Plato - biography and philosophy. Plato: philosopher and mathematician from the royal family

The student of Socrates, the teacher of Aristotle is the ancient Greek thinker and philosopher Plato, whose biography is of interest to historians, stylists, writers, philosophers and politicians. This is an outstanding representative of mankind, who lived in a troubled time of the crisis of the Greek polis, an aggravation of the class struggle, when the era of Hellenism came to replace the era. The philosopher Plato lived fruitfully. The biography, briefly presented in the article, testifies to his greatness as a scientist and the wisdom of his heart.

life path

Plato was born in 428/427 BC. in Athens. He was not only a full citizen of Athens, but also belonged to an ancient aristocratic family: his father, Ariston, was a descendant of the last Athenian king Kodra, and his mother, Periktion, was a relative of Solon.

A brief biography of Plato is typical for representatives of his time and class. Having received an education appropriate to his position, Plato, at about the age of 20, became acquainted with the teachings of Socrates and became his student and follower. Plato was among the Athenians who offered a financial guarantee for the condemned teacher. After the execution of the teacher, he left his hometown and went on a journey without a specific goal: he first moved to Megara, then visited Cyrene and even Egypt. Having learned everything he could from the Egyptian priests, he went to Italy, where he became close to the philosophers of the Pythagorean school. The facts from Plato's life related to travel end here: he traveled a lot around the world, but he remained an Athenian in his heart.

When Plato was already about 40 years old (it is noteworthy that it was to this age that the Greeks attributed the highest flowering of personality - acme), he returned to Athens and opened his own school there, called the Academy. Until the end of his life, Plato practically did not leave Athens, he lived in solitude, surrounding himself with students. He honored the memory of the deceased teacher, but he popularized his ideas only in a narrow circle of followers and did not seek to bring them to the streets of the policy, like Socrates. Plato died at the age of eighty, without losing the clarity of mind. He was buried at Keramika, near the Academy. Such was the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. His biography, upon closer examination, is excitingly interesting, but much of the information about it is very unreliable and looks more like a legend.

Platonic Academy

The name "Academy" comes from the fact that the plot of land that Plato bought specifically for his school was near the gymnasium dedicated to the hero Akadem. On the territory of the Academy, the students not only had philosophical conversations and listened to Plato, they were allowed to live there permanently or for a short time.

The teachings of Plato developed on the foundation on the one hand and the followers of Pythagoras on the other. From his teacher, the father of idealism borrowed a dialectical view of the world and an attentive attitude to the problems of ethics. But, as evidenced by the biography of Plato, namely the years spent in Sicily, among the Pythagoreans, he clearly sympathized with the philosophical doctrine of Pythagoras. At least the fact that the philosophers in the Academy lived and worked together is already reminiscent of the Pythagorean school.

The idea of ​​political education

A lot of attention at the Academy was given to political education. But in antiquity, politics was not the lot of a small group of delegated representatives: all adult citizens, that is, free and legitimate Athenians, took part in the management of the policy. Later, Plato's student Aristotle would formulate a definition of a politician as a person who participates in public life policy, as opposed to an idiot - an asocial person. That is, participation in politics was an integral part of the life of the ancient Greek, and political education meant the development of justice, nobility, firmness of spirit and sharpness of mind.

Philosophical writings

For the written presentation of his views and concepts, Plato mainly chose the form of dialogue. It's fairly common literary device during antiquity. The philosophical works of Plato in the early and late periods of his life are very different, and this is natural, because his wisdom accumulated, and his views changed over time. Among researchers, it is customary to conditionally subdivide the evolution of Platonic philosophy into three periods:

1. Apprenticeship (under the influence of Socrates) - "Apology of Socrates", "Crito", "Fox", "Protagoras", "Charmides", "Euthyphron" and 1 book of "States".

2. Wanderings (under the influence of the ideas of Heraclitus) - "Gorgias", "Cratyl", "Menon".

3. Teaching (the predominant influence of the ideas of the Pythagorean school) - "Feast", "Phaedo", "Phaedrus", "Parmenides", "Sophist", "Politician", "Timaeus", "Critias", 2-10 of the book "States" , "Laws".

Father of idealism

Plato is considered the founder of idealism, the term itself comes from central concept in his teaching - eidosa. The bottom line is that Plato imagined the world divided into two spheres: the world of ideas (eidos) and the world of forms (material things). Eidoses are prototypes, the source of the material world. Matter itself is formless and ethereal, the world takes on a meaningful shape only due to the presence of ideas.

The dominant place in the world of eidos is occupied by the idea of ​​the Good, and all others flow from it. This Good represents the Beginning of the beginnings, the Absolute Beauty, the Creator of the Universe. The eidos of each thing is its essence, the most important, hidden thing in a person is the soul. Ideas are absolute and immutable, their existence proceeds beyond space-time boundaries, and objects are impermanent, repeatable and distorted, their existence is finite.

Concerning human soul, then the philosophical teaching of Plato allegorically interprets it as a chariot with two horses driven by a charioteer. He personifies a reasonable beginning, in his harness a white horse symbolizes nobility and high moral qualities, and a black horse symbolizes instincts, base desires. In the afterlife, the soul (charioteer), along with the gods, is involved in eternal truths and cognizes the world of eidos. After the new birth, the concept of eternal truths remains in the soul as a memory.

Cosmos - the whole existing world, is a completely reproduced prototype. Plato's doctrine of cosmic proportions also stems from the theory of eidos.

Beauty and Love are eternal concepts

From all this it follows that the knowledge of the world is an attempt to discern in things a reflection of ideas through love, fair deeds and beauty. The doctrine of Beauty occupies a central place in Plato's philosophy: the search for beauty in man and the world around him, the creation of beauty through harmonious laws and art is the highest destiny of man. Thus, evolving, the soul goes from contemplating the beauty of material things to understanding beauty in art and sciences, to highest point- comprehension of moral beauty. This happens as an insight and brings the soul closer to the world of the gods.

Together with Beauty, Love is called to raise a person to the world of eidos. In this regard, the figure of the philosopher is identical to the image of Eros - he strives for the good, representing a mediator, a guide from ignorance to wisdom. Love is a creative force, beautiful things and harmonious laws of human relationships are born from it. That is, Love key concept in the theory of knowledge, it consistently develops from its bodily (material) form to its spiritual, and then spiritual, which is involved in the sphere of pure ideas. This last love and there is the memory of the ideal being, preserved by the soul.

It should be emphasized that the division into the world of ideas and things does not mean dualism (which was so often later blamed on Plato by his ideological opponents, starting with Aristotle), they are connected by primordial ties. Genuine being - the level of eidos - exists forever, it is self-sufficient. But matter appears already as an imitation of the idea, it is only "present" in the ideal being.

Political views of Plato

Biography and are inextricably linked with the understanding of a reasonable and correct state structure. The teachings of the father of idealism about the management and relationships of people are set forth in the treatise "The State". Everything is built on the parallel between the individual aspects of the human soul and the types of people (according to their social role).

So, the three parts of the soul are responsible for wisdom, moderation and courage. In general, these qualities represent justice. It follows from this that a just (ideal) state is possible when each person in it is in his place and performs the functions established once and for all (according to his abilities). According to the scheme outlined in the "State", where short biography Plato, the result of his life and the main ideas have found their final embodiment, philosophers, carriers of wisdom should manage everything. All citizens are subject to their reasonable beginning. Warriors play an important role in the state (in other translations of the guard), these people are given increased attention. Warriors must be brought up in the spirit of the supremacy of reason and will over instincts and spiritual impulses. But it's not the coldness of the machine that appears modern man and not an understanding of the highest harmony of the world clouded by passions. The third category of citizens are the creators wealth. A just state was described schematically and briefly by the philosopher Plato. The biography of one of the greatest thinkers in the history of mankind indicates that his teachings resonated widely in the minds of his contemporaries - it is known that he received many requests from the rulers of ancient policies and some Eastern states to draw up codes of laws for them.

Plato's later biography, teaching at the Academy, and a clear sympathy for the ideas of the Pythagoreans are associated with the theory of "ideal numbers", which was later developed by the Neoplatonists.

Myths and beliefs

His position on myth is interesting: as a philosopher, Plato, whose biography and works that have survived to this day clearly indicate the greatest intellect, did not reject traditional mythology. But he proposed to interpret the myth as a symbol, an allegory, and not to perceive it as an axiom. Myth, according to Plato, was not historical fact. He perceived mythical images and events as a kind of philosophical doctrine that does not describe events, but only provides food for thought and reassessment of events. In addition, many ancient greek myths composed common people without any style or literary treatment. For these reasons, Plato considered it expedient to protect the child's mind from most of the mythological subjects, saturated with fiction, often rudeness and immorality.

Plato's first proof in favor of the immortality of the human soul

Plato is the first ancient philosopher whose writings have survived to the present not in fragments, but with the complete preservation of the text. In his dialogues "The State", "Phaedrus" he gives 4 proofs of the immortality of the human soul. The first of them was called "cyclic". Its essence boils down to the fact that opposites can exist only in the presence of mutual conditioning. Those. the larger implies the existence of the smaller, if there is death, then there is immortality. Plato cited this fact as the main argument in favor of the idea of ​​the reincarnation of souls.

Second proof

Due to the idea that knowledge is memory. Plato taught that in human consciousness there are such concepts as justice, beauty, faith. These concepts exist "by themselves". They are not taught, they are felt and understood at the level of consciousness. They are absolute entities, eternal and immortal. If the soul, being born into the world, already knows about them, then it knew about them even before life on Earth. Since the soul knows about eternal beings, it means that it itself is eternal.

Third argument

Built on the opposition of a mortal body and an immortal soul. Plato taught that everything in the world is dual. Body and soul are inextricably linked during life. But the body is part of nature, while the soul is part of the divine principle. The body strives to satisfy base feelings and instincts, while the soul gravitates towards knowledge and development. The body is controlled by the soul. and will, a person is able to prevail over the baseness of instincts. Therefore, if the body is mortal and corruptible, then, in contrast to it, the soul is eternal and incorruptible. If the body cannot exist without the soul, then the soul can exist separately.

Fourth and last proof

The most difficult teaching. He is most clearly characterized by Kebeta in the Phaedo. The proof comes from the assertion that every thing has an unchanging nature. Thus, even things will always be even, white things cannot be called black, and anything that is just will never be evil. Proceeding from this, death brings corruption, and life will never know death. If the body is capable of dying and decaying, then its essence is death. Life is the opposite of death, the soul is the opposite of the body. So, if the body is perishable, then the soul is immortal.

Significance of Plato's Ideas

Those are in in general terms ideas that the ancient Greek philosopher Plato left to humanity as a legacy. The biography of this extraordinary man has turned into a legend over two and a half millennia, and his teaching, in one or another of its aspects, has served as the foundation for a significant part of the current philosophical concepts. His student Aristotle criticized the views of his teacher and built a philosophical system of materialism opposite to his teaching. But this fact is another evidence of the greatness of Plato: not every teacher is given the opportunity to educate a follower, but perhaps only a few are worthy opponents.

The philosophy of Plato found many followers in the era of antiquity, knowledge of the works and the main postulates of his teaching was a natural and integral part of the education of a worthy citizen of the Greek polis. Such a significant figure in the history of philosophical thought was not completely forgotten even in the Middle Ages, when the scholastics resolutely rejected the ancient heritage. Plato inspired the philosophers of the Renaissance, gave endless food for thought to European thinkers of subsequent centuries. The reflection of his teaching is visible in many existing philosophical and worldview concepts, Plato's quotes can be found in all branches of humanitarian knowledge.

What did the philosopher look like, his character

Archaeologists have found many busts of Plato, well preserved from ancient times and from the Middle Ages. Many sketches and photos of Plato were created based on them. In addition, the appearance of the philosopher can be judged from chronicle sources.

According to all the data collected bit by bit, Plato was tall, athletically complex, broad in bone and shoulders. At the same time, he had a very docile character, was devoid of pride, swagger and pride. He was very modest and always amiable not only with his equals, but also with representatives of the lower class.

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato, whose biography and philosophy did not contradict each other, personal way of life confirmed the truth of their worldviews.

Plato (428 - 348 BC)

Greek philosophy before Socrates and Plato

Death of Plato and his will

In the absence of Plato, disagreements and strife began between his students at the Academy. It is said that Aristotle, hitherto a student of Plato, but always distinguished by his independence, took advantage of the absence of a teacher to found his own school and take possession of the Academy for his lectures. When Plato returned and began to teach again, by his hostile antics, interference and attacks, he forced him to leave the Academy and retire with his students to his own garden. But Plato's friends, Timothy and Khabriy, who were strategists at that time, tried to protect his rights with their influence. According to another story, during the struggle of Aristotle with his old teacher Speusippus was sick and Xenocrates the Chalcedonian, who later became the successor of Speusippus in the Academy, was on a journey, so that both of them could not provide Plato with any help. When Xenocrates, who had been absent for three months, returned to his homeland, he, at the head of the adherents of Plato, expelled Aristotle from the Academy, and again gave him his former place. But Aristotle chose the Lyceum, another gymnasium, to the east of the city, for his studies. These anecdotes about hostile relations between Aristotle and Plato have rightly been rejected by almost all the latest scholars, since it is clear from the words of Plato and Aristotle themselves that they treated each other with respect, and that Aristotle did not found his own special school during the life of his teacher. The passion for anecdotes and the tendency to slander, which had long been inherent in Attic society, was especially evident in the biographies of philosophers, among whom strife and mutual rivalry between schools began to be noticed early.

Plato's student, Aristotle. Sculpture by Lysippos

Going about his usual business, Plato calmly and painlessly lived to a ripe old age. He died in the 82nd year of his birth, in 348 BC. Death overtook him, as they say, at a wedding feast, or while writing, or while sleeping. Under his pillow they found the beginning of his essay on the republic with numerous amendments, as well as a copy of the "Mimes" of Sophron of Syracuse - a book that he liked to read; the liveliness in the depiction of characters, which distinguishes this work, served, as they say, as a model for Plato's dialogues. He was buried near the Academy, where Pausanias I also saw his grave, not far from old tower, which served as a home for the misanthrope Timon. Biographers tell us several epigrams that served, as it were, as gravestone inscriptions for Plato; but whether one of these inscriptions was actually carved on his tomb is doubtful. The following epigram is attributed to Speusippus:

“The earth hid the body of Plato in its bowels; his spirit dwells in the land of the blessed.”

Plato left a will, reported by Diogenes Laertius in the following form: “The following remains after Plato, and here are his orders on this matter: a piece of land in the Hephaestias district, the border of which from the north is the road leading from the temple to the Cefis district, and from the south - the temple Hercules in the Hephaestias district; the eastern frontier is Archestratus from the Frearrian district, the western one is Philip from the Hollid district. Let no one be allowed to sell or exchange this plot; it must belong to the boy Adimant. Further, a piece of land in the Heresiadian district, which I bought from Callimachus, where are the neighbors (such and such). Silver 3 mines; one silver bowl, weighing 165 drachmas, one cup of 45 drachmas, one Golden ring and one gold earring, weighing together 4 drachmas and 3 obols. [Obol weight = 16.4 shares; drachmas = 98.3 shares; mines = 102.4 spools. The value of the mine is about 30 Russian pre-revolutionary silver rubles.]

Euclid the meat merchant owes me 3 minas. Let the slave Artemis go free. I leave four slaves: Tikhon, Bikta, Apollonias, Dionysius. Lists of the remaining works are kept by Demetrius. I do not owe anything to anyone. The executors will be: Sosthenes, Speusippus, Demetrius, Hegius, Eurymedon, Callimachus, Frasippus.

Since Plato never married, the boy Adimant mentioned in the will was probably his relative; maybe it was the grandson of Plato's brother Adimant. This boy apparently died shortly after, since the plot of land subsequently went to Plato's nephew, Speusippus, who was the head of the Academy and left this estate as a legacy to the academic school. Academics kept Plato's will not only as a memoir, but also as a legal document, so there is no reason to doubt its authenticity.

Personal character of Plato

The mutual enmity between the ancient philosophical schools tried to humiliate and denigrate the character of the great teacher of the Academy. Enemies told many anecdotes about him and cited his various sayings, in order to prove that he treated his comrades - the students of Socrates - frankly, proudly and arrogantly, that he was generally ambitious and envious of others; but few believed these stories. In general, the ancients extol the noble character and high morality of Plato. He spent his whole life with full dignity, calmly and seriously. As a boy and youth, he is said to have behaved remarkably sternly and seriously, so that it was said that even in his youth he was never seen especially cheerful and laughing. All passions were alien to him. “If I had not been angry with you,” he once said to his slave, you would have been immediately punished. Once, when his disciple Xenocrates came to him, he said to him: “Punish this slave; I can't do it myself, because I'm angry with him." How little pride he had is shown by the following anecdote: Once, while in Olympia, he settled in the same tent with people unknown to him and who did not know him. He ate with them simple table and treated them extremely kindly, so that they were very glad to have met such a person. He did not mention either the Academy or Socrates, and said only that his name was Plato. Subsequently, these people arrived in Athens, were received very kindly by him and asked him to show them his famous namesake Plato, a student of Socrates, so that he would bring them to the Academy and introduce him to this great man. Plato smiled and—to their great amazement—told them that this great person- himself.

Until now, we do not have a single reliable image of Plato, although several busts are recognized as such.

Dialogues of Plato

Plato, whose philosophy is the richest fruit of Attic learning and wisdom, developed the most important points of his system in separate dialogues, set out in dramatic form, in which Socrates plays the main role. We have 41 of these dialogues, although the authenticity of some of them is suspected. Modern scientists have taken up a detailed study of the time of their compilation and their internal connection and tried to combine them into separate groups; but the results various studies not all agree with each other. In these dialogues, you are amazed by the richness of ideas, the depth and insight of speculation, combined with the noble, rich fantasy, animation of the poetic mind, attractive presentation and beautiful Attic language. In addition to dialogues, with the name of Plato, several philosophical definitions and 13 letters have come down to us; but the latest scholars regard these works as spurious.

Plato (ancient Greek Πλάτων, 428 or 427 BC, Athens - 348 or 347 BC, ibid.). Ancient Greek philosopher, student of Socrates, teacher of Aristotle. Plato is the first philosopher whose writings have come down to us not in brief passages quoted by others, but in full.

The exact date of Plato's birth is unknown. Following ancient sources, most researchers believe that Plato was born in 428-427 BC. e. in Athens or Aegina at the height of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. According to ancient tradition, his birthday is considered to be 7 tharhelion (May 21), a holiday on which, according to mythological legend, the god Apollo was born on the island of Delos.

Plato was born into a family of aristocratic origin, the clan of his father, Ariston (465--424), ascended, according to legend, to the last king of Attica Codrus, and the ancestor of Periktiona, Plato's mother, was an Athenian reformer. Also, according to Diogenes Laertes, Plato was conceived immaculately.

Perictione was the sister of Charmides and Critias, two famous figures from the Thirty Tyrants of the short-lived oligarchic regime that followed the collapse of Athens at the end of the Peloponnesian War. In addition to Plato, Ariston and Periktion had three more children: two sons - Adimant and Glavkon, and the daughter of Poton, the mother of Speusippus. According to the text of the State, Adamant and Glavkon were older than Plato. However, Xenophon in his Memorabilia reports that Glaucon was younger than Plato.

Plato's first teacher was Cratylus. Around 408 B.C. e. Plato met and became one of his students. Characteristically, Socrates is a constant participant in almost all of Plato's writings, written in the form of dialogues between historical and sometimes fictional characters.

After the death of Socrates in 399 BC. e. Plato left for Megara. According to legend, he visited Cyrene and Egypt during the years 399-389. In 389 he went to southern Italy and Sicily, where he communicated with the Pythagoreans. “Plato subsequently went to Sicily, with the help of Dionysius of Syracuse, to establish there an ideal state in which philosophers would receive the reins of government instead of a bowl of poison.” In 387, Plato returned to Athens, where he founded his own school - the Academy. Subsequently, he again visited Sicily in 366 and 361 BC. e. at the invitation of his friend and admirer Dion.

Platonic Corpus (Corpus Platonicum)- that is, a historically established set of works that have been associated with the name of Plato since antiquity and a significant part of which are dialogues - has been formed over a long time. Probably, during the long process of the formation of the classical "collected works" of the philosopher, there were both losses and gains, determined in famous moments not only by the state of the manuscript tradition, but also by the level and direction of contemporary philological criticism.

The collection of Platonic writings, compiled in the 3rd century BC by the outstanding philologist of antiquity Aristophanes of Byzantium, can be considered the first important milestone on the way to the formation of the corpus. Already by this time, under the name of Plato, works of various volume and quality were circulating, some of which were rejected by Aristophanes, while some more were placed in the collection, however, as dubious or, for all their merits, unreliably Platonic works. The basis of the publication were those works that still define the face of the Platonic corpus today.

The same Aristophanes of Byzantium probably laid the foundation for the systematization of the works of the Platonic Corpus, since in his edition they were arranged in trilogies. So, in one trilogy, the "State", "Timaeus" and "Critias" were combined, in the other - "Laws", "Minos" and "After Law", in the third - "Crito", "Phaedo" and "Letters", which testifies about the thematic principle of classifying works that are very far from each other in terms of volume, structure and artistic level. Works that had no thematic analogues were not included in the trilogy and were arranged randomly.

The next important stage in the history of the Platonic corpus is associated with the activities of Thrasyllus (1st century AD), whose collection, in essence, is also used by modern science. In Thrasyllus, the Platonic writings were combined into tetralogy.

The current state of the Platonic Corpus is determined by the edition of the English. Stephen, an outstanding French Hellenistic philologist of the 16th century. In the scientific literature, Plato's texts are cited with indication of the pagination of this Stefanov's edition, which is preserved in the margins of any latest edition works of Plato, both in Greek and in translations, regardless of the order of their arrangement adopted in one or another edition.

It is generally accepted that Plato is one of the founders of the idealistic trend in world philosophy. In many works of the philosopher, the idea is carried out that only absolute entities that preserve their existence regardless of space and time can be called being in the true sense of the word. Such absolute entities are called in Plato's writings ideas, or eidos. In Plato's Timaeus, the main narrator comes to the position that the solution of the ontological question depends entirely on how we solve questions of the theory of knowledge. If we agree that true knowledge concerns only eternal and unchanging being, and that regarding changing and temporal there can be no true knowledge, but only opinion, then we should recognize the autonomous existence of ideas.

There are conflicting opinions among researchers about the status that Plato ascribes to ideas. It is obvious that by ideas Plato understands not just the concept of a thing, but the reason and purpose of its existence. In the dialogue "Parmenides" Plato criticizes the cardinal opposition between the "world of ideas" and the "world of things". In this dialogue, a character meant to portray the historically existing philosopher Parmenides undertakes to prove the absurdity of the assertion that ideas exist separately from things. At many points, Plato's criticism of the dualism of things and ideas is repeated in later writings.

The result of Parmenides shows that the question of the existence of an idea is the question of the existence of the one in general. If the one exists, it cannot remain one in the strict sense of the word. The researcher of Plato Tatyana Vadimovna Vasilyeva says the following about this problem: “the one can remain one, and only one, the one and only one, only as long as it does not exist. Once the one becomes the existing one, it ceases to be only one and becomes many. There is a contradiction here, but it is a contradiction of being itself. Does this conclusion reject the separate existence of ideas? Under the monistic system it rejects, under the dualistic system it doesn't.

The dialogue "State" gives the concept of the idea of ​​the good as the highest object of knowledge. The very word “good” (τὸ ἀγαθόν) means not just something that is ethically positive, but also ontological perfection, for example, the good quality of a particular thing, its usefulness and high quality. The good cannot be defined as pleasure, because one has to admit that there are bad pleasures. Something that only benefits us cannot be called good, because the same thing can harm another. Plato's good is "the good in itself" (αὐτὸ ἀγαθόν).

Plato likens the idea of ​​the good to the sun. AT visible world The sun is a necessary condition both for the fact that objects become visible, and for the fact that a person acquires the ability to see objects. In exactly the same way, in the sphere of pure cognition, the idea of ​​the good becomes a necessary condition both for the cognizability of the ideas themselves and for the ability of man to cognize ideas. As summarized by Socrates in the dialogue “The State”: “what gives the knowable things truth, and gives a person the ability to know, you consider this the idea of ​​​​good - the cause of knowledge and the knowability of truth.”

In Plato's philosophy there are signs dualism. Plato often contrasts the soul and body as two heterogeneous entities. The body is decomposable and mortal, but the soul is eternal. According to the teaching set out in the dialogue "The State", unlike the body, which can be destroyed, nothing can prevent the soul from existing forever. If we agree that vice and wickedness do harm to the soul, then even in this case it remains to recognize that vice does not lead the soul to death, but simply perverts it and makes it wicked. That which is incapable of perishing from any evil can be considered immortal: “since something does not perish from any of these evils - either from one’s own or from an outsider, then it is clear that this must certainly be something eternally existing, and since it exists eternally, it is immortal.”

Plato identifies three principles of the soul:

1. Smart start, addressed to cognition and fully conscious activity.

2. Furious start striving for order and overcoming difficulties. As Plato says, rage and anger are different from simple lusts and even often argue with them: “we notice how a person, overcome by lusts despite the ability to reason, scolds himself and is angry with these rapists who have settled in him. The anger of such a person becomes an ally of his mind in this strife, which goes on as if only between two sides. Plato notes that the furious beginning is especially noticeable in a person, “when he believes that he is being treated unfairly, he boils up, gets irritated and becomes an ally of what seems fair to him, and for this he is ready to endure hunger, cold and all such torments. , just to win; he will not give up his noble aspirations - either achieve his goal or die, unless he is humbled by the arguments of his own mind.

3. Passionate start expressed in the countless desires of man. In Plato's dialogue "The State" it is said that the beginning, "because of which a person falls in love, feels hunger and thirst and is seized by other desires, we will call the beginning unreasonable and lustful, a close friend of all kinds of satisfaction and pleasures."

In many of his works, Plato discusses in detail theory of the immortality of the soul. In the Phaedo dialogue, Plato sets out four arguments in favor of this theory.

The first argument in favor of the immortality of the soul:

The first proof of the immortality of the soul was called "cyclic", because it is based on the concept of the mutual conditioning of any opposites. Since opposites presuppose the presence of each other - thus, more is possible only in the presence of a lesser, and sleep is possible only in the presence of wakefulness - thus death implies the presence of immortality. As Socrates says in this dialogue: “If everything involved in life died, and, having died, remained dead and did not come to life again, is it not quite clear that in the end everything would become dead and life would disappear?” Since the living comes from the dead, and only the living can die, this fact can serve as an argument in favor of the reincarnation of souls. The souls of the dead must remain in an incorruptible state, which distinguishes them from the nature of the body and suggests a dualism of spirit and body.

The second argument in favor of the immortality of the soul:

The second argument for the immortality of the soul is based on the doctrine of knowledge as recollection. In the human mind there are universal concepts, such as "beauty in itself" or "justice in itself". These concepts point to absolute entities that exist forever. If the soul knows about them, then the human soul existed even before the person himself was born into the world. The soul could not gain knowledge of immortal and eternal beings if it were not itself immortal and eternal. In conjunction with the first argument, the continuation of the existence of the soul after the death of a person is also proved: “Since our soul existed earlier, then, entering into life and being born, it arises inevitably and only from death, from a dead state. But in this case, it must certainly exist after death: after all, it will have to be born again.

The third argument in favor of the immortality of the soul:

The third argument of the Phaedo is already connected with the proof of the heterogeneity of soul and body. The dialogue postulates the presence of two kinds of beings. Everything visible and decomposable belongs to the first, everything that is visible and decomposable belongs to the second - the formless, that is, inaccessible to the senses, and indecomposable. As is obvious, the body is that which is visible and constantly changing. Therefore, the body is complex by nature, and there is nothing simple and indecomposable in it. That is why the body is mortal. But the soul is formless and is attracted to the knowledge of things eternal and unchanging.

Further in the course of reasoning, Socrates notes: “When the soul and body are connected, nature tells the body to obey and be a slave, and the soul to rule and be mistress. Taking this into consideration, tell me which of them, in your opinion, is closer to the divine and which to the mortal? Don't you think that the divine was created for power and leadership, and the mortal - for submission and slavery? - Yes, it seems, his interlocutor answers. So what is the soul like? - Clearly, Socrates: the soul is similar to the divine, and the body to the mortal. This means that since a mortal body, with the help of, for example, embalming, is able to remain incorruptible for a long time, then the soul that participates in the divine principle should all the more be recognized as immortal.

In his dialogue, Plato reproduces a number of counterarguments of opponents of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. So, if the soul is the way Socrates draws it in the dialogue, then it is similar to the shape of a jug or the alignment of the strings of a lyre. If you break a jug or break a lyre, then the shape of the jug will perish, and the harmony of the sounds of the lyre will disappear. On the other hand, if the soul is more durable than the body, and is able to live without it at all or to reincarnate in different bodies, then why not assume that the moment will come when the soul will wear out and finally die.

Against the first counter-argument, there are the following objections - the soul is not just a “tuning” of the body, not its inner harmony, but something that exists before the body itself. As Aleksei Fedorovich Losev summarizes the arguments cited here in favor of the immortality of the soul: “the soul is not harmony, a system similar to that created by the lyre, but exists, as mentioned above, before the body in the form of an essence (ουσία), called being (δ εστίν); therefore, before being a structure or mood of the body, the soul is itself itself, and being a soul is characteristic of all souls in exactly the same way; and since in order to tune the lyre, one must already have an idea of ​​the desired tuning, then the soul, before being the harmony of the body, should not depend on this bodily harmony and its individual moments, but, on the contrary, itself tune or upset the lyre. .

The fourth argument in favor of the immortality of the soul:

The objection to the second counter-argument is an independent, fourth proof of the immortality of the soul. It gives a more complex doctrine of opposites. Opposites exclude each other. So, if a number is even, then it cannot be odd, and if something is just, then it cannot be unjust.

If you define the soul, then it is the true reason for the existence of the body. Such a cause is called by Plato an eidos or an idea. Just as it is impossible to deduce from the structure of the body of Socrates the fact that he is now in prison, sentenced to death penalty, and in any other case, corporeality itself cannot be considered the cause of human existence.

Therefore, the soul as the “idea of ​​life” cannot participate in anything that is opposite to life, that is, death. And this proves the immortality of the soul, an illustration of which in Plato's Phaedo is the following dialogue between Socrates and Cebetus: “What must appear in the body in order for it to be alive? "Soul," said Kebet. - Is it always like this? - How could it be otherwise? he asked. - So, whatever the soul has mastered, it always brings life to it? - Yes, that's right. - Is there anything opposite to life or not? - There is. - What is this? - Death. - But - in this we have already agreed - the soul will never accept the opposite of what it always brings itself? - Without any doubts! replied Kebet. - What comes out? What do we now call that which does not accept the idea of ​​even? - Odd. - And what does not accept justice and that which will never accept skill? - One is unskillful, the other is unfair. - Wonderful. And that which will not accept death, what shall we call it? - Immortal. “But the soul does not accept death, does it?” - Not. So the soul is immortal? “Immortal,” said Kebet.

Plato calls dialectics the main method of cognition., which he defines as the knowledge of the very essences of things. In the dialogue “The State”, the interlocutors come to the conclusion that only the one who, “makes an attempt to reason ... with the help of reason alone, rushes to the essence of any object and does not retreat until he comprehends the essence of the good with the help of thinking itself, is engaged in dialectics. Thus he finds himself at the very peak of the intelligible, just as another has ascended to the peak of the visible.”

In the ordinary sense, dialectics is just the art of reasoning in communication, especially during a dispute. For Plato, in the ordinary sense of the word, it was important to emphasize the moment of a comprehensive consideration of the thing.

According to ancient legends, Plato died on his birthday in 347 BC. e. (in the 13th year of the reign of the Macedonian king Philip). He was buried at the Academy. According to Diogenes Laertes, Plato's real name is Aristocles (ancient Greek Αριστοκλής; literally, "the best glory"). Under this name he is buried. Plato - nickname (from Greek word"plato" - breadth), meaning "wide, broad-shouldered", which was given to him by Socrates for his tall stature, broad shoulders and success in the fight. On the contrary, there are studies showing that the legend of his name "Aristocles" originated during the Hellenistic period.

Plato was one of the most prominent. How many hundreds of years have passed, and the name of this scientist is known to everyone: young and old. There are many achievements in Plato's biography. The activity of the scientist became the starting point in Western political philosophy. He was born in 427 BC in Athens. His family was rich.

Even at an early age, he managed to get personally acquainted with the outstanding mind of that time - Socrates. In 399 BC, Socrates was accused of corrupting Athenian youth and was eventually executed. The execution of an older comrade caused in Plato an eternal disgust for democracy. Shortly after the death of Socrates, Plato set out on a ten-year journey. On his return to Athens, he organized a school in the city. The Academy, founded by Plato, existed for almost 900 years. Here the scientist taught and did science, wrote books.

He has 36 books to his credit, most of them devoted to political and ethical issues. There are also books on theology and metaphysics. Plato's most famous book is The Republic, in which the scientist describes his vision of the concept of an ideal society. He assumes that the most best form governments are aristocracy. By this term, the scientist understands not the hierarchy in society, but a set of human qualities. Those. an aristocrat is not one who belongs to the upper class, but one who meets the necessary moral principles. These persons are not chosen by voting, but by means of by-elections. The scientist also advocated gender equality. It was the main innovation for that time.

For a long time Plato will be the only one who spoke in a similar vein. What else did the scientist say about the ideal state? He believed that there should be available universal education. Children should be strong, healthy, physically developed, they should also study some sciences. Children at different stages of education must take exams. Those who did it successfully went on to study. Those who could not pass them should go to earn their living by physical labor. According to Plato, rulers should not be rich. The aristocracy should be allowed to own a minimum of property, and forbidden to have their own land and their own houses. Then rogues who strive for power in search of personal gain will not aspire to the aristocracy. Such people are not ready to work for the good of society. Interestingly, Plato's work has not been fully reflected in practice. There were no states that were arranged according to the "Republic". Despite this, between the thoughts of the scientist and the provisions catholic church Medieval Europe has a lot in common. The church at that time consisted of a self-perpetuating elite. The influence of Plato's ideas on the development of world history is wide and ubiquitous, but at the same time weak and indirect, this is the whole paradox of scale.