spirit: courage and bravery; what helps us do the right thing
when our appetites lead us
astray
Reason: thinking and intellect; what should ultimately rule our
choices.
Plato says that a man is just when reason rules, supported by spirit,
to control appetite. Justice in the state is when the philosopher- ruler rules,
supported by the guardians, to control the artisans.
Justice is everything in its proper place.
Summary
of the second part of his theory of human nature : A person’s personality has three parts (Tripartite Doctrine of
the Soul).
The third part of his theory is that human nature is essentially
social. Man cannot be just without the state and vice-versa.
Summary
of Plato's THEORY OF HUMAN NATURE:
Three elements:
1. Dualistic view: soul and body (influence of Pythagoras).
2. Tripartite doctrine of soul: Appetite, Reason and Spirit
3. Humans are basically social and need others for both physical needs
and mental needs.
Prepared by Anne Knop, Senior Associate Professor of Philosophy, Manor College