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History and Evolution:
By William E. Steinman:
Part 22, Plato the Man:
August 18, 2003:
Unlike Socrates, Plato was very prolific. He wrote poetry, plays,
and dramatic dialogs. It was the dialogs in which he expressed
much of his philosophy. We still have all of Plato's written works,
but we have none of his lectures. It seems they were never set
down. We know that Aristotle made references to these lectures
in his own notes from the Academy. As with all historical figures
we have the problem of trying to guess whether or not all of the
works attributed to Plato are genuine. However, enough can be
positively identified with him to fill in a very complete picture.
One interesting thing is Plato never developed a complete philosophy, because he continued to think and develop his thoughts. I believe that is what a true philosopher does. He cannot completely package what he has and tie it with a pretty ribbon because it continues to develop. He is never satisfied. He can only give us what he has at the time. A person who packages his philosophy and ties it off is finished with it. Then he has to defend it and there is sure to be some disagreement between his earlier works and his later works. That's as it should be. It means he did not stop thinking and growing.
Plato was an aristocrat by birth. Even so, he did not like the oligarchy. He was born into the aristocracy and educated within it, but when he saw some of the violent and stupid things these people did he turned away from them. That left him in a political limbo because he also abhorred the Athenian democracy. We should recall that it was the democratic representatives of the rabble who murder Socrates. Socrates was more than dear to Plato. He was his teacher. Plato became a student of Socrates when he was about twenty, but he was a student, not a disciple. Socrates did not encourage disciples.
Plato eschewed participation in politics because of the corruption of the established system. He though it was beyond any corrective measures possible. True statesmen should be philosophers and, of course, that was not the case. In man's history, there has never been a philosopher in power. We have never had a philosopher king or a philosopher president with the possible exceptions of George Washington and John Adams.
Like Socrates, Plato was an elitists. So am I. I believe only ethically superior people should be in power. My problem lies in how to make that a reality. Plato and Socrates both believe that statesmanship should be a profession and statesmen should be philosophers. Uneducated people should not be allowed to rule. By education, they meant everything including philosophy. Beyond the common professions is philosophy.
Way back then, Plato noticed the same thing about democracy that thoughtful people notice now. It is much more likely to have bad leadership that good. The rabble are usually unable to produce a strong and ethical leader. They see only in the short term and are incapable of considering their own long term best interest. Hence, they are easily conned by demagogs. They are much more likely to support a George Bush rather than a George Washington.
Here is one statement from Plato about democracy. "These, then, will be some of the features of democracy . . . it will be, in all likelihood, an agreeable, lawless, particolored commonwealth, dealing with all alike on a footing of equality, whether they be really equal or not."
Plato's points on democracy are painfully real to any student of politics. He along with Socrates considered the selection of leaders by lot cast by the rabble to be absurd. We need only observe recent American history to understand this. The rabble generally vote for demagogs of the worst type. As a result, most politicians in a democracy do not adhere to any ethical principles at all. There is no though given to the long term health of the society. Everything they do is for short term expediency and personal political gain.
The truth is, the rabble can put them out of office anytime they please and carry on the ship of state without them. So, to retain power, the political hacks appease the rabble with short-term quick-fix rewards. Except for lip service, the long term is completely ignored. Finally we end up in and operate from a constant crisis mode, wherein we spend most of our resources putting new patches on old patches. A classic example of this is our current so called oil crisis which is really an ongoing energy shortfall. Any government operating from ethical principles would have moved to resolve this problem when it first arose, in the fifties.
Now I'll get back to our subject. There is a lot written about Plato, some of which we cannot confirm. It is sure some of it will be the kind of myth often attributed to heroic or outstanding people. He may have travel to Egypt, but we have no hard evidence. We do know he traveled to Italy when he was forty. There is another story about his first visit to Italy, which may not be true. In that tale he annoyed Dionysius the Elder, Tyrant of Syracuse, who had someone sell him into slavery. According to this story, he was later ransomed by a wealthy person and sent back to Athens. It sounds like a typical heroic story, a bit too hokey to be true.
We are sure he did return to Athens. There he founded what was called The Academy around 388 BC. This academy may be considered the first Western University. The aim of Plato's academy was to produce superior statesmen as opposed to demagogs. The course of studies culminated in philosophy, but included many sciences such as anatomy, biology, and mathematics. Rhetoric was studied, but not as an end in itself.
367 is when Aristotle, Plato's most famous student, entered the academy. Other people came from all over the known world to study there. Plato acquired a good reputation as a great teacher, philosopher, and advisor. It was also in 367 that Dionysius the Elder died and Plato returned to Syracuse to teach philosophy to Dionysius the Younger at the behest of Dion. Dion was the brother-in-law of the Elder making him the uncle of the Younger.
Later, Dion left Syracuse and Plato had trouble leaving. It
seems he was kept against his will. When he was able, he did go
back to Athens. In 361, he went to Syracuse again and tried to
continue teaching the Younger. He tried to make the younger into
a philosopher king. That was not particularly successful. Plato
finally returned to his academy where he continued to teach until
his death in 347 BC. Unlike his teacher Socrates, he died in peace.
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