Aberatism

Plato is undoubtedly one of the most significant and influential philosophers in Western history. He is reported to have created the word philosophia, which means "love of wisdom".

Plato lived 427-347 f.kr and belonged to the Athenian aristocracy. He was mainly rationalist and dualists. The view of society was clearly elitist. Philosophers, those who knew best, should rule.

As a disciple of Socrates, he greatly influenced by his thoughts. A house was bought in Athens where it was initially intended to philosophical discussions would take place. Eventually this developed, however, more and more to a school where teachers came and taught in different subjects. After the site was located in the house got the name "Academy". This was a school for the aristocracy. A school that would educate society's elite.

Some historian usually chronologically distinguish three stages in Plato's writings that there are those who is critical of. For simplicity, however, I choose to describe his thoughts as if they were part of three different phases. It facilitates something and it feels like you do the division to get an overview.

Phase one is thoroughly familiar Socrates and the moral issues he came to grips with. Phase 2 distansierar from Socrates and the more metaphysical and political issues. Here he comes up with ideas on how the ideal state should look like. Faidon, feast and the State provides. In phase three is Plato more self-critical. He embarks with mathematical and scientific problems. In this phase for Timaeus, which is a sort of explanation of the world salt and its formation.

That is where I begin, in Timaeus and phase three, to get a whole of his thinking.

In Timaeus creates Demiurge (translates as artisan or builder) world. It is an image of "the eternal world" or the "eternal ideas" which is the truth. Before this creation was the origin of matter in chaos.

In the eternal world as a model and drawing, he tried as best he could to recreate this - with the origin of matter as a building material. The result is the cosmos, which is a living being. Cosmos has the shape of a sphere and the only movement that fits this sphere is the uniform circular motion. As this movement continues like that eternity. The whole world is surrounded and permeated by a soul that goes from the middle.
Matter has its limitations. Hence any Demiurge creating exactly what he wants and that is why our world is imperfect.

Everything that happens in the cosmos has a cause. Nothing occurs by accident. This is related to the cosmos from the real world. Everything has a well thought out feature.

Plato is one of the philosophers who attend Parmenides footsteps. If we go back to the problem of change, so it is with Plato that the change exists. But only in the material world, material world. And this to the limitations in their attempt to mimic the real world. World of ideas.

World of ideas, however, is eternal and unchanging. So the similarities are great Parmenides.

Plato is a rationalist and dualists. With duality means that there is an idea and a state of the world - simultaneously. With rationalism means that we gain knowledge through thinking.

World of ideas is the real world. We can achieve this absolute truth by thinking. The highest form of thinking is dialectic, which is a way of thinking completely freed from the material world, and images. By this thinking, we can achieve the episteme, the right truth.

General Concepts, universals, are the names of the ideas and concepts that exist in reality.

"Have you ever had a dream that was so real that you were convinced that your dream was actually reality? What if you could not wake up from this dream. How would you know the difference between dreams and reality? "

The above quote could be Plato's description of the material world we are in. But it is not. Do you recognize words? You might have seen the movie "The Matrix" where Morpheus asks these questions to Neo.

Neo has been living in a dream world, the Matrix - Plato's state of the world and seeking the truth behind this. Seconds after the words of Morpheus, Neo ports in the "real world" when he chose the red tablet. Anyone who shows him the truth.
You could see it as if both the tablet - and Morpheus himself - has the role of Socrates saw himself have, namely maivetiken, the redemptive role that leads to the real knowledge.

Plato himself was a famous parable of "the people of the cave". Where people who lived in it, with eyes on cave walls throughout his life, had a skewed perception of reality when they believed that real human forms, the shadows thrown against the wall of fire behind them. Nevertheless, the distorted voices echoing in the cave was the actual cast. The true reality, world of ideas, was like stepping out of the cave into the "light".

One result of Plato's dualism and rationalism was that he felt very bad about the art. This was an image of an image, not an image of a truth. A bed, for example, only the expression of his idea or the form and an imitation, mimesis, of this form.
An artwork of a bed is therefore wrong. A twist of the world of ideas. The art resulting from the formation.

The same approach Plato seems also to have the Sophists and in poetry. An exception may be the music, which in no way affects the soul of man.

There seems to be an exception to. If it is so you have real knowledge and know how wrong and unjust art is, well, then you may also consider art.

Before leaving Plato, I thought a bit short to describe his view of society.

In Plato's ideal world, the aristocracy, "the best", that controls. This world is class-oriented, where each class meets its virtue. Philosophers, leaders, are the ones who sit at the very top. Their virtue is wisdom. During the philosophers are "warriors" whose virtue is courage. Together, the philosophers and warriors väktarklassen. In väktarklassen is self-interest is banned. Everything is shared. You live, eat and live together.
During väktarklasserna are traders, whose virtue is "moderation". The classes are strictly separated, but must live in harmini with each other. Such a state, where all classes meet its virtues, is a righteous state. An ideal society.

Everything in this society is open, in public. That is, the strict division between public and private sphere (home, which was the only sphere of women had access to) the way they lived on in ancient Greece, was dissolved. At least in väktarklasserna. Interestingly, although women could belong to the philosophers. Plato considered simply sex, the physical form, was unimportant in so far, the main thing was that philosophers had reached the wisdom and know the truth. There were also women do. This kvinnosyn was very unusual in those years, Greece. The woman was widely seen as inferior and relegated to the home. She was completely denied public life, such as education and voting.

The inclusion of women among the guardians also paved the way for a sort of reproduction in their own classes. Thus, these were always the right ones and the "best" (best fit) children.