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margin: 0 0 0.5em 0.5em; text-align:left; border: 1px solid #47374a; width:175px;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center; color:White; background-color:#47374a"><b>Thinking hardly<br />or hardly thinking?</b><br /><a href="/wiki/Philosophy" title="Philosophy"><font size="4" color="White"><b>Philosophy</b></font></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background-color:#f8feff;" align="center"><a href="/wiki/Category:Philosophers" title="Category:Philosophers"><img alt="Icon philosophy.svg" src="/w/images/thumb/d/d0/Icon_philosophy.svg/100px-Icon_philosophy.svg.png" decoding="async" width="100" height="100" srcset="/w/images/thumb/d/d0/Icon_philosophy.svg/150px-Icon_philosophy.svg.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/d/d0/Icon_philosophy.svg/200px-Icon_philosophy.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="200" /></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#47374a; text-align:center;"><b>Major trains of thought</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#f8feff;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Logic" title="Logic">Logic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Morality" title="Morality">Morality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reality" title="Reality">Reality</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#47374a; text-align:center;"><b>The good, the bad,<br />and the brain fart</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#f8feff;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Critical_thinking" title="Critical thinking">Critical thinking</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vitalism" title="Vitalism">Vitalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paradoxe_de_l%27omnipotence" title="Paradoxe de l'omnipotence">Paradoxe de l'omnipotence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Effective_altruism" title="Effective altruism">Effective altruism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Person" title="Person">Person</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance" title="Paradox of tolerance">Paradox of tolerance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Felix_Adler" title="Felix Adler">Felix Adler</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Everlasting_No" title="Everlasting No">Everlasting No</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#47374a; text-align:center;"><b>Come to think of it</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#f8feff;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Religion" title="Religion">Religion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Science" title="Science">Science</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Philosophy_of_science" title="Philosophy of science">Philosophy of science</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ethics" class="mw-redirect" title="Ethics">Ethics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Psychology" title="Psychology">Psychology</a></li></ul> <div class="vte plainlinks" style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;"><a href="/wiki/Template:Philosophy" title="Template:Philosophy">v</a> - <a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Philosophy" title="Template talk:Philosophy">t</a> - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Philosophy&action=edit">e</a></div> </td></tr></tbody></table> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>The safest general characterisation of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Alfred North Whitehead, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process_and_Reality" class="extiw" title="wp:Process and Reality" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Process and Reality"><i>Process and Reality</i></span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p><b>Plato</b> (428/427 or 424/423 BCE–346/345 BCE) was an ancient <a href="/wiki/Greece" title="Greece">Greek</a> <a href="/wiki/Philosophy" title="Philosophy">philosopher</a>. </p><p>Plato was a student of <a href="/wiki/Socrates" title="Socrates">Socrates</a> and the teacher of <a href="/wiki/Aristotle" title="Aristotle">Aristotle</a>. His books were largely written in a dialogue style whereby he presents the other sides of the argument and then shoots them down. Sometimes he presented these arguments in a <a href="/wiki/Strawman" class="mw-redirect" title="Strawman">strawman</a> form, and the vanquished arguments were later used by other philosophers (as in Thrasymachus and <a href="/wiki/Nietzsche" class="mw-redirect" title="Nietzsche">Nietzsche</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup> Glaucon and <a href="/wiki/Social_contract" title="Social contract">social contract</a> theory<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup>). </p><p>In his most famous work, <i>The Republic</i>, Plato argued that the ideal model of government is a three tiered system, with the Philosopher Kings at the top,<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3">[notes 1]</a></sup> the military to the side, and the proletariat/workers on the other side which corresponds to his tri-aspected soul: reason, appetite, and spirit. Other ideas to come out of <i>The Republic</i> are the <a href="/wiki/Noble_lie" title="Noble lie">noble lie</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Allegory_of_the_cave" title="Allegory of the cave">allegory of the cave</a>, the world of forms, and the negative portrayal of <a href="/wiki/Democracy" title="Democracy">democracy</a> as <a href="/wiki/Mobocracy" title="Mobocracy">mobocracy</a> (as was frequently the case in the Greece of his time). </p> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#Plato.27s_Theory_of_Forms"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Plato's Theory of Forms</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="#Plato.27s_influence_on_Christianity"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Plato's influence on Christianity</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="#Love"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Love</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5"><a href="#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6"><a href="#Notes"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">Notes</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h2><span id="Plato's_Theory_of_Forms"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Plato.27s_Theory_of_Forms">Plato's Theory of Forms</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Plato&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Plato's Theory of Forms">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>Central to all of Plato’s thought was the idea of Platonic Forms (or simply Forms), a <a href="/wiki/Metaphysical" class="mw-redirect" title="Metaphysical">metaphysical</a> and <a href="/wiki/Epistemology" class="mw-redirect" title="Epistemology">epistemological</a> view which affirms the existence of certain abstractions that are timeless and unchanging. Plato asserted that these objects or Forms are thus mind-independent entities: that their existence and nature is transcendental independent of our beliefs and judgments about them and is contrary to nominalism. Examples of forms include numbers, <a href="/wiki/Mathematics" title="Mathematics">mathematical objects</a>, shapes, <a href="/wiki/Logic" title="Logic">logic</a>, relations and essences being examples of abstract objects that are affirmed to exist independently of language and even thought, though many of them can be expressed through language. </p><p>A notable proponent of Plato's forms was philosopher and logician <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_G%C3%B6del" class="extiw" title="wp:Kurt Gödel" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Kurt Gödel">Kurt Gödel</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> (of <a href="/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s_incompleteness_theorems" title="Gödel's incompleteness theorems">incompleteness theorem</a> fame), who accepted the mathematical nature of forms due to problems of circularity and infinite regress when justifying axiomatic statements. </p> <h2><span id="Plato's_influence_on_Christianity"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Plato.27s_influence_on_Christianity">Plato's influence on Christianity</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Plato&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Plato's influence on Christianity">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>Plato's most novel philosophical idea postulated that the observable world exists as contingent of Eternal forms, which were ultimately alien to the world we live in. This really caught on in the ancient world. The "myths" for this particular idea come from the dialogue <i>Timaeus</i>, which unlike most of the other dialogues, appears with little argument from the other characters and appears to be Plato's actual thoughts on the matter. Many still point out that other "myths" appear in dialogues are not necessarily intended to be read literally (like the version of Socrates that appears in the dialogues). Even <a href="/wiki/Aristotle" title="Aristotle">Aristotle</a> suggests in <i>On the Soul</i> (by means of a pun) that most of Plato's myths were presented as allegories of education rather than actual reality. Nevertheless, <i>Timaeus</i> was one of the most widely-read of Plato's dialogues and this idea began rapidly popping up in nearly every world culture affected by the campaigns of Alexander the Great, and is generally referred to as Philosophical Hellenism. </p><p>It has been argued that many aspects of Christian theology derive from Platonic philosophy. The Christian concept of God as infinite goodness, wisdom and ability is derived from the Platonic idea of the perfect form of all goodness. Indeed, <i>Timaeus</i> was the only Platonic dialogue translated into <a href="/wiki/Latin" title="Latin">Latin</a> and widely available during the Middle Ages (thanks a lot <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boethius" class="extiw" title="wp:Boethius" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Boethius">Boethius</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup>...). Thus, God was defined by Aquinas as "By 'God', however, we mean some infinite good". </p><p>AntiCitizenX, when writing his "Top 5 Philosophical Failures of Christian Apologetics", decided to include "obsessions with Platonism" at the #4 spot, due to the tendency of Christian apologists to assume that numbers do exist and to answer atheists with the question how they account for the universal laws of logic.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4">[3]</a></sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Love">Love</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Plato&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Love">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_love" class="extiw" title="wp:Platonic love" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Platonic love">Platonic love</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> is described as a non-<a href="/wiki/Sex" title="Sex">sexual</a> love, such as that between immediate family members or between a teacher and his or her students. It originates from Plato's work <i>Symposium</i>, although he did not create the term himself - in fact, the <i>Symposium</i> focuses on love in a much broader sense, including what we would nowadays call 'romantic love'. The implications of this nomenclature inspired comedian Randy Lubas to quip, "Imagine not getting any <i>so much</i> that they name 'not getting any' after you!", and that he wanted the opposite to be named after him; e.g., "Are you two friends?" "No, we're purely lubasonic!" </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Plato&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: See also">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s_incompleteness_theorems" title="Gödel's incompleteness theorems">Gödel's incompleteness theorems</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eugenics" title="Eugenics">Eugenics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Atlantis" title="Atlantis">Atlantis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Benevolent_dictatorship" title="Benevolent dictatorship">Benevolent dictatorship</a>, his favored form of government ("philosopher-king")</li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Plato&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: External links">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li>Works of Plato in <a href="https://wikisource.org/wiki/el:%CE%A3%CF%85%CE%B3%CE%B3%CF%81%CE%B1%CF%86%CE%AD%CE%B1%CF%82:%CE%A0%CE%BB%CE%AC%CF%84%CF%89%CE%BD" class="extiw" title="wikisource:el:Συγγραφέας:Πλάτων" rel="nofollow">Greek</a> and <a href="https://wikisource.org/wiki/en:Author:Plato" class="extiw" title="wikisource:en:Author:Plato" rel="nofollow">English</a> on Wikisource</li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Notes">Notes</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Plato&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Notes">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="font-size:90%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-3">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Naturally, he put his job description at the top of the heap.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Plato&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: References">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="font-size:90%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-1">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/t/thrasymachus.htm#H3">http://www.iep.utm.edu/t/thrasymachus.htm#H3</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-2">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/s/soc-cont.htm#H1">http://www.iep.utm.edu/s/soc-cont.htm#H1</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-4">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74eXAAN0K6g">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74eXAAN0K6g</a></span> </li> </ol></div></div>    </div></div><div class="printfooter">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Plato&oldid=2660112">https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Plato&oldid=2660112</a>"</div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Philosophers" title="Category:Philosophers">Philosophers</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Ancient_history" title="Category:Ancient history">Ancient history</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Authoritarianism" 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