OP&U Plato

Why is Socrates the main character?

Socrates is the main character to lend authority and increase the trustworthiness of Plato’s ideas

Is immorality more beneficial to individuals?

No; morality is one of those things that it is just better for the individual to posses because morality is intrinsically rewarding and desirable; morality feeds the human, tames the lion, and subdues the monster; immorality makes one a monster

Why do people enter into contracts?

To avoid people hurting them

Ring of Gyges

Gyges stole a ring from a corpse that made him invisible; he used it for bad and stole the throne from the King

Is it ok to lie?

Gods do not lie; only rulers can lie, but only when it comes to the good of the community, but the average person should not lie under any circumstances

What is the City Soul Analogy?

The ideal city is an analogy for humans; a way to show that just people live better than unjust people; just people and cities have a tripartite structure

Three parts of society

Guardians, auxiliaries, common people

Of what does morality in the republic consist?

Everyone staying in their lane

Four elements of goodness

Wisdom, courage, self-discipline

Tripartite mind

Rational, passionate, desirous

What does an individual’s morality consist?

Being ruled by rationality and taming passion and desire

Ideal ruler

Philosopher kings; ambitionless because they are just the one who knows; heavy lies the head that wears the crown/burden of knowing

Ship of State

The person most qualified to be the captain of a ship should be the captain even though everyone wants to do it and they’ll lie/kill for it; an analogy to support idea of philosopher kings

Simile of the Sun

The Sun makes objects visible through light, like how goodness makes objects intelligible through Truth; belief = partial sight

Image of the Divided Line

Allegory of the Cave

Symbolic representation of the perception of truth; the conflict of knowledge and belief; fear of the unknown vs. enlightenment

Education

The point of education isn’t to learn how to think, but what to think

Allegory of the Cave and civic duty

It is the civic duty of the person that manages to leave the cave to come back into it and try to free the others, but Plato does believe that’s a fruitless pursuit

Theory of Forms

reality consists of immutable and timeless abstract Forms, which represent the true essence of things; the physical world is merely a shadow or these ideal Forms

Five different forms of government

1. Ideal city-state under the rule of a philosopher king

2. Timocracy

3. Oligarchy

4. Democracy

5. Dictatorship

Best form of gov?

Aristocracy (the Guardians)

Worst form of gov?

Democracy gone rogue that will become tyranny

Areas of the mind and systems of gov

• Timocracy = passion

• Oligarchy = good desires

• Democracy = all desires

• Dictatorship = bad desires

Why does oligarchy defining wealth as good lead to downfall?

Money corrupts, the leaders of an oligarchy will only be concerned with wealth and are ruled by desires; lacks unity and does not contribute to the good of the whole

Why does democracy defining freedom as good lead to downfall?

Democracy is a free-for-all; no unity; anyone can do whatever they want, no expertise

His society as an analogy for the individual

Tripartite mind and the state; an individual has to be ruled by the mind and not the heart or the loins