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  • Ideas Of Plato – Philosophy Notes – For W.B.C.S. Examination.
    Posted on July 16th, 2019 in Philosophy
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    Ideas Of Plato – Philosophy Notes – For W.B.C.S. Examination.

    প্লেটোর ধারণা – দর্শনের নোট – WBCS পরীক্ষা।

    For 2,400 years, Plato’s writings have been interpreted, re-interpreted, debated, and taught as the foundational issues and methods of Western philosophical discourse.  Plato studied with, and represented in writing, Socrates, “the wisest man in the world.”  He founded what some consider the first institution for higher learning, the Academy, where he taught Aristotle, whose ideas and influence were probably greater even than his teacher’s.Continue Reading Ideas Of Plato – Philosophy Notes – For W.B.C.S. Examination.

    At the same time, Plato’s role in Western philosophy is ambiguous in some senses. The works for which Plato is famed, such as the Apology and the Republic, are semi-fictional dialogues starring Socrates, other philosophers, and Plato’s friends and family.  It may never be known which ideas were Plato’s, which Socrates’, nor how accurately Plato represented his teacher’s thought; Plato’s dialogues are nearly our only sources for Socrates.  Plato was a playwright before he became a philosopher and his works need to be understood as literary in addition to philosophical.  Aristotle, Plato’s student, confirmed that Socrates did express some of the ideas Plato credited to him, and this justifies accepting Plato’s Socrates as factual for some, while others insist the dialogues must be considered creative literature, and their content credited fully to Plato.

    Plato wrote in all major areas of philosophy, including science and mathematics, and is most famous for his metaphysical “theory of forms,” the idea of “Platonic love,” and for inventing political philosophy in The Republic and The Laws.  Some credit him with a formative role Christian thought, especially through his influence on St. Augustine.  The metaphysics and epistemology of Christianity, and the repressive sexual ethos and social authoritarianism of some forms of Christianity, could all find much support in Plato’s writings.

    In perspective, Plato’s status comes more from his interests and methods than theories.  Plato is said to have more-or-less invented philosophy in the sense of the rigorous and systematic investigation of ethical, political, metaphysical, and epistemological questions.  Plato’s use of dialogues and the principle of dialectic discussion remain fundamental model for philosophical activity.

    The details of Plato’s birth and early years are not surely known, except that he was born in Athens or on a nearby island, to a wealthy and politically active family, between 429 and 423 B.C.E.  Ancient sources claim that he was an excellent student, and it is believed that he received a comprehensive education from some of the era’s most respected teachers.

    Apparently, Plato’s given name was Aristocles, after his grandfather, and “Plato” was a nickname.  Platos means “broad” in Greek and is said to have referred either to Plato’s physique (he was a wrestler), the breadth of his writing, or the breadth of his forehead.  In any case, he was named Aristocles on his tomb although the world knows him as Plato.

    Socrates may have been a friend of Plato’s family for most of his life, but it is known only that Plato studied with him from about the age of 20 until the older philosopher’s execution-by-suicide when Plato was 28.  It is believed that Plato traveled then for many years, in Italy, Sicily, and Egypt, and then returned to Athens at the age of 40 to found the Academy – the earliest known institution for higher learning in the Western World.

    The politics of Plato’s family seems relevant to his work, especially to The Republic, a book rather anti-democratic and elitist in its political theory.  Plato’s uncle, Charmides, who has a Platonic dialogue named after him, belonged to a group who overthrew Athenian democracy, for about a year, in 404 B.C.E. when Plato was around 20 years old.  One of their leaders, Critas was also a student of Socrates, and according to Plato, a bad man—and one of the reasons Socrates might have been suspected of anti-Athenian associations.   The Republic is believed among the first dialogues written, or at least begun, after Socrates’s execution for heresy by the democratic Athenian government.  Several other members of the Academy also rejected democracy and supported political ideals we might call tyrannical or totalitarian today, all of which is consistent with Plato’s vision in The Republic.

    Various unreliable, and unremarkable, accounts are given of Plato’s peaceful death at the age of 80 or 81, in 348-347 B.C.E.

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