WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.200 --> 00:00:10.160 You see, some things are going to happen. What's going 2 00:00:10.199 --> 00:00:25.719 to happen? What Plato of Athens stands is one of 3 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:29.160 the most influential figures in Western philosophy. A student of 4 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:33.039 Socrates and teacher of Aristotle, Plato wrote a unique dialogue 5 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:37.520 form that blends drama with profound inquiry. His work span ethics, 6 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:44.399 political philosophy, psychology, epistemology, and metaphysics. Through vivid characters, often Socrates, 7 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:47.960 and imaginative stories are myths Plato explored and during questions 8 00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:52.719 about justice, reality, knowledge, love, the soul, and the ideal society. 9 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:57.039 This episode delves into Plato's major dialogues and philosophical ideas, 10 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:00.119 from the historical trials of Socrates to the visionary theory 11 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:02.960 of forms and the famous allegory of the Cave, and 12 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:07.040 drawing on scholarly insights to enrich our understanding. We have 13 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:09.159 journey through Plato's life and times, and now we will 14 00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:11.560 examine the key themes of his early, middle and late 15 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:15.040 dialogues and discover how his blend of dramatic dialogue and 16 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:19.799 philosophical exploration created a living legacy that still shapes thought today. 17 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:23.879 His real name was Aristocles, but he became known as Plato, 18 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:27.359 perhaps a nickname referring to his broad physique or broad forehead. 19 00:01:27.799 --> 00:01:30.879 Growing up during the Peloponnesian War, the young Plato witnessed 20 00:01:30.920 --> 00:01:34.640 the political instability of Athens. In his twenties, Plato became 21 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:37.359 a devoted student of the philosopher Socrates, whose method of 22 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:41.840 questioning everything left a deep mark on him. Socrates' charismatic 23 00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:45.560 quest for truth and his martyr like death were defining influences. 24 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:49.920 Thirty ninety nine BCE, the Athenian democracy tried and executed 25 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:54.280 Socrates for impiety and corrupting the youth. Plato, then about 26 00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:56.519 twenty eight, was profoundly affected by the loss of his 27 00:01:56.599 --> 00:02:00.719 mentor the apology. Plato's earliest dialogue is actually an account 28 00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:03.879 of Socrates's defense speech at the trial, and through it 29 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:08.479 Plato ensures Socrates's voice and ideals would live on. After 30 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:11.599 Socrates' death, Plato withdrew from Athens for a time, traveling 31 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:15.560 perhaps to Megara Sirene in North Africa, Italy, and Egypt. 32 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:20.199 These travels exposed him to other philosophies, such as Pythagoreans 33 00:02:20.199 --> 00:02:24.319 in Italy, that would inform his later work. Around three 34 00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:28.120 eighty seven BCE, Plato returned to Athens and founded the Academy, 35 00:02:28.439 --> 00:02:32.439 often considered the first university. The Academy was an institution 36 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:34.960 for higher learning situated in a grove of olo trees 37 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:40.680 sacred to the hero Academus, just outside Athens. There, Plato 38 00:02:40.759 --> 00:02:43.800 taught and engaged students in dialogue for decades. Among the 39 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:47.199 Academy's most illustrious students was Aristotle, who studied there for 40 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:51.000 twenty years. The Academy became Plato's home base for the 41 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:53.879 rest of his life. Plato also made at least two 42 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:57.039 more trips to Sicily in hopes of guiding Syracusan tyrants 43 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:00.520 Dionysius the Elder and the Younger in his life. Later years, 44 00:03:00.520 --> 00:03:03.560 Plato concentrated on teaching and writing at the Academy until 45 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:08.879 his death in three forty seven BCE. Understanding Plato's historical 46 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:12.680 contexts enriches our appreciation of his dialogues. He lived through 47 00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:15.800 the decline of Athenian democracy and the rise of Macedonian power, 48 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:19.120 through war and civil strife, through the trial of Socrates 49 00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:22.280 and its aftermen. These experiences gave Plato a first hand 50 00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:26.159 view of political instability and moral uncertainty, fueling his desire 51 00:03:26.199 --> 00:03:29.319 to fine unshakable truths and better ways to order society. 52 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:34.080 The figure of Socrates, questioning ironic, unyielding in his pursuit 53 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:37.919 of virtue dominates Plato's early works and remains a touchstone throughout. 54 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:40.960 In his sense, Plato's philosophy can be seen as his 55 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:44.960 attempt to preserve Socrates's spirit while also moving beyond Socratic 56 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:49.879 skepticism to construct a positive philosophical system. To achieve this, 57 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:53.159 Plato wrote in an inventive dialogue form that invites the 58 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:56.879 reader into the debate. Before diving into the content of 59 00:03:56.919 --> 00:03:59.840 the dialogues, let us briefly consider the distinctive method of 60 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.800 philosophical writing. Nearly all the Plato's surviving works are written 61 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:09.840 as dialogues conversations between characters, often historical figures, probing philosophical questions, 62 00:04:10.919 --> 00:04:14.280 rather than writing treaties or lectures. Plato presents philosophy in 63 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:17.800 a dramatic format, complete with settings and characters, which gives 64 00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:22.040 his work a rich literary texture. We meet Socrates debating 65 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:25.120 in an Athenian marketplace, or conversing at a drinking party, 66 00:04:25.399 --> 00:04:29.160 or talking quietly in prison before his death. These dialogues 67 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:31.319 are not plays meant for the stage, but they are 68 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:36.120 carefully crafted dramas of ideas. Plato's gift for vivid characterization 69 00:04:36.199 --> 00:04:40.199 in setting a jubilant symposium, a gymnasium, the courtroom, or 70 00:04:40.199 --> 00:04:42.959 the shadows of a cave, makes abstract ideas come alive 71 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:48.240 as human experience. Socrates is the central figure of most dialogues. 72 00:04:48.680 --> 00:04:51.279 He is present in all of them except one, the Laws. 73 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:55.759 Through Socrates, Plato honors his mentor's legacy, but also uses 74 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:59.839 him as a mouthpiece for exploring Plato's own ideas. Importantly, 75 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:02.720 Plato never speaks in his own voice in the dialogues. 76 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:07.240 There is no professor Plato explaining his doctrine. Instead, he 77 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:11.040 lets arguments unfold through questions and answers, the Socratic method 78 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:15.959 of inquiry. Socrates or another lead character poses questions to others, 79 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:20.680 refutes floida, answers, and gradually guides the discussion towards deeper understanding. 80 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:25.279 This method showcases philosophy as a live process of questioning assumptions. 81 00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:29.480 It also means Plato's works often don't present doctrines neatly, 82 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:33.399 but rather lead readers to think for themselves. As the 83 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:39.199 Stanford Encyclopedia Philosophy notes Plato is far more exploratory, incompletely systematic, elusive, 84 00:05:39.240 --> 00:05:43.160 and playful than philosophers like Aristotle or cant He does 85 00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:46.120 not hand us a finalized system of thought. Instead, many 86 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:50.439 dialogues end inconclusively or even with more puzzles. Plato seems 87 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:53.920 to want the reader to participate in the inquiry. Readers 88 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:56.800 of a Platonic dialogue are drawn into thinking for themselves 89 00:05:56.839 --> 00:06:00.120 about the issues raised, provoking a sense of philosophy as 90 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:04.560 a living and unfinished subject to which they must contribute. 91 00:06:04.600 --> 00:06:08.519 This open ended dialectical style is deliberate. Plato orphan raises 92 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:12.079 profound questions what is virtue? What is justice? Is the 93 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:15.279 soul of mortal and examines them from multiple sides, without 94 00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:19.600 always reaching a final answer. In u Thipro, Socrates in 95 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:22.519 a priest struggle to define piety and end in perplexity. 96 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:26.920 In Theotitis, Socrates and a young mathematician explore what is 97 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:31.480 knowledge and consider then critique definitions like knowledge is sense 98 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:35.040 perception or knowledge is true belief, with an account ultimately 99 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:39.879 concluding they have not yet found a satisfactory definition. Imparmenides 100 00:06:39.959 --> 00:06:44.399 and Elder philosopher Parmenides subjects young Socrates theory or forms 101 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:48.519 to relentless criticism, raising problems of infinite regress and logical 102 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:52.800 contradiction that are left unresolved rather than weaken the dialogue. 103 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:56.360 These unanswered puzzles are the point Plato is teaching us 104 00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:59.519 to think, not merely telling us what to think. As 105 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:02.399 one skyt Dollar observes, Plato's work gives us a few 106 00:07:02.519 --> 00:07:06.199 key ideas, along with a series of suggestions and problems 107 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:09.879 about how those ideas are to be interrogated, leaving further 108 00:07:09.959 --> 00:07:14.120 work for the readers themselves. This dynamic quality is why 109 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:17.519 Plato is often considered the ideal introduction to philosophy. The 110 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:21.319 dialogues don't just preset doctrines, they demonstrate the activity of 111 00:07:21.319 --> 00:07:25.319 philosophical inquiry. Despite the variety in topics and tones across 112 00:07:25.319 --> 00:07:28.199 Plato's dialogues, it is common to divide them into three 113 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:32.639 broad groups, Early, Middle, and late dialogues. These early dialogues 114 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:35.680 are closest to the historical Socrates in style and focus 115 00:07:35.720 --> 00:07:39.279 mainly on ethical questions, often ending without a firm conclusion. 116 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:43.759 The middle dialogues mark the development of Plato's own philosophical theories. 117 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:47.079 Here we see the introduction of his theia forms, discussions 118 00:07:47.079 --> 00:07:50.279 of the soul's immortality, the nature of knowledge, love, and 119 00:07:50.360 --> 00:07:54.319 the ideal state. These works still feature Socrates as a protagonist, 120 00:07:54.519 --> 00:07:58.839 but are generally thought to convey Plato's views more than Socrates. Finally, 121 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:01.399 the late dialogues are more technical and often involve new 122 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:05.240 characters or a diminished role for Socrates. In the late period, 123 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:08.720 Plato revisits and sometimes revises ideas from the Middle period. 124 00:08:09.240 --> 00:08:13.120 For example, Parmenides critically examines the form theory, Sophas and 125 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:17.279 Statesmen introduce an iliatic stranger as the main interlocator instead 126 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:21.079 of Socrates, and Laws presents a practical political philosophy without 127 00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:24.319 Socrates at all. With this orientation to Plato's method and 128 00:08:24.360 --> 00:08:27.040 the rough chronology of his works, we can now explore 129 00:08:27.079 --> 00:08:29.439 some of his major dialogues and ideas in more depth. 130 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:33.279 We will proceed loosely in chronological order of the dialogues, 131 00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:36.519 beginning with those that center in Socrates' trial and teachings, 132 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:40.320 moving through the middle dialogues or Plato's distinctive doctrines emerge, 133 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:43.639 and ending with the later works. We will proceed loosely 134 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:46.720 in chronological order of the dialogues, beginning with those that 135 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:50.039 center on Socrates' trial in Teachings, moving through the middle 136 00:08:50.039 --> 00:08:53.480 dialogues where Plato's distinctive doctrines emerge, and ending with the 137 00:08:53.559 --> 00:08:57.840 later works. Plato's earliest dialogues depict the final days of 138 00:08:57.879 --> 00:09:01.679 Socrates and introduced core Socratic pres snciples of ethics. The 139 00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:04.519 Apology of Socrates is not an apology in the modern sense, 140 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:08.559 but an apologia, a defense speech. Plato presents Socrates at 141 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:11.120 age seventy, standing before the five hundred and one man 142 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:14.840 Athenian jury in three ninety nine BCE to answer charges 143 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:18.960 of impiety and corrupting the youth. The scene is historic, 144 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:23.240 and Plato likely witnessed it in person. In the dialogue, 145 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:26.279 Socrates delivers an unyielding defense of his life, devoted to 146 00:09:26.360 --> 00:09:29.799 questioning in virtue. He famously compares himself to a gadfly 147 00:09:30.039 --> 00:09:32.960 stinging the lazy horse of Athens, trying to rouse the 148 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:36.679 city to self examination. He recounts how his friend Caaphon 149 00:09:36.759 --> 00:09:39.639 asked the Delphic oracle if anyone was wiser than Socrates, 150 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:44.120 and the oracle replied, no one was wiser. Socrates interpreted 151 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:46.840 this as a divine mission. He was only wise in 152 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:49.600 so far as he knew that he knew nothing, whereas 153 00:09:49.639 --> 00:09:55.200 others falsely believed themselves wise. Thus he went about examining politicians, poets, 154 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:58.960 and craftsmen, exposing their ignorance, which earned him powerful enemies. 155 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:04.840 In the Apology, Plato's Socrates definally refuses to give up philosophizing, 156 00:10:05.159 --> 00:10:08.440 even if it means death. I owe a greater obedience 157 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:11.879 to God than to you, Socrates tells the jurors, insisting 158 00:10:11.879 --> 00:10:14.720 he will continue to question anyone he meets about virtue 159 00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:18.240 and truth. He admonishes the court that killing him will 160 00:10:18.279 --> 00:10:21.240 harm Athens more than it harms him, for you will 161 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:24.360 not easily find anyone to take my place in urging 162 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:29.240 the city toward goodness. Socrates even rejects the usual emotional 163 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:32.480 appeals for mercy, refusing to parade his family in court 164 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:35.919 or weep for pity. Such tactics, he implies, would betray 165 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:40.440 his principles. Ultimately, the jury convicts Socrates by a narrow 166 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:44.519 vote and sentences him to death. Socrates accepts the verdict 167 00:10:44.600 --> 00:10:47.399 with equanimity. In a parting shot, he tells the jurors 168 00:10:47.399 --> 00:10:49.639 that nothing can harm a good man, either in life 169 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:52.559 or after death, and that his own pursuit of virtue 170 00:10:52.600 --> 00:10:55.480 means even death cannot truly hurt him. One of the 171 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:58.360 most iconic moments in apologies when Socrates declares that if 172 00:10:58.360 --> 00:11:00.679 they offered to acquit him on the condition that he 173 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:04.440 ceases philosophizing, he would decline, for the unexamined life is 174 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:07.879 not worth living for a human being, as he puts it, 175 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:11.399 to let no day pass without discussing goodness and all 176 00:11:11.399 --> 00:11:14.080 the other subjects is really the very best thing that 177 00:11:14.120 --> 00:11:16.440 a man can do, and that life without this sort 178 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:20.440 of examination is not worth living. This ringing statement, the 179 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:23.879 unexamined life is not worth living, has echoed through history 180 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:28.480 as a cult to reflection and critical thinking. Plato's apology, 181 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:31.600 though essentially a monologue, sets the stage for the themes 182 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:34.519 of moral integrity, to quest for truth, and the tension 183 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:39.559 between the philosopher and society. Two other early dialogues, Euthipro 184 00:11:39.639 --> 00:11:43.679 and Creto, complement the apology by showing Socrates' attitude before 185 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:47.960 and after the trial. In Euthyphro, set just before Socrates 186 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:52.279 is hearing, Socrates encounts as a zealously religious man, Euthipro, 187 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:56.240 and they debate the nature of piety holiness. Socrates, about 188 00:11:56.279 --> 00:12:00.240 to be prosecuted for impiety, playfully yet seriously questions you Thidro, 189 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:03.519 who claims to know the will of the gods. They 190 00:12:03.559 --> 00:12:06.159 examine whether something is pious because the gods love it, 191 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:08.240 or do the god's love it because it is pious, 192 00:12:08.759 --> 00:12:11.720 a question that introduces a classic dilemma about the grounding 193 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:16.360 of morality. The dialogue ends without a clear answer when 194 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:19.480 it demonstrates Socrates's method of probing definition and reveals the 195 00:12:19.480 --> 00:12:24.039 difficulty of pinning down moral concepts. Eutherfro leaves the reader 196 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:26.960 with a sharpened sense of the question rather than a solution, 197 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:31.799 which is characteristic of the early Socratic dialogues. After the trial, 198 00:12:32.039 --> 00:12:35.480 Siicro takes us to Socrates's prison cell as he awaits execution. 199 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:38.919 His old friend Grido arrives at dawn, offering a plan 200 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:43.519 to smuggle Socrates out to safety. Here, Plato dramatizes a 201 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:47.080 stork moral choice. Should Socrates break the law and escape 202 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:50.080 to save his life, or accept illegal judgment even if 203 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:53.360 it was unjust. Credo implores Socrates to flee for the 204 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:56.600 sake of his children and his friend's reputations. They don't 205 00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:00.519 want to be seen as not trying to save him. Socrates, however, 206 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:03.440 engages Creto on a dialogue about justice. Would it be 207 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:07.639 right to repay injustice with another injustice? Socrates concludes it 208 00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:10.600 would not. He personifies the laws of Athens in a 209 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:13.440 speech sometimes called the Speech of the Laws, where they 210 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:16.519 argue that Socrates, by choosing to live in Athens, agreed 211 00:13:16.519 --> 00:13:19.480 to abide by its laws, and that escaping would harm 212 00:13:19.480 --> 00:13:22.840 the city's legal order. One must obey that commands of 213 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:26.000 one city and country, Socrates says, an essence, even if 214 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:29.639 the city ers in one's individual case. In the end, 215 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:33.240 Socrates remains in prison, choosing fidelity to the law in 216 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:37.799 his Principles over Life. Creto thus highlights Socrates's integrity. He 217 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:41.360 will not compromise his ethics for convenience, reinforcing the image 218 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:43.480 of Socrates as a martyr for the rule of law 219 00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:48.440 and philosophy. Together, Apology, Euthyphro and Creto paint a compelling 220 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:51.679 portrait of Socrates, a man guided by conscious and reason, 221 00:13:51.960 --> 00:13:54.759 fearless in the face of death, committed to seeking virtue 222 00:13:54.799 --> 00:13:58.039 above all else. These works also set up many of 223 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:00.679 the big questions Plato will tackle more abst exactly later, 224 00:14:01.159 --> 00:14:04.639 What is justice? What is piety? How should a person live? 225 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:10.039 They provide the dramatic and moral backdrop of Plato's subsequent explorations. Notably, 226 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:13.519 these earlier dialogues do not introduce Plato's own metaphysical doctrines. 227 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:15.639 There is no talk of forms or an apholyte or 228 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:19.320 cosmology yet, except in passing. That changes with the dialogues 229 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:21.720 that Plato wrote in the next phase, which begin to 230 00:14:21.799 --> 00:14:27.759 venture beyond Socratic ethics into deeper philosophical words. An important 231 00:14:27.799 --> 00:14:31.799 transitional dialogue is the Meno, which bridges Socratic ethics in 232 00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:35.840 Plato's emerging ideas on knowledge. Meno begins with a straightforward 233 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:40.759 Socratic question, can virtue be taught? Meno, a young aristocrat 234 00:14:40.840 --> 00:14:45.679 first ask Socrates whether virtue urete excellence is teachable, But 235 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:49.120 quickly the discussion shifts to a more basic puzzle, what 236 00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:53.879 is virtue? Socrates insist they must define virtue before deciding 237 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:57.960 how it's acquired. Meno proposes a few definitions. Virtue for 238 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:00.879 a man is managing public affairs well, for a woman 239 00:15:01.159 --> 00:15:04.759 managing the home well, and et cetera. But Socrates refutes them, 240 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:08.960 seeking a single definition that covers all virtues. Meno grows 241 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:12.759 frustrated and compares Socrates to a torpedo fish that numbs 242 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:16.519 whoever comes near. He feels paralyzed and unable to answer. 243 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:20.320 This leads to Meno's paradox, how can you search for 244 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:22.679 knowledge of something when you don't know what it is? 245 00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:26.360 If you know it, you don't need to search. If 246 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:28.720 you don't know it, you wouldn't recognize it even if 247 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:32.240 you found it. Socrates responds with a bold idea that 248 00:15:32.279 --> 00:15:36.120 becomes a cornerstone of Platonic thought, the theory of recollection. 249 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:39.559 He suggests that the soul is immortal and has learned 250 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:42.320 all things in past lives, so what we call learning 251 00:15:42.360 --> 00:15:45.080 is merely recollecting what the soul already knows at some 252 00:15:45.159 --> 00:15:50.799 deeper level. To demonstrate, Socrates famously calls over an enslaved boy, and, 253 00:15:50.840 --> 00:15:54.200 through questioning alone without giving answers, leads the boy to 254 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:57.600 work out a geometry problem doubling the area of a square. 255 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:02.039 The boy, who has no formal education, eventually arise at 256 00:16:02.039 --> 00:16:05.399 the correct solution, which Socrates takes as evidence that this 257 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:09.039 knowledge was latent in him all along. This implies that 258 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:12.759 true knowledge is innate and awakening it requires proper questioning. 259 00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:16.600 In Meno, this idea is still presented as a hypothesis 260 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:20.360 linked to a mythic account of reincarnation, but it marks 261 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:22.919 the first appearance of Plato's belief in an eternal soul 262 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:25.960 and in a reality of knowledge beyond the empirical world, 263 00:16:26.519 --> 00:16:30.320 notions that will be fully developed soon to the question 264 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:35.440 can virtue be taught? Meno ends somewhat ambiguously. Socrates and 265 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:38.840 Meno reach a provisional conclusion that virtue comes not from teaching, 266 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:41.919 since no one can point to a reliable teacher of virtue, 267 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:45.159 nor simply from nature, but perhaps by a sort of 268 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:49.120 divine gift or inspiration. The dialogue thus leaves us with 269 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:53.399 a tantalizing suggestion that virtue ultimately requires right opinion granted 270 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:55.840 by the gods, or, as Plato might later frame it, 271 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:59.200 knowledge of the good itself, but it stops short of 272 00:16:59.320 --> 00:17:03.799 articulating the full theory. In essence, Meno poses the problems 273 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:07.400 that Plato's later philosophy will answer. It asks about the 274 00:17:07.480 --> 00:17:10.319 nature of virtue and knowledge, and hints that answers lie 275 00:17:10.359 --> 00:17:13.960 in understanding the immortal soul and its knowledge of eternal truths. 276 00:17:15.079 --> 00:17:17.960 These themes come into Frutition and Fido. One of Plato's 277 00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:21.519 richest and most revere dialogues, Fido is set on the 278 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:24.640 final day of socrates life. A Socrates sits in his 279 00:17:24.680 --> 00:17:27.559 prison cell in the company of friends, calmly awaiting the 280 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:31.759 poison hemlock Fido. A young fellower recounts the scene to 281 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:36.079 others afterwards, lending the dialogue a poignant narrative frame. Fido 282 00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:38.319 is both a character and the narrator of the story. 283 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:43.400 This dialogue combines dramatic power the depiction of Socrates's last 284 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:47.440 hours with profound philosophical argument. It is in Fido that 285 00:17:47.480 --> 00:17:51.000 Plato first lays out his own metaphysical and epistemological doctrines 286 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:54.200 in a clear way, so much so the ancient commentators 287 00:17:54.279 --> 00:17:58.000 nicknamed the Dialogue on the Soul. The Fido covers three 288 00:17:58.039 --> 00:18:01.079 main topics, the immortality of the soul, the theory of 289 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:05.039 recollection further developed from Meno, and most importantly, the theory 290 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:10.039 of forms. Plato's most famous contribution to philosophy, presented here 291 00:18:10.119 --> 00:18:14.599 arguably for the first time dramatic context, is that Socrates's 292 00:18:14.680 --> 00:18:17.839 friends saddened by his impending death, ask him why he 293 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:22.200 seems unafraid. This prompt Socrates to explain why a true 294 00:18:22.200 --> 00:18:26.519 philosopher should not fear death. He argues that philosophy is 295 00:18:26.599 --> 00:18:29.839 essentially a preparation for dying, because it involves separating the 296 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:32.519 soul as much as possible from the bodily, desires and 297 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:37.200 senses in order to attain knowledge of eternal truths. The soul, 298 00:18:37.319 --> 00:18:40.839 Socrates claims, is immortal, and death is merely the soul's 299 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:44.960 separation from the body. To this support, he offers four 300 00:18:45.079 --> 00:18:50.359 arguments for the soul's immortality. One the cyclical argument. Opposites 301 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:53.599 come from opposites, so life must come from death as 302 00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:57.839 death comes from life, implying an endless cycle. To the 303 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:01.759 theory of recollection, learning is re collecting eternal truths, which 304 00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:05.359 suggests the soul existed before birth to acquire that knowledge. 305 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:10.319 Three the affinity argument. The soul is invisible, non composite, 306 00:19:10.599 --> 00:19:13.480 and divine like the forms, so it naturally survives the 307 00:19:13.480 --> 00:19:17.440 death of the body. And later four the final argument, 308 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:20.480 drawing on the form of life, the soul always brings 309 00:19:20.519 --> 00:19:24.000 life and thus cannot admit death. In the course of 310 00:19:24.039 --> 00:19:29.119 these arguments, Plato introduces forms explicitly. For example, he speaks 311 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:32.599 of the equal itself, the beautiful itself, to just itself, 312 00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:35.640 abstract ideals that are grasped not by the senses but 313 00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:39.240 by the mind. At one point, Socrates asks, how do 314 00:19:39.319 --> 00:19:43.079 we even form the concept of perfect equality? We've never 315 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:45.799 seen two sticks or stones that are exactly equal in 316 00:19:45.880 --> 00:19:48.599 length or quality. Yet we have an idea of equal 317 00:19:48.599 --> 00:19:53.240 itself that he says came from before birth, when our 318 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:56.400 souls beheld the pure form of equal, and we recall 319 00:19:56.440 --> 00:20:00.880 it when we encounter approximate equalities in life. Early he 320 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:03.759 suggests we recognize the grease of beauty or justice by 321 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:06.759 comparing them to the perfect form of beauty or form 322 00:20:06.839 --> 00:20:10.680 of justice our soul once new. This is Plato's theory 323 00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:13.920 of forms, emerging the idea that beyond the imperfect world 324 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:17.799 of changeable things we perceive, there is a higher, unchanging reality, 325 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:21.599 a realm of forms or ideas ETOs in Greek, which 326 00:20:21.640 --> 00:20:24.720 are the perfect archetypes of all properties and values. The 327 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:27.359 physical world we know through the senses is only an 328 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:30.839 imitation of the pure, eternal and unchanging world of the forms. 329 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:34.240 The forms are more real than the objects we see. 330 00:20:34.680 --> 00:20:38.759 They are invisible, eternal, and intelligible, known by the intellect, 331 00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:42.599 not the eyes. In Fito, this theory is woven into 332 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:46.319 the discussion of the soul's immortality. The soul, being akin 333 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:49.599 to the divine forms, can know them, end like them, 334 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:53.000 is not destroyed when the body perishes. The foto is 335 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:56.559 thus a milestone. It gives us Plato's metaphysics forms. In 336 00:20:56.599 --> 00:21:00.759 Plato's epistemology, learning as recollection of forms is one narrative, 337 00:21:01.319 --> 00:21:05.319 it also doesn't shy from objections. Plato has two interlocutors, 338 00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:10.519 Samias and Sebes, raised thoughtful challenges. For example, Sema suggests 339 00:21:10.599 --> 00:21:12.559 maybe the soul is like the harmony of a liar, 340 00:21:12.920 --> 00:21:15.680 a beautiful result of the parts, but destroyed when the 341 00:21:15.720 --> 00:21:19.160 instrument is destroyed. Sebes worries that even if the soul 342 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:22.960 outlines the body, perhaps it wears out after many reincarnations. 343 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:27.200 Socrates answers these, reinforcing the theory that the soul is 344 00:21:27.240 --> 00:21:30.480 an independent substance that pre exists and outlives the body. 345 00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:35.039 At the dialogue's climax, Socrates recounts a mythic vision of 346 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:38.680 the afterlife. Virtuous souls dwell on earth's surface, or even 347 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:42.279 ascend to a pure realm of ideal forms, whereas in 348 00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:47.079 pure souls are dragged back into bodily life. Finally, Socrates 349 00:21:47.079 --> 00:21:50.680 calmly drinks the hemlock and bids farewell, telling his grieving 350 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:54.799 friends not to weep. His serenity in facing death, sustained 351 00:21:54.799 --> 00:21:58.599 by the conviction of the soul's immortality, provides a moving conclusion. 352 00:21:59.319 --> 00:22:03.880 The feto is lablishes several major Platonic ideas, the immortality 353 00:22:03.880 --> 00:22:09.039 of the soul, the existence of transcendent forms, beauty, justice, equality, good, 354 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:11.799 and so on. The notion that true knowledge is of 355 00:22:11.880 --> 00:22:14.559 these forms and comes from the soul's recollection of them, 356 00:22:14.920 --> 00:22:17.640 and the view that the philosophical life is a training 357 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:21.759 for the soul separation from the body, hence a preparation 358 00:22:21.960 --> 00:22:26.480 for death. We see Plato here building on Socratic ethics 359 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:29.880 care for one's soul through virtue and wisdom and transforming 360 00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:33.720 it with a grand of the worldly framework. Virtue, for Plato, 361 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:36.720 will increasingly mean aligning the soul with the eternal good 362 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:39.920 and the order of the forms, rather than merely ethical 363 00:22:39.960 --> 00:22:43.160 behavior in day to day life. But before we get 364 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:46.720 too far into abstraction, Plato will also turn to concrete 365 00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:50.559 questions of politics and society, most notably in his masterpiece 366 00:22:50.680 --> 00:22:53.960 The Republic. It is in the Republic that Plato's philosophy 367 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:58.519 reaches its fullest scope, tying together is metaphysics, ethics, psychology, 368 00:22:58.680 --> 00:23:02.839 epistemology and politolitical theory, and giving the world the unforgettable 369 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:09.000 Allegory of the Cave. Plato's Republic is a monumental dialogue 370 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:11.759 that has been hailed as one of Plato's longest dialogues 371 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:16.240 and his magnum opus framed, there's a conversation mainly between 372 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:20.440 Socrates and several friends, notably Plato's own brothers. The Republic 373 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:24.960 begins with a straightforward question what is justice and is 374 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:28.400 the just life happier than the unjust life? But it 375 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:33.599 unfolds in a wide ranging exploration of morality, politics, psychology, education, 376 00:23:33.960 --> 00:23:38.160 and metaphysics across its ten books. The dialogue dramatic setting 377 00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:40.839 is the house of Cephalis during an all night festival, 378 00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:44.559 and it starts casually Socrates speaking with the old gentleman 379 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:49.039 Cephalis about old age and justice. Soon, however, Socrates finds 380 00:23:49.079 --> 00:23:52.319 himself challenged by the fiery threast Symmetris, who inserts that 381 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:55.880 justice is nothing but the advantage of the stronger might 382 00:23:56.039 --> 00:24:00.759 makes right. Socrates and his interlocators then embark on constructing 383 00:24:00.759 --> 00:24:04.880 an imaginary ideal city Calipolis, as a way to see 384 00:24:05.079 --> 00:24:09.559 justice writ large before identifying it in the individual soul. 385 00:24:09.720 --> 00:24:12.160 This leads Plato to describe his vision of the best 386 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:16.440 society and government, one ruled by philosopher kings. In the 387 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:20.640 course of the Republic, Plato presents numerous influential ideas, the 388 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:23.920 principle of specialization, each person doing the one thing they 389 00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:27.519 are naturally best suited for, the division of society into 390 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:33.119 three classes rulers, auxiliaries or soldiers and producers. The tripartite 391 00:24:33.160 --> 00:24:36.559 soul theory, reasoned, spirit, and appetite as three parts of 392 00:24:36.559 --> 00:24:40.519 the individual psyche, mirroring the classes of society. The role 393 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:44.119 of education and censorship. The equality of women, at least 394 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:47.200 in the guardian classes. The communal life of the guardian, 395 00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:50.079 with property and even family held in common to avoid 396 00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:55.559 conflicts of interest, and the degeneration of political systems oligarchy, 397 00:24:55.839 --> 00:25:01.240 democracy tyranny. Plato does not shy from radical proposals, for example, 398 00:25:01.559 --> 00:25:05.240 abolishing the traditional family for the guardian class or selecting 399 00:25:05.319 --> 00:25:09.000 mating festivals by lot, rigged to promote the best offspring. 400 00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:12.960 These are meant to eliminate factionalism and keep the rulers 401 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:16.640