Allgemein
EXPLORING
PLATO'S DIALOGUES
A Virtual Learning Environment on the
World-Wide Web
Anthony F. Beavers - tb2@evansville.edu
With this site, we have taken the limited area search engine (LASE)
technology developed at the University
of Evansville -- first used to power Argos:
Limited Area Search of the Ancient and Medieval Internet
-- and modified it for a different purpose. In order to make
accessible the wide range of resources related to Plato that
are already available on the Internet and potentially enhance
the study of Plato for anyone with an Internet connection, we
have employed a search engine to track, catalogue and organize
these resources. We have also presented them in an
easy-to-navigate hierarchical
index.
http://plato.evansville.edu/intro.htm
Study
Guides to Plato
http://www.websteruniv.edu/~evansja/guides/plato/PlatoDir.html
Science
and Human Values - Plato
Fred L. Wilson
Plato's principal work touching on scientific questions, the Timaeus,
bluntly states that this world "in very truth [is] a
living creature with soul and reason." To this
viewpoint Plato accords an unconditional primacy even in
matters of detail. Thus when he discusses the working of the
human eye, he deplores the fact that "the great mass of
mankind regard [the geometrical and mechanical aspects of the
question] as the sole causes of all things." Against this
he opposes the classification o f causes into two groups: the
accessory or mechanical causes that are "incapable of any
plan or intelligence for any purpose," and those that
"work with intelligence to produce what is good and
desirable." The reaffirmation of the Socratic or
organismic approach in science could hardly be more
unequivocal.
Such an emphasis
on the concept of organism as the basic framework in which the
cosmos is to be explained derived only in part from factors
like the emergence in the fifth century of the Hippocratic
medical theory and practice. The principal factor was a deeper
and more universal one. It was rooted in the Greek nature as
such and was given unchallenged prominence when cultural
developments forced the Greek mind to reflect on the
consequences of a mechanistic explanation of the inanimate and
animate world including man both as an individual and as a
member of society. The "Greekness" of the organismic
approach can be seen in the fact that they first applied the
term cosmos to a patently living thing - a
well-ordered society - and only afterward to the orderliness
of the physical world. Rooted deeply in their personal,
cultural inclinations, this organismic approach to reality,
once it became the conscious possession of the Greeks, had
never been seriously questioned or abandoned by them. Sing le
views of the Ionians and atomists continued, of course, to
play seminal roles in Greek science. What is more, once the
cultural crisis evidenced by the activity of the Sophists was
over, even the poets began to take more kindly to the physikoi,
who for a while were the principal targets of plays concerned
with the source of various cultural evils. At any rate, the
Ionians ceased to be called in literary circles, as Plato
remarks, "she dogs uttering vain howlings and talking
other nonsense of the same sort." This was, however,
merely a concession that could easily be meted out by those
who won the cultural battle. For as Plato could confidently
state in the same context, the authority of the mechanical
views had been checked, or to paraphrase his words, the case
was reversed in favor of the organismic viewpoin
http://www.rit.edu/~flwstv/plato.html
ART,
SCIENCE AND TRANSCENDENCE
a comparison between Tolstoy and Plato
Drs. T. J. Kuijl - euterpe@xs4all.nl
Plato and Tolstoy have made themselves immortal because of the
books they have left for posterity. Plato had been living some
2300 years ago, but still we can get touched by the lively
portrait he has left us in his works of his much adored
teacher Socrates. His most famous book Symposium is not so
much admired because of its philosophical theories about 'love'
but because of its vivid, poetic and juicy representation of
how Socrates manifested himself in the cultural circles of
Athens at that time. And it is typical for Plato's writing how
the subject 'love' is not presented in a dry academic context
but on the contrary takes of during a party amongst friends.
Tolstoy's reputation had been settled by the many novels he
had written in 19th Century Russia that have spread his fame
all over the world. Titles like 'War and Peace', 'Anna
Karenina' and the 'Kreutzer Sonata' are still being read by a
considerable number of people, or have been used as subject
for movie productions. Though Tolstoy is predominantly known
for these novels it is perhaps a less known fact that he also
has written a book about aesthetics named 'What is art?'
It is not for
the first time that remarkable points of resemblance have been
noticed with regard to the manner Plato and Tolstoy judged art
on its moral merit by examining the psychological constitution
of us humans. Both perceive how art has the potential to
influence our emotional state of being in the most direct and
compulsive manner without any need for the conscious consent
of its audience. This psychological insight caused both of
them to be very critical about the content of art and the
possible merits and flaws of its effects on our emotional
state of being. Their critical moral standards with regard to
art have been met with a considerable amount of suspicion by
artists and in the past and present.
Tolstoy was
aware of the fact how artistic phenomena like paintings and
music had been used by social institutes like the Church to
promote their message. The same could be said of nations that
have been using all sorts of artistic expressions to promote a
convenient self image. This last century has seen the most
cunning and deliberate efforts of national governments that
are using all sorts of artistic expressions as propaganda to
promote the most vile and hateful ideological theories such as
nationalism, religious intolerance and outright bigotry, and
quite effectively. Our modern consumption society made
possible by the ever growing and expanding industrial complex
could not survive if it would not be supported by massive
commercial advertisement campaigns that promote their products,
not using any reasonable information but through the 'image
and feelings' they are able to infect their potential
consumers with.
In this respect
the quite large and academic formulation of Plato's 'doctrine
of Eros' which can be found in this essay has got its
relevance. Apart from the academic and philosophical relevance
of this quite unique 'doctrine of Eros' it shows how
Plato, who had been living a few thousand years ago in a
society that has but little comparison with ours, has had a
very clear sight how 'desire' not only controlled our actions,
but also determined the motives that propelled these. One
could say that from the times of classical Greece our
civilization has changed dramatically but that our human
psychological constitution has remained nearly all the same.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~aikikai/plato/
Friedrich
Albert Lange: Sokrates - Platon - Aristoteles
Unter den Sokratikern war PLATON derjenige, welcher am
tiefsten von jener religiösen Glut ergriffen war, die von
SOKRATES ausging, und PLATON war es auch, der die Gedanken des
Meisters am reinsten, aber auch am einseitigsten
weiterbildete. Vor allen Dingen sind es die 'Irrtümer',
welche in der sokratischen Weltanschauung begründet liegen,
die nun bei PLATON eine mächtige, Jahrtausende dominierende
Entwicklung gewinnen. Diese platonischen Irrtümer aber sind
durch ihren tiefen Gegensatz gegen jede von der Erfahrung
ausgehende Weltanschauung für uns von vorzüglicher
Wichtigkeit. Sie sind zugleich welthistorische Irrtümer
gleich denen des Materialismus, denn wenn sie auch nicht durch
so unmittelbare Anknüpfungspunkte mit der Natur unseres
Denkvermögens verbunden sind, wie der Materialismus, so
beruhen sie doch nur um so sicherer auf der breiten Basis
unserer gesamten psychischen Organisation.
Beide
Weltanschauungen sind notwendige Durchgangspunkte des
menschlichen Denkens, und wenn auch der Materialismus gegenüber
dem Platonismus in allen 'einzelnen' Fragen stets recht behält,
so steht doch das 'Gesamtbild' der Welt, welches der letztere
gibt, der unbekannten Wahrheit vielleicht näher; auf alle Fälle
hat es tiefere Beziehungen zum 'Gemütsleben', zur 'Kunst' und
zur 'sittlichen Aufgabe der Menschheit'. So edel aber auch
diese Beziehungen sein mögen, so wohltätig durch sie der
Platonismus in manchen Epochen auf die Gesamtentwicklung der
Menschheit gewirkt hat, so bleibt doch nichtsdestoweniger die
Aufgabe unerläßlich, die Irrtümer des Platonismus unbekümmert
um seine erhabenen Seiten ganz und gründlich aufzudecken.
(F. A. Lange,
Geschichte des Materialismus, Band 1, Frankfurt/Main 1974)
http://www.weltkreis.com/mauthner/lang.html
Socrates,
Xenophon, and Plato
Sanderson Beck
The most detailed and brilliant portraits of Socrates are by
Plato; though it is difficult to deduce how much Plato has
added to the original person, the influence of these writings
has been immense regardless. Plato presented a young Socrates
in his late dialog Parmenides; however, this discussion
is not about ethics at all but metaphysics.
One of the
earliest dialogs that I believe is often neglected is the
first Alcibiades.
This is a marvelous introduction to Socratic method and ideas
on the theme of self-knowledge and is set in 432 BC when
Socrates was about 38 and Alcibiades 18.
http://www.san.beck.org/EC21-Socrates.html
 Zahlen,
Symbole und Archetypen in der wissenschaftlichen Zahlensymbolik
- Platon
Michael Stelzner
Unsere heutigen Naturwissenschaftler haben mit ihrer kalten
Funktionalität das moralisch-ethische Anliegen der Religionen
mit ihrer Sinngebung und Wertevermittlung weitgehend verdrängt.
Der moderne Mensch wird sich der dadurch entstehenden
Sinnleere mehr und mehr bewußt und sucht daher nach Lösungen.
Im Verborgenen existiert eine gemeinsame Sprache. Es sind die
Zahlen, die das entstandene Vakuum füllen und die scheinbaren
Gegnerschaften aufheben. Sie zählen und erzählen zugleich
und erschaffen somit eine neue Sicht der Welt. Große Denker
wie Platon haben immer wieder darauf hingewiesen:
"Die wahre Wirklichkeit sind nicht die Einzeldinge
dieser Welt, sondern die allgemein urbildhaften Ideen ... was
denn jeder mit als Erstes erlernen muß. Diese ganz
bescheidene Weisheit: die richtige Kenntnis der Eins, der Zwei und der Drei...
http://members.aol.com/DrStelzner/platon.html
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