Who were Socrates and Plato? (And why are we talking about them together?) Plato and socrates are often talked about together because they share such similar views. Plato was a student of Socrates, and therefore often agreed with what he said. We can group them together in this way because, epistemology wise, as far as we know, there are no major differences between them, though it would be wrong to assume that Plato agreed with everything Socrates ever said. Socrates (469-399 B.C.): Socrates was a famed philosopher and the teacher of Plato, among many others. Socrates was known for always addressing the individual rather than speaking to large groups, just one of the many reasons he was not a fan of rhetoric, which always included speaking to groups. The government thought he was "'corrupting the youth of his city" with his ideas and they were not happy about him "violating a ban on his teaching" either (Smith 48). Socrates strongly disliked Greek democracy and was ultimately sentenced to death by the government for his ideals and teachings (Smith). Most of what we know about Socrates, we learned from Plato, as Plato recorded Socrates' teachings, but Socrates himself never wrote anything down (Lecture Notes). Plato (428-347 B.C.): Plato was born in Athens and grew up quite comfortably as his family was wealthy and of high social status. Plato first began following Socrates at about age 20. Though Socrates didn't have a formal school, Plato is still considered to be Socrates' student, and a very dedicated one. Later on in his life, Plato set up his own school, the Academy, known for producing philosophers like Aristotle, who we will talk about later. (Bizzell and Herzberg). Both Plato and Socrates hated writing, but Plato wrote out many dialogues featuring Socrates and explaining his epistemology, one of his more notable ones being Gorgias. (Lecture Notes). What was their epistemology? Unlike the Sophists we just talked about, Socrates and Plato did believe in Absolute Truth (also referred to as transcendent truths) and additionally believed that they were available to humans. They were NOT fans of this whole probable truth BS. Socrates and Plato believed that two "worlds" existed: the imperfect physical world we know and live in and the noumenal world. Before we are born, we reside in the noumenal world, where all of the absolute truths are available to us. However, when we enter the physical world through birth, we "forget" all of those Absolute Truths that were available to us before, though they still reside somewhere inside us, hidden from us. (Bizzell & Herzberg). Socrates believed that instead of actually learning new things, every time we "learn" something, we are actually just recalling knowledge given to us in the nominal world. (Smith) Crazy right? So right now you might be asking "How do we even remember all that stuff from the noumenal world?" and that's a great question! Socrates and Plato's answer was dialectic. The process of "objective" and "unbiased" dialectic was supposed to ultimately lead the person being questioned to recall an Absolute Truth on their own (Lecture Notes). This process was long and pretty painful, Socrates actually compared it to childbirth, where he was the midwife, drawing at the truth as a midwife would with a baby (Smith). Yikes. How did Socrates and Plato's view of the world shape how they saw rhetoric? You may have already guessed from reading the paragraph about about epistemology, but Socrates and Plato weren't exactly the biggest fans of rhetoric. They thought rhetoric was used immorally, to supply people with false knowledge in order to persuade them rather than providing them the real truth. A good example of how Socrates feels about rhetoric is given in Plato's dialogue Gorgias in which Socrates argues about rhetoric with several other men, including the famed rhetorician Gorgias. Socrates says that in order for the body to be healthy, it needs exercise and medicine. For the soul to be healthy, he says, it needs justice and legislation. However, people sometimes use cosmetics to cover up their imperfections, and eat food that tastes good rather than food that nourishes them. This isn't good for the body. Similarly, he believes rhetoric acts as flattery for the soul. Flattery is superficial and insincere. Similarly, Socrates believed rhetoric did not provide truths, but rather was used immorally to sway people without giving them any real knowledge of the situation. Rhetoric did not nourish the soul, as junk food and cosmetics don't nourish the body. Absolute Truths and dialectic do nourish the soul, as exercise nourishes the body, because those truths and processes are genuine (Plato). Let's Talk about Plato and Caves!
Plato's Allegory of the Cave is a great example of how Socrates and Plato viewed the difference between rhetoric and Absolute truths/dialectic. Here's how it works: There are prisoners chained up in a cave, facing the cave wall with a fire burning behind them. They have lived their whole lives like this and the cave wall is the only thing they've ever known. Every day, a group of people and objects pass behind them, but they can only see the shadows of these objects cast on the wall. They have no idea that these objects and people are anything other than the shadows they see every day. One day, a prisoner is released from his chains and emerges from the cave into the real world. The sun blinding and he is terrified because everything is foreign to him. He tries to go back into the cave to tell his fellow prisoners about this world, but his voice is distorted by the cave and they only see his shadow, so they do not recognize him or understand what he's saying. Let's break this down: Who are the prisoners? The prisoners are all of us (dramatic, I know). They represent anyone who is living in the physical world and has no knowledge of absolute truths. Plato believes we are trapped by the physical world and all of the false information and imperfection that comes along with it. What do the shadows represent? The shadows represent rhetoric. If you'll recall, Plato and Socrates thought rhetoric was merely flattery for the soul and had nothing substantial to offer you. In a similar way, the shadows the prisoners see don't actually show them the real objects and people, only a distorted and weak representation of them. When the prisoners are looking at the shadows, they aren't seeing the truth of the situation. What does the cave represent? You've probably already guessed it, but the cave represents our imperfect physical world, where Absolute Truth is not available and rhetoric and lies are king. The prisoners are trapped in the cave just as we are trapped in the physical world. What does the prisoner being released represent? The release of the prisoner is representative of when someone reaches an understanding of an Absolute Truth through dialectic. You are now free from the lies that the physical world was forcing on you, and the freedom of knowing Absolute Truth is available to you. What did the outside world represent? The world outside of the cave represents the noumenal world, where Absolute Truth is available. Of course, when someone engages in dialectic in order to uncover an absolute truth, they don't magically transport to the nominal world. Why couldn't this prisoner's companions understand him? This aspect of the story portrays the idea that Absolute Truth cannot simply be told to someone, because they won't understand it. The process of dialectic and self-discovery is essential to understanding Absolute Truth. Still confused? Check out this video to help you visualize the allegory, and follow along with the breakdown provided for you above!
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