Plato Study Guide

PLATO
Who is Plato?
 Born as Aristocles later on named as ‘Plato’
 Plato was a well-known Greek Philosopher
 He was born in Athens, Greece around the years 427-428 BCE
 He was the student of another well-known historical figure, Socrates and taught Aristotle another yet well-known historical figure.
 He founded the Academy in Athens and it was considered as the first University in Europe
The Republic
 Written by Plato around the year 380 BC
 A Socratic dialogue between Socrates being the narrator, Glaucon, Adeimantus, Polemarchus, Cephalus, Thrasymachus, Cleitophon and Plato himself.
 Defines Justice, the order of the state, and man
 Ideal Society
 The search after Justice
CONTENTS:
1. Nature and Origin of the State
2. The Virtues

The Greeks experienced haven under Democracy however, it was not deemed effective after some time and once again, oppression became prevalent.

The people were incapable of Governing and preserving themselves.

So Plato came up with the ideal society. According to him, the ideal society must make justice as its main foundation to cure the evil in the society. Where there is Justice, there would be peace and order.
NATURE AND ORIGIN OF THE STATE
 Justice as being the main foundation of a society.
Plato’s theory of justice differed from other Greek Philosophers of his time.
 In the Republic, the characters each had their different views on Justice:
 According to Cephalus, Justice is all about repaying debts.
 According to Polemarchus, Justice is returning what is owed.
 According the Thrasymachus Justice is the rule of the mighty.
Plato uses the human soul as the basis for justice. Where in a human soul there is the Appetitive, spiritual, and rational and the three works together to create balance. This is then in connection to the origin of the State in which according to Plato: That the state is formed to cater the needs of man for man cannot provide for themselves alone and man needs society to

The Philosopher-Ruler
Philosopher king is an idea in which best form of government in which philosopher rule was driven from Plato’s work The Republic. In this, Plato argues that Philosopher kings, philosophers who possess much knowledge, should be the ruler for the purpose of having an ideal city, a just city, and an organized city where people residing lives in order. Philosophers should also rule the city for they know the truth better than anyone else.
Abolition of family and Equality of Women
They (Socrates and Adaimantus) were differentiating females to males. The physical aspects, their nature, what kind of job males and females respectively should be assigned.
Females will be receiving the same education and will be trained along with the males. Marriages then are held secretly at marriage festivals. It is arranged by the ruler. It is designed to produce the best children. But once the children are produced, they are immediately taught what justice is and how to be a guardian or laborer.
When an offspring is produced, parents pass their legacy to the upcoming generation and this generation will determine the city’s failure or success. Loyalty to the city weighs heavier than loyalty to a