Platos The Republic - Essay Example

Plato The Republic essay "We shall conclude then that those who behold beautiful things but cannot see beauty itself- and will not permit another toguide then to where it is- who observes many just things but do not see justice itself and think this way in all other things, such as men have opinions about everything but know nothing of what they profess to believe" (Republic, Book V, 479). Plato's The Republic has been prepositioned as an ideal state where there was perfect understanding on the various philosophies in the sense of widespread knowledge of the essence of such philosophies. In The Republic Plato gives out the philosophical leanings of his teacher Socrates. Socrates did not leave his teachings in writing but Plato incorporated most of them in his many books. Socrates arguments exemplified and clarified to his listeners the various philosophical concepts. Socrates utilized various intricately woven arguments to illustrate such philosophical constructs. The conception of abstract ideas of beauty and justice are illustrated in the statement "we shall conclude then that those who behold beautiful things but cannot see beauty itself- and will not permit another to guide then to where it is- who observes many just things but do not see justice itself and think this way in all other things, such as men have opinions about everything but know nothing of what they profess to believe" (Republic, Book V, 479). Socrates begins his argument about the abstraction of the idea of beauty by emphasizing the excessive importance normally attached to the perception that philosophers have compared to the other groups. He believes that the rulers of the days, have natures quite distinct of those of philosophers. Rulers like other 'men of pleasure' are clouded and limited in their views of beauty. He cites the examples of the lovers who are so overwhelmed by there emotions of affection, love and attachment that "They love all, and turn blemishes into beauties. The snub-nosed youth is said to have a winning grace; the beak of another has a royal look; the featureless are faultless; the dark are manly, the fair angels; the sickly have a new term of endearment invented expressly for them, which is 'honey-pale.'Similarly lovers of wine and lovers of ambition also desire the objects of their affection in every form"(Republic, Book V) "As you are a man of pleasure, you will not have forgotten how indiscriminate lovers are in their attachments; they love all, and turn blemishes into beauties. The snub-nosed youth is said to have a winning grace; the beak of another has a royal look; the featureless are faultless; the dark are manly, the fair angels; the sickly have a new term of endearment invented expressly for them, which is 'honey-pale.' Lovers of wine and lovers of ambition also desire the objects of their affection in every form. Now here comes the point:--The philosopher too is a lover of knowledge in every form; he has an insatiable curiosity. 'But will curiosity make a philosopher" (Republic, Book V) However the philosophical crux is missed in the process. For instance the philosophers are also lovers of knowledge in all form and also have a greedy curiosity to extend this knowledge to infinite. However the presence of mere curiosity doesn't imply that a philosophical attitude or approach is present. These philosophers attitude realizes that the brief and finite life the philosopher is more inward oriented to the soul. It is his soul that is hungrier for knowledge. We will never satisfy our real appetites without reason and to get reason ruling, we have to pass through the worldly appetites of wealth, power etc. A philosopher seeks honour and love. He is not frightened of death as he is less driven by the worldly appetite and more by the appetites of the soul like he seeks honour. The philosophical soul believes that there is something after death. And that it's a practice of death "Aporia" is state and place of not knowing. Real philosophical education is falling into a kind of death "here is the man that is freighted to death of death and is unwilling to practice death" (lecture notes) such a cowardly man cannot have a philosophical attitude and he would remain a prisoner of his senses. ( lecture notes) Socrates replied to his pupils:" Are the lovers of sights and sounds, who let out their ears to every chorus at the Dionysiac festivals, to be called philosophers The lovers of sounds and sights, I replied, are, as I conceive, fond of fine tones and colours and forms and all the artificial products that are made out of them, but their mind is incapable of seeing or loving absolute beauty. Few are they who are able to attain to the sight of this. And he who, having a sense of beautiful things has no sense of absolute beauty, or who, if another lead him to a knowledge of that beauty is unable to follow --of such an one I ask, Is he awake or in a dream only Reflect: is not the dreamer, sleeping or waking, one who likens dissimilar things, who puts the copy in the place of the real object (Republic,Book V/html) they are eagerly seeking all the sounds and music and perhaps not, as much as the music lovers are primarily using there sensory perception to accept the sounds and symbols and the true meaning of the music and sound has escaped them. Plato says that 'They are then not true philosophers, but only an imitation'(Republic,Book V)Here Plato is expanding on the idea that truth is in realizing the reality as one, and being able to distinguish the manifestation in various forms. The existence of abstract ideas, such as justice, beauty, good, evil appear to be manifold in their sensory manifestation however on to the philosophers there are only 'severally one' only philosophers are able to comprehend and truly understand this reality of many which is, in fact, on essential truth of reality. Philosophers are not simply guided by the sensed perception of the these ideas but are often motivated by the concept of self interest and enable acceptance only of those manifestations of ideas that are transitionary and purpose oriented and , in short, are needed to be perceived. Philosophers, however, travel much beyond the attempt of understanding the complete truth of reality. They see " class hear sounds and see colours, and understand their use in the arts, but cannot attain to the true or waking vision of absolute justice or beauty or truth; they have not the light of knowledge, but of opinion, and what they see is a dream only"(Republic,Book V) If understanding 'truth' was a realm for philosophers and their admirers (in some broad societal sense and beyond) then inability to do it was in some similar fashion not acceptable and indicative of the limited ability of the mind. "Suppose we say that, if he has knowledge we rejoice to hear it, but knowledge must be of something which is, as ignorance is of something which is not; and there is a third thing, which both is and is not, and is matter of opinion only. Opinion and knowledge, then, having distinct objects, must also be distinct faculties .And by faculties I mean the powers that are unseen and distinguishable only by the difference in their objects, as opinion and knowledge differ, since the one is liable to err, but the other is unerring and is the mightiest of all our faculties. If being is the object of knowledge, and not-being of ignorance, and these are the extremes, opinion must lie between them, and may be called darker than the one and brighter than the other. This intermediate or contingent matter is and is not at the same time, and partakes both of existence and of non-existence"(Republic ,Book V) Here is the extract of argument in which Socrates clarifies what is true knowledge in regard to abstract ideas and separates it from opinion: "Nothing can be more certain. Good. But if there be anything which is of such a nature as to be and not to be, that will have a place intermediate between pure being and the absolute negation of being Yes, between them. And, as knowledge corresponded to being and ignorance of necessity to not-being, for that intermediate between being and not-being there has to be discovered a corresponding intermediate between ignorance and knowledge, if there be such Certainly. Do we admit the existence of opinion Undoubtedly. As being the same with knowledge, or another faculty Another faculty. Then opinion and knowledge have to do with different kinds of matter corresponding to this difference of faculties Yes. And knowledge is relative to being and knows being. But before I proceed further I will make a division. What division I will begin by placing faculties in a class by themselves: they are powers in us, and in all other things, by which we do as we do. Sight and hearing, for example, I should call faculties. Have I clearly explained the class which I mean" (Republic,Book V/html) Hence opinions and knowledge vary so much. Knowledge is the mightiest of the faculty and can not be wrong. Where as opinions are transitionary and are very prone to error. Even the faculties required to have knowledge and opinion, it differed substantially in the manner that the specialized faculty have to develop to acquire knowledge. Socrates also goes on to illustrate that each sensed idea of beauty has an abstract existence. Sensory perception is only limited to just one or more dimensions of it. In today's world, and in common experience several objects and situations are agreed to as being beautiful and just respectively. However these are only specific and sensory viewpoints. Another view point could include the ugly side of beauty the unjust part of the so called just because such aspects are unavoidable and essential to understand the philosophical perception. Similarly"Justice is rendering each its due." (Lecture notes) It is driven by set rules and creed including what our fathers tells us and what our society tells us as right or wrong or good or bad. Precision of the exact definition of Justice is impossible because we are living in the world of shadows. Our vision is dim, and not clear. Socrates say that there are three kinds of goods: good in themselves and what they bring us; good in themselves are not good but benefit us (appearance of justice without having it themselves) and good in appearance (Lecture notes). Take for instance one person has justice but doesn't seem to be happy. In order to realize the real knowledge the just man has to be stripped away from the benefits of being just, such as honor and maybe gifts. Motivations must be stripped. Another person has no justice but appears to be just. The unjust man has the benefits of being powerful and has a well reputation for being good. Hence appearance can be deceptive and It usually is, the real meaning of the abstract idea of justice also takes us to the reality of the universal truth, where everyone's motives less provisional than that of what is due. Bibliography Republic.Book V,Plato, translated by Benjamin Jowett Lecture notes Republic(html).Book V,Plato.Retreived from http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.6.v.html on September 25, 2006. Read More