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RS NOTES 1.1 – Ancient Philosophical influences
*both Aristotle and Plato were before Christianity
Plato
Heavily influenced by Socrates – was a student of his
o Was very strongly affected by his death
Heavily influenced by Pythagoras
o Made a sharp distinction between the material body and the physical soul
Disagreed with Heraclitus
o Who argued that ‘everything changes, and nothing stays still’
Rationalist
o Believed certain truths are knowable by mind alone and tare discovered through
reason, not experience
o A priori ‘before experience’
Best part of humanity is the power of reason
o Mind and reason rise above emotion feeling body (which can be easily mislead) to
make good decisions
o One of his 4 main ideas was the importance of people thinking more, valued the
important of Socratic discussion
Against people blindly following doxa = popular opinion
The Theory of the Forms
Plato was heavily dissatisfied with the constant change and transitory nature of our
world
o Lead to him believing that there must be a more permanent, unchanging and eternal
world which is beyond our sense
This is the World of the Forms
Absolute, immeasurable and transcendent
Place where we can attain true and certain knowledge
Our World = the World of Appearances/ the Material World
o Impermanent, imperfect and sensory
o Only experience a poor reflection of the perfection if the World of the Forms in our
world
Things we experience are imitations and examples of their ideal form
(particulars)
Gain true knowledge (understanding we live in the world of appearances) through using
reason (argued is a part of our immortal souls)
o Those who achieve this are learned people, philosophers
o Believed only philosophers should make decisions in relation to government –
everyone else is too ignorant
The form of the good = the highest form
o This good illuminates all the other forms, like the sun in the
analogy of the cave
Analogy of the Cave explains/emphasises
Explains the relation between the WOTF and the WOA
RS NOTES 1.1 – Ancient Philosophical influences
*both Aristotle and Plato were before Christianity
Plato
Heavily influenced by Socrates – was a student of his
o Was very strongly affected by his death
Heavily influenced by Pythagoras
o Made a sharp distinction between the material body and the physical soul
Disagreed with Heraclitus
o Who argued that ‘everything changes, and nothing stays still’
Rationalist
o Believed certain truths are knowable by mind alone and tare discovered through
reason, not experience
o A priori ‘before experience’
Best part of humanity is the power of reason
o Mind and reason rise above emotion feeling body (which can be easily mislead) to
make good decisions
o One of his 4 main ideas was the importance of people thinking more, valued the
important of Socratic discussion
Against people blindly following doxa = popular opinion
The Theory of the Forms
Plato was heavily dissatisfied with the constant change and transitory nature of our
world
o Lead to him believing that there must be a more permanent, unchanging and eternal
world which is beyond our sense
This is the World of the Forms
Absolute, immeasurable and transcendent
Place where we can attain true and certain knowledge
Our World = the World of Appearances/ the Material World
o Impermanent, imperfect and sensory
o Only experience a poor reflection of the perfection if the World of the Forms in our
world
Things we experience are imitations and examples of their ideal form
(particulars)
Gain true knowledge (understanding we live in the world of appearances) through using
reason (argued is a part of our immortal souls)
o Those who achieve this are learned people, philosophers
o Believed only philosophers should make decisions in relation to government –
everyone else is too ignorant
The form of the good = the highest form
o This good illuminates all the other forms, like the sun in the
analogy of the cave
Analogy of the Cave explains/emphasises
Explains the relation between the WOTF and the WOA
