PLATO (427-347 BC)
He was born in Athens as the son of a noble family. The execution of Socrates, one of whose students he was,and whose opinions had a great influence on him, led him to give up his political career and become a determined enemy of democracy. He traveled to North Africa, Egypt and Italy. When he returned, he opened a school called Akademia in Athens and started regular education. He became the founder of systemic philosophy by presenting his views on various branches of philosophy (being, knowledge, ethics, aesthetics, etc.) in a holistic manner within the framework of a system of thought. The books he wrote are in the form of dialogues, the only exception being "The Apology of Socrates". He does not express his views openly in his books, but conveys what he wants to convey indirectly by forcing his characters to doubt and debate.
Plato presents his concept of being in his doctrine of Ideas. In his doctrine of Ideas, he states that all visible things are reflections of the world of ideas. Unlike visible things, Ideas are structures that are independent of time and space, unchanging, have no beginning or end, do not need anything other than themselves for their existence and can only be grasped by reason. The fact that Plato says that the visible and thought universes are separate makes him a dualist. He explains the relationship between ideas and perceivable objects with concepts such as “participation”,, “presence”, “imitation”. The world of ideas, the world of forms, the world of shapes or the world of forms are synonymous. Beings in the world of forms are real beings. However, beings in the perceived world are their reflections. The idea of good is the highest idea.
The immortal soul had the knowledge of ideas in its previous life. Remembering this knowledge is possible through a systematic dialectical process. His dialectical method is to collect scattered concepts according to a general definition and to reach simple and basic units by dividing thought into its elements from their natural joints. First, a person notices the beautiful things in the visible world, then reaches the idea of beauty from the common aspects between them. The soul wants to escape from the prison of the body and reach its home.
In his book "The Republic", Plato makes a hierarchical order among the objects of knowledge with the analogy of the divided line. At the bottom is the world of reflections, above it is the world of nature and man-made things, above it is the world of numbers and geometric shapes, and at the top is ideas and their definite knowledge. The information about the lower two worlds is at the level of belief and conjecture (doxa), it is not real knowledge (episteme).
In Plato's Allegory of the Cave, a person who watches the shadows in the cave thinking they are real lives in a world of illusions. If he can escape from here, he will see real objects and the sun.
Plato's understanding of morality was aimed at achieving happiness. According to him, happiness was goodness, and what provides goodness are virtue, truth and justice. Plato defined virtue as the order of the soul. Virtue is the soul's realization of its own nature. Happiness does not come to a person from outside. The person who regulates his soul reaches happiness. The soul consists of three parts: reason, essence (spirit) and appetite and these parts must be in a correct relationship with each other. The soul, whose order is provided, will rise morally and will be able to access the knowledge of the ideas that are already in it from the past. The reason part is immortal, the other two are disposed with the death of the body.
According to Plato, the soul and I are two different entities; “Platonic dualism” (Platonic duality). The soul and the body affect each other. The soul is the thing that most resembles ideas among the existing ones; both are unchangeable, pure, immortal and divine. After the soul leaves a body, it can inhabit another body, human or non-human.
Fifth century Athens was a kind of democracy, but only ten percent of the population could vote (women and slaves did not have the right to vote). Plato says that all cities,government is corrupt because the three supreme values called “good”, “truth” and “beautiful” are not present in the existing cities. These three values should be rendered dominant in society and the city.
Just like the soul, the city consists of three parts; craftsmen, soldiers and administrators. If the parts are in accordance with their natural structures, justice, truth and virtue will be provided in the city. The administrators should be wise, the soldiers should be brave and the craftsmen should be moderate. The philosophers who govern the city should apply the knowledge of the ideas to the city and ensure the education of the citizens. The most effective means of educating the soul is music. Women should also be educated and should participate in the administration. The right of ownership is not given to the ruling and defending classes. In ‘’The book of laws’’, private property and family is allowed again.
There are five types of city governments on earth; These are aristocracy (rule by the wise), timarchy the wise men protecting their own interests, not the interests of the society), oligarchy (rule by the rich), democracy (poor defeating the rich, disorder) and tyranny (absolute rule of a leader). Plato favors the “Aristocratic” state, governed by well-educated and qualified people, as the ideal state.
According to Plato, art is worthless because it is imitation (mimesis). Poets portray false appearances, the truth of which they do not know, as real. Art must be educational, and without legal regulations, art cannot demonstrate a quality that is compatible with the human spirit, reason and goodness.