Background
Plato born Aristocles was estimated to be born in 428/427 BCE, Athens, Greece. It was estimated that he died in Athens between the years 348/347 BCE in his sleep. (Britannica). He received the name Plato from his wrestling instructor due to his broad build. His parents were Artison and Perictione. His parents were political figures with powerful connections. His family was one of the richest and politically active families in Athens (iep). Plato did not want to pursue the same routes as his parents so he strayed away from politics. Plato chose to pursue the arts instead. At a young age, he began writing plays and writing poetry.
After a few years of trying to become a playwright, he heard of Socrates and the work of Socrates. He decided to abandon the idea of becoming a playwright and dove into the world of Philosophy and became a student to Socrates. (Paraphrased ancient.eu). According to the lecture in class, the zeitgeist of the time was Greek mythology. Everything was explained through supernatural means. Gods were in charge of the actions of nature. Even his parents believed in the Gods. They were said to say they could trace their ancestry to the God Poseidon.
A work of his that is significant The Republic it includes many Socratic dialogues. (totally history) Many of his ideas were written in this. An example of such works are the 3 aspects of a Psyche, the allegory of the cave, and the theory of forms. He also wrote many other dialogues. Each having some similar characters and some different ones. Most of his characters were people that had an influence on his work.
Major Influences
Plato had many influences in his lifetime. According to (IEP) Plato was influenced by many. Some examples are of course his Mentor Socrates, Parmenides, Zeno, Heraclitus, and Pythagoreans. Many of his influences are mentioned in his writings as characters. Socrates was mentioned many times as the main character. This may be due to him being Plato’s teacher.
His mentor Socrates was a great influence on Plato. As mentioned once Plato heard about Socrates and his teachings he abandoned his life as a playwright to pursue philosophy. this. According to (WEBSPACE) Socrates would teach young men like Plato. Socrates never really wrote his ideas down as he taught the young men. Plato wrote most of the discussions had with Socrates. These written discussions were later named Dialogs (WEBSPACE). In these dialogues, we see many mentions of Socrates as the main character (IEP) The teaching of Socrates sent Plato on his own path of philosophy.
While pursuing to learn more about Philosophy, Plato met Heraclitus, Parmenides, and Zeno. (Iep) All of these men were influential in the writing of his dialogues. As seen in the dialogue Parmenides, Parmenides and Zeno appear as characters in his dialogues. This work also includes some ideas of Heraclitus that he mixed with the ideas of Parmenides and Zeno. Heraclitus and Parmenides inspired Plato to respond to them through the Theory of Form
After the Death of his mentor, he traveled through Greece and the Mediterranean. (webspace). While traveling he visited Pythagoreans in Italy. Many of the Pythagoreans are in his writings. He included Pythagoreans like Archytas of Tarentum and Echecrates. Both were Pythagoreans. His fascination with math and some of his writing are evidence that there is some influence from the Pythagoreans in his work and life.
While he was traveling he was kidnapped by pirates. He was going to be sold as a slave. His followers and colleagues raised money to pay for a ransom. While he was being sold, a rich man decided to buy him and the man set Plato free. The money that his pupils raised went to open a school of Philosophy. This school was called The Academy
Plato’s Work
Many of Plato work is still mentioned today in many psychology classes. Some of these ideas are the origin of knowledge, the Allegory of the Cave, theory of forms, and 3 aspects of the psyche.
The origin of knowledge, The reminiscence theory of knowledge according to Plato. He expanded on the ideas of the Pythagoreans. According to the Pythagoreans the highest level of level of thought is reason. Plato said that “before the soul is implanted in the body, it dwelled in the realm of the forms After the soul entered the body, sensory information began to contaminate this knowledge.” The only way to obtain true knowledge according to Plato is to not focus on our sensory experience, he wants us to ignore the sensory experience and focus on our thoughts. “All knowledge is innate and can only be attained only through introspection.” This is clearly shown in the work Meno.
In the allegory of the Cave, three prisoners were born and chained to cave. The only thing they have experienced were shadows shown to a wall they were facing. One day one of the prisoners is released and steps outside to the real world. Seeing what created the shadows. At first, it was confusing, but after a while, he understands what the objects are. As he goes back into the cave. He tries to discuss what the shadows are but he is no longer adjusted to see what the people in the cave see. Then as he tries to convince the other two prisoners to escape, they become violent. He uses this allegory in order to explain that we name objects that we cannot see but what we grasp with our mind. In the cave the prisoners give names to the shadow but what they are truly naming is the object casting the shadow. The object that they cannot see. This was an allegory to philosopher trying to teach and educate the public. The public feels more comfortable in their ideals, so when the ideals are challenged they become more violent. This may have been a reference to his mentor Socrates. Socrates was sent to death by the government. Due to him disrupting social ideas and social order. This idea has been looked at for many years since it was created.
The allegory of the cave can lead to the theory of forms. The shadows on the wall a merely projection that are flawed, the ideal form was what cast the shadow. He considers the shadows forms part of the physical world. The physical realm is flawed and constantly changing. The objects behind the prisoners that cast the shadow are part of the spiritual realm. This realm is also called the realm of ideals. According to Plato forms are abstract, perfect, never changing concepts or ideals. Forms exist in the spiritual realm (the real word in the cave analogy). The shadows the prisoners see are poor copies part of the material world. The bodies creating the shadow are part of the real world. Due to Plato’s belief of the world being filled with copies of ideal images, he can be considered one of the first essentialists. He believed that all things have essences that make them up. The theory of forms is also related to what true knowledge is. According to Plato true knowledge is being able to understand that the world of ideals/the world of forms with our own mind, even if his evidence is intuitive. (philosophy basics).
In the 3 aspects of the psyche Plato discusses that a Psyche consist of 3 elements each having a function of its own. He calls the first aspect of a Psyche, The Appetites. The appetites include all our desire for pleasure. This pleasure brings our body comfort and satisfaction. Plato says there are too many appetites to count. The second aspect is called the spirited. The spirited is the part of the psyche that becomes angry when it sees injustice being performed. It also the element that makes us love challenges. It also what gives us the feeling of victory. The third aspect of our psyche is the mind. this also referred to as the conscious awareness. This is the part of us that analyzes and rationalizes are actions. All of these aspects are referred to in one of the dialogs written by Plato in the Republic. In the Chariot portion of the republic the 3 aspects are represented. The Black horse is the Appetitive, the white horse is the spirited, and the charioteer is the mind. a situation that can explain all three is a need for money. The appetite looks for an easy way to relieve this appetite. This can be stealing the money from someone. The spirited would make us want to work in something that we love. We want to pursue our passion. Another example of these aspects are relationships. The reason aspect of us choose to enter a relationship for intellectual companion. While the passion is in it for the love. Our appetite is in it for sexual attractiveness and sexual pleasure.
Plato opened his academy in the 380s. Since Plato was well known, and the fact that the academy would be used for an area of research and learning called to many young men. Some young men that attended his academy were Theaetus and Eudoxus of Cnidus. (Britannica). Aristotle also attended this school. While his school was active he went to Sicily two more times before his death. Both of these trips did not go well. In his second trip one of his pupils, Dion was sent into exile for sedition and the tyrant Dionysius II would not allow him to leave. After some time passed he was finally allowed to leave. He reunited with Dion at the Academy. He was the teacher of Aristotle as well. Even though Aristotle did have some contrasting views to his teacher they still respected each other.
Connections in Psychology
Even though Plato was a philosopher many of his ideas can be seen in psychology today. Many famous Psychologist had similar ideas to Plato. For examples the 3 Psyche can be compared to many Psychology ideas. The three aspects are appetitive, the spirited, and the rational. This can be compared to Freud. Freud had similar ideas yet they had different names. Freud named them Id, Ego, and Superego. Id according to Freud is the more primitive aspect of our personality. The id functions on the principle of pleasure (simply psychology). This can be compared to the Appetite aspect of our Psyche. As mentioned earlier the Appetite aspect of our psyche is driven based on pleasure seeking. Now the Ego in model created by Freud is what mediates our Id. It prevents us from acting wild and instinctively. In Plato’s model, this would be the reason. Instead of just taking the easy/primitive way we according to both models look for ways to minimize the trouble that may be caused by the primitive/appetite portions of us. This was not the only similar idea they had.
Another idea of Plato is the role of the father and son. Plato believed that a father played an important role in the life of their son. Depending on how a fathers contributes in their sons’ lives, determines the outcome of the sons. A son who had a father that contributed greatly in the the life, the son would be a more productive member to society than a son who did not have a father that was contributing in their life (totally history). This can be compared to two famous psychologists. One of whom is Freud again. Freud discusses the impact created by the absences of a father during the childhood of the child. According to Freud, the development of an attachment to the father and their son is needed in order to create a healthy development for the son and needed for the oedipal stage to resolve. (pg 44 psychoanalytic social work). If the father is not there for the child, the child may remain in the Oedipal period. This is similar to what Plato was saying about how a father must contribute to their sons’ lives. Plato is saying that a child will grow up to be a productive member of society if the father is constantly there. Just as Freud said about fathers needing to be there for their children in their oedipal stage.
Another Psychologist that had a similar idea was Skinner. Skinner had a famous quote that said: “give me a child and I’ll shape him into anything”. Skinner believed by controlling the experience and the behavior of he child he would be able to determine what they grow up to be. He used his idea of operant behavior. Skinner demonstrated with rats that by shaping a behavior and reinforcing it can create the desired action to happen more often. He said that this can be similar to raising children. This is somewhat similar to Plato. Skinner says he can shape them into whatever they want. This would involve Skinner to become very involved in the life of the child. The child would have a father that is a great influence to them. Plato said that in order to create a strong society the relationship between father and son is important. If Skinner wanted to he could create a strong member of society but this would involve him to make sure the relationship between him and the child is healthy. Skinner has a stricter view on the subject, but it is similar to the idea of Plato.