Plato

Plato

The Greeks are well known for producing some of the greatest thinkers. Their philosophies have formed the basis for modern math, sciences, and humanities. A few of the great philosophers are Socrates, Aristotle, Pythagoras and Plato. Socrates' student Plato is the most influential philosopher of the time. The depth of his work ranged from Math, Art, and Politics. Plato was born in 428 BC to a rich aristocrat family and is believed to have descended from the early kings of Athens. Most of what we know about his life and his works comes from letters written by him in the form of dialogue.

Growing up Plato showed great interest and ambition in politics but the state of the political system at the time made him aloof to it. This however led him to eventually become a student and follower of Socrates. Socrates style of thinking is evident in Plato's work; finding truth by asking questions till no more answers can be derived. Also his dialect/letter form of writing his theories is adopted from Socrates. The death of Socrates in 399B.C.E, however, led him on a long and deep philosophical journey, a period in which he produced some of his best works. Plato is also accredited for founding Europe's first university, commonly known as The Academy in Athens. Here he shared of his knowledge in the fields of astronomy, biology, mathematics, political theory, and philosophy. Aristotle being one of his most prominent students from this institute. Besides establishing a reputable school, Plato also traveled widely to teach and learn himself. While in his sixties he was invited to Sicily to educate Dionysius II to become a philosopher-ruler. This trip unfortunately would turn out to be unsuccessful as Dionysius II would take his guest under house-arrest. After much convincing Plato was able gain his freedom, but only to repeat these events a second time. After Plato escaped for a second time Dionysius II was assassinated and the Sicily left in Chaos. Disgusted by politics, this was the last time he would have any thing to do with it. For the remainder of his life he stayed at his beloved school where he was buried in 348 B.C.E.( Plato)

In one of his writings, Euthyphro, Plato raises the question of what is piety and attempts to find a definite answer. In the Athenian society it was believed that people who committed a crime wronged not just the people but the Gods. And thus they must be brought to justice for the sake of God because their actions were considered ungodly. Plato's motive for writing this paper is to establish a clear definition of godly and ungodly. According to Euthyphro the definition of Piety "is to prosecute the wrong doer." Furthermore, to bring forth to a jury some one's "ungodly" actions is considered to be acting in a pious manner. This definition is rejected by Plato for being unclear and varying with different situations. Upon Plato's rejection of the first definition a second one is arrived at: "What is dear to the gods is pious, what is not is impious." Plato finds this definition yet to be incomplete and unsatisfactory. He argues that not all gods may find the same things favorable and unfavorable. Plato and Euthyphro continue arguing and searching for a true definition Pious resulting in a third and fourth definition. However no definition is established as a clear answer. By establishing that no true definition can be arrived at, Plato suggests perhaps we ought to look at the problem in a different light and suggests that God or the divine not be a deciding factor.( Supplement on Plato's Euthyphro)

In "The Simile of The Cave" Plato examines basic human instincts that leads us to keep ourselves in darkness for the fear of truth. Though writing in a time and society much different from today's it still remains very relevant as these human qualities don't seem to have changed much. In this analogy people sit chained within a clave facing a screen on to which shadows are being cast from the other side. They are told that these shadows