Phaedrus — Plato

GENERAL INTRODUCTION XXlll PLATO THE PHILOSOPHER. In this place will be given first an account of Plato's central doctrine, and then a view of his attitude toward the life of his day. The Doctrine of Ideas: Plato's doctrine of ideas varied at different periods of his life.

Its established features may be stated as follows : Every one knows what a common noun is, as tree, horse, stone, etc. A moment's thought will show that common nouns may be arranged in a system.

Children recognize some such system in their game of twenty questions, when they ask if the thing you have thought of is material or immaterial ; if material, whether it is animal, vegetable, or mineral ; if an animal, whether aland animal or a water animal; and so on until they have run down the particular thing or class of things thought of.

In any such system the special classes run together into general classes, until at last all run together into one class, say the class beings which includes all beings, divine and human, living and dead.

Now Plato believed (£) that corresponding to every common noun there is a real, eternal, and perfect being, in the likeness of which and by the power of which every particular being coming under that class is made ; (2) that, corresponding to the system of common nouns, there is a system of such real, eternal, and perfect beings ; and (3) that, corresponding to the highest common noun, there is a Highest Being, whteh is the prime source of all lower beings and so of all things whatever. The real, eternal, and perfect beings corresponding to our common nouns

XXIV GENERAL INTRODUCTfON Plato called ideas. He did not, therefore, use the word idea in the sense that we are most accustomed to. The highest idea is God.

Now while he believed that these ideas are pure, holy, and beautiful, he believed that the particular objects which the world that we see is made of — the actual trees, horses, etc. — are only imperfect copies of their ideas, and are, therefore, not at all pure, holy, and beautiful, but just the contrary. The goodness of the ideas and the badness of particular things is the central thought of Plato's philosophy.

Man has or may have knowledge of both. With his eyes and ears and other senses he comes into contact with the world of things. With his soul he may know directly the world of ideal. being, which culminates in God. Contact with the world through the senses, gives us not true or valuable knowledge, but only the appearance of true wisdom.

Contact with the eternal ideal beings, by means of the eye of the soul, gives us the only true and divine wisdom.

To account for the fact that the soi^l may know the ideal beings, Plato held that the soul has existed always ; that before being born into this earthly life the soul lived in the world of ideal beings ; that the soul retains a memory of ^its former life; that we may recall the knowledge we had in a former life, if we will withdraw our senses from the things of the world and give ourselves to diligentj reflection.

That is, by diligent reflection, we are able to recall more and more accurately the system of +eal beings, corresponding to our system of common nouns, and at last we are able to rise in this way to a contem-

GENERAL INTRODUCTION XXV plation of the Highest Idea, that is, God. On this point read the parable given in Book VII. of the Republic. As we are misled by the senses, when we seek knowledge through them, so we are misled by them in regard to the conduct of individual and social life. The senses are the source of all our sinning. We should die to the body and the things of the ^ body and turn our souls altogether toward the ideal being.

By contemplation of and obedience to the ideal being we shall be made more and more good and beautiful in this life, and after death we shall reenter the ideal world where we shall be in the company of perfect souls. As our individual life, so our political life should be wholly directed by the divine truth.

This is possible only through the guidance of men who have purified themselves from the world, and by long consecration have come to see the divine truth. That is, the State should be governed by the wisest and best, and all others will find the^ true interest in obeying them. Platds attitude toward the life of his time : Probably very few of those who read this book will accept Plato's doctrine of ideas in the form in which he presented it.

Tlowever that may be, no one should fail to see that what Pl^to stood for most centrally, along with the prophets and apostles of every age, was the reality and power of the truth. He believed in the truth ; that the truth is one and eternal ; that the truth rules all things both great ^ and small in'the world and in the lives of men ; that . men need the truth and no other thing to compass them about in infancy with influences that make for