[Lecture Three] Founders of Western Philosophy: Thales to Hume

by Dr. Leonard Peikoff

Total Time: 2 hours, 42 minutes

Course summary: Presented as two complementary twelve-lecture courses—Founders of Western Philosophy: Thales to Hume and Modern Philosophy: Kant to the Present—The History of Philosophy covers the whole of western philosophy from its discovery in Ancient Greece to the twentieth century, including Objectivism. Dr. Peikoff argues that philosophy is the means by which we can understand any human culture and, more broadly, the history and changing course of a civilization. Read more »

In this lecture: Plato’s philosophy and his arguments for it is explained in detail in this lecture. Dr. Peikoff presents the full case for Plato’s forms and how that leads to his rationalist epistemology. He reviews in detail the Plato’s theory of knowledge as presented in the argument of the divided line and the Allegory of the Cave. The lecture concludes with an explanation of how Plato’s ethical system and collectivist politics arise from his earlier premises.

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Study Guide

This material is designed to help you digest the lecture content. You can also download below a PDF study guide for the entire course.

How does Plato’s theory of explanation differ from the Atomists?

According to Plato, what is the nature of The Good?

Describe what Plato suggests is the process of gaining a relationship with The Good.

What are the steps along the “divided line” that bring us to knowledge?

How does the Allegory of the Cave illustrate Plato’s theory of knowledge?

Why does Plato’s theory of universals necessitate a rationalist approach to proof?

What is unique in Socrates’ approach to the question of virtue?

Why does Socrates believe that no man can truly harm another?

How does Socrates’ approach deny the possibility of conscious evil?

What are some implications of Plato’s tripartite view of the soul?

How do the different types of men embody different virtues?

Describe some of the effects of Plato’s ethical views on subsequent trends in Western culture.

What is the main question for Plato in any political regime?

What is the organic theory of the state?

Q&A Guide

Below is a list of questions from the audience taken from this lecture, along with (approximate) time stamps.

2:13:44	How if at all did Plato reconcile his opposition to democracy with Socrates’s acceptance of the majority’s will?
2:14:43	Didn’t Plato even consider what would happen to his ideal state if two philosopher kings disagreed?
2:15:12	Last week you distinguished between what philosophy can and cannot discover concerning consciousness and its relation to matter. Is it within the province of philosophy to determine the status of consciousness, that is whether it is a separate substance or entity or a state or attribute or action of certain living entities? If this is a philosophic question, what is the answer?
2:16:15	How are we supposed to have grasped universals prior to birth? By what means? Seems to be the idea that we saw the perfect man… but how do you see “freedom”?
2:17:27	Wasn’t Plato’s theory of reminiscences directly opposite to empirical evidence?
2:18:12	Please explain in more detail the parallels between the Platonic and the Freudian theories of personality and the nature of the Objectivist objections to the Freudian constructions?
2:22:30	Isn’t Plato contradictory by allowing the masses private property and simultaneously saying that once you’ve seen the sun you have to go back down to the cave?
2:23:44	In the world of forms, are the forms that are closely related to the form of the good more real?
2:24:32	Did Plato originate the idea of teleological explanation in philosophy?
2:25:17	How does Plato know that the ultimate form is “the good” not “the bad”?
2:26:42	Did Plato have any checks against the spirited element manifesting itself in the guardians?
2:28:36	Do you agree with Plato’s distinction between belief or opinion and knowledge? Do you have to know why in order to have knowledge or be certain? If so, wouldn’t that mean that the Greeks couldn’t be certain that the sun would rise or that man was mortal?
2:30:22	How would the industrial-military complex rank in Plato’s world?
2:32:03	Are there any non-mechanistic materialists or non-materialistic mechanists?
2:33:24	Is mechanism valid in physics?
2:34:34	If a man’s reasoning part is fully dominant and he has an inactive spirited and appetitive part, would this be called a cancer?
2:35:05	Does Plato hold that there are no degrees of truth, only “no knowledge” or omniscience?
2:35:53	The name of the last dialogue, where Plato works out his totalitarian views.
2:36:12	If you have a basically appetitive soul, is it possible for you to succeed in converting yourself to a moral life, or are you doomed, in effect, to immorality by the nature of your soul?
2:37:51	How does a philosopher know he’s seen the ultimate form when he actually does?
2:39:36	Duty seems very important to Plato because the guardians are supposed to leave their beautiful world of sunlight in order to come down to the cave. Where did the concept of duty originate?