Plato (Leaving Cert Religious Education): Revision Notes
Plato
Background and life
Plato lived from 428-347 BCE and was one of the most influential philosophers in history. Born into a prominent Athenian family, he became a devoted student of Socrates and was deeply affected when his teacher was executed by hemlock poison in 399 BCE. This event shaped much of Plato's philosophical outlook.
After Socrates' death, Plato travelled extensively through Asia Minor, Egypt, Italy and other parts of Greece before returning to Athens in 388 BCE. There he established the Academy, which became Europe's first university. Plato wrote 36 books, mostly in dialogue form, featuring conversations between characters that explored deep philosophical questions.
According to philosopher A.N. Whitehead, all of Western philosophy consists essentially of "footnotes to Plato" - highlighting just how foundational his thinking has been to the development of human thought.
Theory of ideas/forms
Core concept
Plato developed his famous Theory of Ideas (also called Theory of Forms) based on a fundamental question about what makes something truly real. He argued that for something to genuinely exist, it must possess three key qualities:
- Unchangeable - it cannot alter or decay
- Infinite - it has no limits or boundaries
- Eternal - it exists forever
Two worlds
Plato believed reality was divided into two distinct realms:
The World of Ideas/Forms - This is the real world, containing perfect, eternal forms or concepts. Here exist the pure ideas of things like chairs, beauty, justice, truth and goodness. These forms are unchanging and represent true reality.
The World of Senses - This is the physical world we experience through our senses. Plato viewed this as merely an imperfect shadow or copy of the perfect world above. Everything here changes and eventually decays, making it unreliable and not truly real.
Knowledge and truth
Plato distrusted knowledge gained through our senses because the physical world is constantly changing and therefore unreliable. Instead, he believed true knowledge came from the intellect and reason, which could access the eternal world of perfect forms.
For example, a physical chair will eventually break and crumble, but the idea of what makes something a chair - its essential "chairness" - remains eternal and unchanging in the world of forms.
Allegory of the cave
Purpose and meaning
Plato created the Allegory of the Cave as a powerful teaching tool to explain his Theory of Ideas. Found in his work "The Republic," this symbolic story illustrates how most people live in ignorance, accepting illusions rather than seeking truth.
The story
The Cave Story:
Imagine three prisoners chained in a cave since birth. Their heads are fixed so they can only look straight ahead at the wall in front of them. Behind them burns a fire, and between the fire and prisoners runs a raised walkway where people carry objects - animals, plants, tools and stones.
The prisoners can only see the shadows of these objects cast on the wall. Having never seen the actual objects, they believe these shadows represent reality itself.
One day, a prisoner breaks free and discovers the real world outside the cave. Initially, he's shocked and doesn't believe what he sees. Gradually, he realises his former understanding was completely wrong. He discovers:
- The sun as the source of life and knowledge
- The beauty and meaning of the real world
- That his previous life was essentially meaningless
The return
When the freed prisoner returns to tell the others about his discoveries, they refuse to believe him and even threaten to kill him if he tries to free them. This reflects how people often resist new knowledge and prefer familiar illusions.
Deeper meaning
The allegory represents several key ideas:
- The shadow world = the world of senses (physical reality)
- The world outside = the world of ideas (true reality)
- The journey = the philosophical quest for wisdom and truth
- The resistance = how society often rejects those who challenge accepted beliefs
Plato recognised that seeing truth requires moral achievement and commitment, much like Socrates taught. Too many people remain content living with prejudices and opinions rather than seeking genuine understanding.
Dualistic understanding of the human person
Mind-body division
Plato's distrust of the physical world extended to his view of human nature. He saw people as fundamentally divided beings, consisting of two distinct parts:
The Soul (Mind):
- Good and pure
- Eternal and unchangeable
- Superior and truly real
- Connects to the world of ideas
- Source of true knowledge
The Body:
- Bad and corrupting
- Temporary and changeable
- Inferior and not truly real
- Tied to the physical world
- Source of deception and distraction
Implications
This dualistic view led Plato to believe that the body essentially imprisons the soul. To access true knowledge and wisdom, people need to train their souls through:
- Philosophical thinking
- Ethical living
- Conscious awareness of what is real versus illusory
The body's needs and desires were seen as obstacles that could prevent someone from attaining genuine knowledge and understanding.
Impact on philosophy
Development of key ideas
Plato's contributions fundamentally shaped Western philosophical thought in several ways:
- Metaphysics - His Theory of Ideas established questions about the nature of reality that philosophers still debate today
- Ethics - He reinforced the importance of searching for goodness, beauty and truth as fundamental to human flourishing
- Education - The Allegory of the Cave emphasised the responsibility of the wise to educate others
- Scientific thinking - His ideas influenced Aristotle's later development of more systematic approaches to understanding the natural world
Historical significance
Plato helped philosophy gain intellectual respectability by demonstrating that the mind and soul deserved priority over purely physical concerns. His systematic approach to big questions about reality, knowledge and human nature provided a foundation that subsequent philosophers built upon for centuries.
His work challenged people to question accepted beliefs and seek deeper understanding - a principle that remains central to philosophical inquiry today.
Key Points to Remember:
- Plato argued that true reality exists in an eternal world of perfect ideas/forms, while our physical world is merely an imperfect copy
- The Allegory of the Cave illustrates how most people live in ignorance, accepting shadows (illusions) instead of seeking genuine truth and knowledge
- Plato viewed humans dualistically - the soul is eternal and good while the body is temporary and corrupting
- His Theory of Ideas requires that truly real things must be unchangeable, infinite and eternal
- Plato's influence on Western philosophy has been so profound that all subsequent philosophical work can be seen as building on his foundational ideas