My family recently had dinner with a former student from Miami University who is now married and lives in Chicago. Her husband’s father is Ieuan Williams, author of All That Matters: PLATO III (2013). As I was leaving dinner, I was offered a copy of the book and invited to meet Williams when he visits the U.S.A. later this year.
The book (only 150 pages) offered a tight overview of Plato’s views and their relevance to the modern day. Most of those who have bachelor’s degrees have some familiarity with Plato but it was very useful to have the core of his philosophy boiled down to essential points. Plato’s view of the world derived from his mentor, Socrates. Concerns about the state of Athens and the growing influence of money, greater inequality and unfairness, compelled Socrates to challenge his fellow citizens, a challenge which resulted in his being sentenced to death, a sentence he enforced upon himself by taking hemlock. Much of Plato’s early writing reflected on Socrates’ teaching and life.
Socrates was dedicated to learning and believed that it was critical for citizens to give up confusing or false ideas, thereby contributing to a better life for the individual and broader community. The essence of this view was that all wisdom amounted to one central assumption – ‘that I do not think that I know what I do not know’ (p. 14). The problem of knowing what we do not know was and continues to be complicated. Plato believed that the Sophists of ancient Athens muddied our understanding by relying on oratory, a process of investigating the relationship between language and speakers. By contrast, Plato believed that seeking understanding should focus on the relationship between language and the real world in which we live. Oratory, as practiced in ancient Athens, often resulted in injustice and unhappiness due to the selfish pursuit of benefit for those able to persuade others. Another important point Plato asserted was that to improve the quality of thinking, information (disputable, practical, and transient) needed to be distinguished from knowledge (real, permanent, and true). And, because of the close associations among human beings, the condition of individual souls is inextricably linked to the “moral, cultural and political ethos of the society” (p. 62).
Plato believed in the creation of a just society where all citizens dedicated themselves to pursuing the single purpose for which they were most suited. Again, the importance of education (and knowledge acquisition) was reiterated. “Plato’s theory is this: education can only succeed in fostering good citizenship, and thus promote a just society, by bringing about moral unity and order in individual souls, and it can only do this by ensuring that the virtues of moderation, courage, and wisdom, in both the soul and the state, prevail over the vices of excess cowardice and folly” (p. 86). Williams recognized that some criticize Plato for advocating a hierarchical and rigid society where individuals are directed into niche roles, educated to perform the role, and possess little awareness of the needs and contributions of others. In response, Williams proposed that individual citizens perform their roles, engage in real community discourse and rely on “public servants” as experts in community governance. Indeed, Plato asserted in The Republicthat these “public servants” should have no family, receive no salary, and would thereby be separated from any special interest that might contaminate their commitment to serving others.
Williams’ summary of Plato provided an important grounding in philosophy, a discipline that is essential for the discernment of wisdom that serves the greater good of all. Especially in an era of human striving where acquisition of wealth has become preeminent and where the neglect of justice for all has become commonplace, Plato’s core views have stood the course of time. In ancient Athens as well as today, Plato would have advised that, “the economic life of a society can and ought to be made subject to human decision and control and should be made to work for justice rather than for feeding the avarice of private individuals and institutions” (p. 26).
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