Ancient Philosophy

The Problem of Ideas and Things in Plato: The Ideal State and the Tragic Fate of Platonic Idealism

Plato was born around 428 BCE on the seventh day of Targelion (May 21), a day that, according to tradition, also marked the birth of Apollo.

As a disciple of Socrates, who was sentenced to death, Plato's first task was to recreate the life of the ideal sage through the figure of Socrates. In the dialogue "Parmenides," Socrates appears as a curious young man. He then emerges in three distinct roles: a) as a champion of truth against the dominance of sophistry; b) as a teacher of truth; c) as a martyr for truth.

In the dialogue "Phaedo," Plato recounts Socrates' final conversation and describes the circumstances of his death. Socrates' death is linked to the democratic reaction against the exile of the Thirty Tyrants. The philosopher accepted the sentence with courage and composure, even though, for religious reasons, it could not be executed immediately, forcing him to remain in prison for thirty days. This delay was due to the so-called Delphic festival, an annual event where a delegation of Athenian citizens traveled to Delphi with offerings for Apollo. According to tradition, no one could be executed until the sacred ship returned from Delphi.

During this time, Socrates engaged in conversations with his students, his wife Xanthippe, and his children: "The only thing I know is that I know nothing, but others do not even know that"; "What can we know if we do not know ourselves?"

As a student of Socrates, Plato wrote, "I know nothing and teach nothing; I am filled with doubt." Doubt is a pathway to understanding. He adds to the words "I know nothing" the essential nuance: "Except for the essential triviality—asking questions and seeking answers," highlighting the art of dialectics in which he excelled.

Unlike his teacher Socrates, who believed that written words could not clarify meaning and thus preferred to leave his students as living records, Plato chose the written genre to express his views. He opted for dialogue, as it represents a unique cosmos, and a cosmos is itself a dialogue, with as many components in the dialogue as in the cosmos.

The Hierarchy of Being According to Plato

According to his doctrine, all that exists has a single principle. This principle is incorporeal and singular, which he referred to as the Good. Following the One, the philosopher posits the notions of limit and unlimited, then the intelligible cosmos, then the super-cosmic gods, followed by the sub-cosmic ones. After them come twenty ranks of angels, then human souls, the souls of non-rational animals, and finally, the vegetative soul, with the material and immaterial body following, mortal and immortal, with the internal material form behind it, and ultimately, matter.

For Plato, the cosmos consists of matter and ideas as its opposites, synthesized through nature. The result of the interaction between ideas and matter is the sensory world, serving as a specific intermediary link. The ideal world (the true one) is the realm of ideas. Matter, or false being, constitutes the realm of non-being.

Plato's theory of ideas and things encapsulates the core essence of Greek philosophy, where reality is the world of actual beings (things), while the cosmos is the world of essences (ideas).

Early and Mature Plato

The early, or Socratic, period of Plato’s work involves the pursuit of truth through questions and answers, thereby seeking understanding without providing definitive formulations or conclusive forms.

Mature Plato embodies the doctrine of ideas, or the theory of ideas and things. What is a Platonic idea? For Plato, the idea of a thing represents its ultimate meaningful generalization, allowing the thing to be nothing but itself, which implies the possibility of comprehending this thing for the first time.

Aristotle outlines Plato's philosophy as follows: dialectic, physics, ethics. Dialectic contemplates the idea in its own right, physics applies it to nature, and ethics to practical life.

Plato provides evidence for the existence of ideas. Our concepts encompass the general, the unchanging, the eternal. For example, the notion of "beauty" does not pertain to beautiful things per se, for they lack the fullness of beauty; they resemble mere reflections of the eternal and unchanging beauty. Thus, beautiful things are subjects of observation, not of concepts; the subject of concepts is beauty itself or the "idea of beauty." Plato asserts: "Things can be seen, but not thought about; ideas can be contemplated, but not seen."

Therefore, Plato's philosophical works can be conventionally divided into three periods: early, mature, and late.

1. First (Early) Period: "Apology of Socrates," "Crito" (on citizens' duties), the first book of "The Republic" (on the ideal state), "Protagoras" (on virtue), "Gorgias" (on rhetoric). These are the so-called Socratic works.
2. Second (Mature) Period: This period transcends the apologetics of Socrates, developing the theory of ideas and things, as well as the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. Notable dialogues include "Meno" (on learning virtue), "Cratylus" (on language and against Heracliteanism and nominalism), "Phaedo" (on the immortality of the soul), "Symposium" (on love), books II-X of "The Republic" (on the ideal state, where Plato addresses nearly all philosophical issues), and "Phaedrus" (on love and beauty, featuring an allegorical description of the soul's relation to ideas).
3. Third Period: In this period, he altered the style and themes of his works. The language became more abstract, laden with artificial expressions difficult to grasp: "Parmenides" (on the dialectical method and the unity of ideas), "Sophist" (on the concept of being), "Statesman" (on governing the state), "Timaeus" (on the concept of the world), "Philebus" (on the good), and "Laws" in twelve books (on the real state).

The Task of Platonic Philosophy

To know the real, the true, the unchanging being. Only ideas possess this, not things. The idea is the cornerstone of all of Plato's philosophy. Above all ideas stands the idea of the Good, the principle of principles, from which all beings draw their existence and essence.

Regarding the relationship between the soul and the body, Plato asserts that a person is a unified entity not due to the body, but because of the soul. The soul is superior to the body, being infinite and akin to the divine and the ideas; it is the source of truth, goodness, beauty, and all that is most valuable in humanity. The body is subordinate to the soul, which fundamentally shapes human nature. Thus, a person is a soul that possesses a body and uses it in their actions.

Plato proposed a theory of four cardinal virtues:

• Wisdom (the rational part of the soul);
• Courage (the impulsive, spirited part of the soul);
• Moderation (the passionate part of the soul);
• And that which balances them all—justice.

Three social classes correspond to the three main parts of the soul and the three fundamental virtues:

• Psychological: rational part of the soul, willful (impulsive) part, sensual, appetitive soul.
• Ethical: wisdom, courage, moderation, desire, frugality.
• Political: rulers, warriors, the productive class (artisans, farmers).

The social ethics or politics of Plato depict the highest form of human community as the state.

The Genesis of the State

The primary reason for the emergence of the state, according to Plato, lies in the fact that the individual is, by nature, destined for communal life. The task of the state is not merely to provide citizens with means for material well-being and luxury; it must first and foremost serve a moral and ideal purpose. The political structure embodies the manifestation of the Idea of the Good.

Plato considers two concepts of state organization: the "ideal" and the "real-legal."

Characteristics of the ideal state include universality, which demands that the state be governed by the common good rather than individual passions. Constancy requires that citizens consistently and unanimously strive toward the state's objective.

The Organization of the Ideal State

Plato takes humanity as the model for the ideal state, for he views the state as a larger and more complete version of the individual. The individual is constituted by the soul, which, if composed of three hierarchically subordinate parts, necessitates that citizens in the ideal state be divided into three societal classes.

The highest class comprises the philosopher-rulers, endowed with wisdom. The knights, or warriors, safeguard the integrity of the state and its internal order, characterized by courage and valor. The third class—artisans, workers, merchants, and farmers—acquires material goods, with their virtue being moderation. A shared virtue unites all classes: justice, the fulfillment of one's duty. This harmony solidifies society, while the absence of justice leads to its disintegration.

According to Plato, the first two classes must live in a communal society (free from private property, marriage, and family). The state is their great family, wherein women are shared, and children born into these classes receive state education. The third class, however, is characterized by private property, marriage, and family, and its primary task is to ensure the material sustenance of the state.

Plato envisioned state education for the children of the first two classes, considering it unnecessary for the children of the third class, as their parents can best teach them how to cultivate crops, fish, and so forth.

Thus, in Plato’s ideal state, "Rulers must be philosophers, and philosophers must be rulers."

In contrast, the real state, lacking capable philosopher-rulers, relies on wise laws, hence its designation as a legal (real) state. Both rulers and subjects must submit to these laws.

Forms of Government According to Plato

For Plato, tyranny is the worst form of government, as it allows injustice and unfit individuals to govern; democracy, on the other hand, diminishes the distinctions among people's abilities; oligarchy (the rule of the few) bestows power solely upon the wealthiest class, operating under a property-based criterion; timocracy introduces military rule; while aristocracy permits the best to govern in the ideal state.

The Legal (Real) State

Plato's plan for the ideal state is too complex for practical realization; thus, in his work "Laws," he softened the means or the severity of their application. Art in the state is permissible only insofar as it imitates the Idea of the Good. In "Politics," Plato presents a hierarchy of forms of government in the legal state, ranging from the best to the worst: monarchy, aristocracy, democracy, oligarchy, and tyranny.

The Tragic Fate of Idealistic Platonism

Plato experienced several tragedies in his life. In his youth, he fell in love with a beautiful girl who met a tragic end—his first heartbreak. The second tragedy unfolded when, having introduced what he believed to be the best (ideal) reforms, he attempted to improve Syracuse according to his ideological prescriptions. What was the result? The city was destroyed, and he himself was sold into slavery, only to be redeemed by the Pythagoreans, who valued his wisdom. This tragic episode in ancient history serves as a cautionary tale regarding the intervention of refined wisdom in the realm of real politics.

In Plato's view, God appears as the architect and guide (within a world of eternally existing matter and ideas), rather than as the creator of the world. "Do not concern yourselves," Socrates teaches in Plato's "Apology," "with your body or with money, but only with your souls. Nobility does not arise from wealth; rather, wealth and all other goods, both private and public, should stem from virtue."

The foundation of state life is justice, which requires adherence to divine and civic laws.