Plato attempted to make astronomy a department of mathematics. He believed: "Astronomy, like geometry, can be studied by asking questions and solving problems, regardless of the stars in the sky." Plato believed that the universe began as chaos without distinction (The cosmos itself seemed to Plato to be forever titled toward chaos.). The opening of this chaos was the result of the activity of a supernatural god. According to Plato, the most important feature of the universe changing from chaos to order is that the Creator formulated a rational plan for the world; the mechanical process of putting this plan into effect is a natural event that is taken for granted.
Plato’s cosmology is basically a mathematical cosmology. He imagined that the universe began with two kinds of right triangles, one half a square and the other half an equilateral triangle. From these triangles four regular polyhedra are reasonably produced, which constitute the particles of the four elements. Fire particles are regular tetrahedrons, air particles are regular octahedrons, water particles are regular icosahedrons, and earth particles are cubes. The fifth type of regular polyhedron is the dodecahedron formed by regular pentagons. This is the fifth element that makes up the matter in the sky, called ether. The entire universe is a sphere, because the sphere is symmetrical and perfect, and every point on the sphere is the same. The universe is also alive and moving, with a soul filling the entire space. The motion of the universe is a circular motion, because circular motion is the most perfect and does not require hands or feet to propel it. The amount of each of the four elements in the universe is as follows: the ratio of fire to air is equal to the ratio of air to water and the ratio of water to earth. All things can be named by a number, and this number expresses the proportion of the elements they contain.
Political Thought
In "The Republic", Plato designed a picture of a just state: the country is of moderate size, so that one can have a panoramic view of the whole country from a high place in the city. , Chinese people know each other face to face. Plato believed that the state originated from the division of labor, so he divided the citizens in the ideal state into three levels: rulers, warriors, and workers, representing the three qualities of wisdom, courage, and desire respectively. The rulers rule the country relying on their own philosophical wisdom and moral strength; the warriors assist in governing the country and defend the security of the country with loyalty and bravery; the laborers provide the country with material means of living. Each of the three levels performs its own duties and is in its own place. In such a country, the rulers are all respected philosophers. Only philosophers can understand ideas, have perfect virtue and superb wisdom, understand where justice lies, and govern the country fairly according to the guidance of reason. Rulers and warriors have no private property or family, because private property and family are the source of all selfish thoughts and evil thoughts. Workers are also never allowed to own luxury items. The Utopia also attaches great importance to education, because the quality and moral character of its citizens determine the quality of the country.
Plato even imagined that at the beginning of the founding of the country, all people over the age of 10 would be sent abroad because they had been infected by the old culture and were difficult to change. All citizens must receive lifelong education from music, physical education, mathematics to philosophy since childhood. The content of education must be strictly selected. The epic poems of Homer and Hesiod and the works of tragic poets are not allowed to be introduced into the country because they will poison the hearts of young people. Plato claimed that this was the "first-class" Utopia, and other political systems were transformations of this ideal political system. In the ideal government, poor marriage caused the mixing of the three estates, leading to fighting and the rise of the military government (Timocracy). In a military regime, a few powerful people amass wealth to form an oligarchy.
The intensification of the contradiction between rich and poor led to popular revolution and gave birth to democracy. When a democratic government reaches its extreme, it will be replaced by a tyranny.
The Statesman was written approximately between Plato’s last two trips to Syracuse (367 BC to 361 BC). This was a time when his political practice in Syracuse suffered setbacks and his thoughts changed. period. The main purpose of "Politicians" is to discuss the definition of true politicians and politics. In this dialogue, Plato proposed the concept of political mean and mixture; for the first time, he clearly discussed the role of law and used law as the standard for dividing political systems. He believes that true politicians (philosopher kings) do not need to rule by law, but in reality true politicians are extremely rare. Even if there are true politicians, the law still has a certain role. Because politics is not only an art, but also a science. The law is to politicians like the training programs and prescriptions of coaches and doctors. Although the law is absurd in theory, it is necessary in practice.
Plato further developed his ideas about the role of law in his final work, The Laws. Starting from ideals, he admired the rule of the philosopher king, "No law or regulation is more powerful than knowledge." Starting from reality, he emphasized that humans must have laws and abide by them, otherwise their lives will be like the most savage beasts. Under the guidance of this idea, he designed his "second-best" city-state in the 12 volumes of "Laws", including geographical environment, territory size, population size and source, national economic life, class structure, Political system, laws and other details. Due to changes in guiding ideology, the specific measures of the second-class city-state are very different from the righteous state in "Utopia". The main ones are: the political system was changed from a meritocratic government ruled by the philosopher king to a mixed government to prevent personal dictatorship. The "Utopia" advocates that rulers implement public property, public wives, public meals, and public education, while the "Law" restores private property and family. In "Utopia", citizens are classified according to their innate talents, while in "The Law", citizens are classified according to their acquired wealth.
Economic Thought
(1) The theory of social division of labor and the emergence of the state. It expounds the necessity of social division of labor from three aspects: the diversity of individual needs, the one-sidedness of individual abilities, and the differences in individual abilities, and then describes the emergence of the country based on division of labor.
(2) Views on exchange, markets, currency, commerce and usury. While elaborating on the emergence of the state on the basis of division of labor, Plato also proposed the causal connections between division of labor and exchange, market and currency, commerce and merchants. He believed that since there is division of labor between city-states and within city-states, there must be commerce and merchants. With commerce, there is a market, and currency is needed. He believed that currency serves daily exchange and realized that currency can be used as a measure of value and a means of circulation. Plato not only affirmed the importance of commerce, but also held a contemptuous attitude towards merchants. He believed that Athenians should not engage in such a dishonorable business, but should let the barbarians living in Athens do it. He attacked businessmen for being profit-seeking and believed that the state should formulate laws so that businessmen could only obtain appropriate profits. He also opposed usury and advocated the prohibition of interest lending and mortgage lending.
(3) Views on the Utopia and the so-called "Communist Property". Plato believed that in the social division of labor, each person's industry and position were determined by their innate temperament. The Utopia he described consisted of three classes according to the principle of strict social division of labor. The first level is the level of rulers, that is, philosophers rich in reason and knowledge, who are responsible for formulating laws, educating the people, and governing the country. He particularly emphasized the extreme importance of governing a country by wise men. The second caste is the caste of defenders, or soldiers, who enforce the law, defend the country, and fight wars. The third level is the level of product suppliers, that is, farmers, craftsmen and merchants, who must obey the orders of the ruler and be responsible for producing and supplying the means of living. In the Utopia, both philosophers and soldiers have abolished private property and individual families, and implemented the practice of seizing property, seizing wives, and seizing sons. In Plato's view, the implementation of autocracy would contribute to eugenics and prevent corruption and internal conflicts.
Plato's ideas about the implementation of communism by the ruling class were largely derived from the practice of Sparta in ancient Greece, and had an important influence on various subsequent public ownership ideas. This idea can be said to be the precursor of contemporary economic system theory. [4]
Education Concept
Establishing a Complete Education System
Plato was also the first person in the history of Western education to propose a complete idea of ??preschool education and establish a complete education system. System people. Plato began to engage in educational research activities in his middle age. Starting from the philosophical thought that ideas exist before matter, he emphasized the exercise of rationality in his education system. He required children aged 3 to 6 to be supervised by nannies and gather in the village temple to play games and listen to stories and fairy tales. Plato believed that these had great educational significance. After the age of 7, children must begin to learn various knowledge and skills required by soldiers, including reading, writing, arithmetic, riding horses, throwing guns, archery, etc. From the age of 20 to 30, students who show special interest in abstract thinking must continue their studies and study arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, harmony and other subjects to exercise their thinking ability and enable them to begin to explore the mysteries of the universe. Plato pointed out the significance of each discipline for the development of abstract thinking. He advocated that future rulers should further study dialectics after the age of 30 to gain insight into the world of ideas. After 5 years, he can become the philosopher king who rules the country.
Idealistic Teaching
All human knowledge comes from talent, which exists in the human soul in a potential way. Therefore, knowledge is not the feeling of the material world, but It is the memory of the world of ideas. The purpose of teaching is to restore people's inherent knowledge. The teaching process is the process of recalling ideas. In teaching, Plato attaches great importance to universal and general understanding, and pays special attention to the cultivation of students' thinking ability, pointing out that concepts and truth are the products of pure thinking. At the same time, he also pointed out that students can recall the ideal world through the shadow of the ideal world in the phenomenal world, and acknowledged the stimulating role of feeling in understanding. He particularly emphasized the role of early education and environment on children. The things that children come into contact with during their early years have a permanent impact on them. The teaching process should use the perceptual inspiration of specific things to arouse students' memories, and through reflection and thinking, reproduce the inherent conceptual knowledge in the soul. In this regard, Plato's teaching understanding is a kind of transcendentalism.
Teaching in Stages
Plato’s teaching system is pyramid-shaped. In order to develop rationality, he established a comprehensive and rich curriculum system. Based on the psychological characteristics of students, he divided several age stages and taught different teaching subjects. Young children aged 0-3 years are cared for in nurseries. Children aged 3-6 years old engage in storytelling, games, singing and other activities in the playground. After the age of 6, children enter elementary schools to receive elementary courses. In terms of teaching content, Plato accepted the Athenian educational philosophy of using gymnastics to exercise the body and music to cultivate the soul and the harmonious development of education, and arranged a series of simple reading, writing, arithmetic, and singing activities for children. At the same time, he also attached great importance to gymnastics and other sports training. project. Young people aged 17-20 are promoted to the national "Everby" to receive military education, and learn cultural subjects based on military needs, mainly arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. 20-30 years old, after strict selection, they will receive 10 years of scientific education, focusing on developing the thinking ability of young people, continuing to study the "four subjects", and understanding the connections between natural sciences. After the age of 30, after further selection, students will study for 5 years, mainly studying philosophy. At this point, Plato's relatively complete pyramid-shaped teaching system has been formed.
Proposed four subjects
According to its teaching purposes, Baidu absorbed and developed the "three arts" of the wise and the military physical education courses of Sparta, and also summarized the practical teaching experience of Athens , proposed the "four subjects" (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music) for the first time in the history of education, which later became the backbone and source of the ancient Greek curriculum system and dominated European secondary and higher education for 1,500 years. .
Teaching Perspectives
Each subject has its own unique function, and whatever is learned will contribute to the development of character.
Before the age of 17, the broad and comprehensive subject content is to cultivate the general literacy of citizens, and for future philosophers, the aforementioned subjects are essential knowledge preparation for learning dialectics. Grammar and rhetoric are the basis for studying philosophy; arithmetic is to train people's analysis and thinking abilities; learning geometry and astronomy is very important for navigation, marching, observing the climate, and exploring the universe; learning music is to cultivate the bravery and nobility of soldiers moral sentiment. At the same time, he also attached great importance to selecting and purifying various teaching materials, such as language, stories, myths, epics, etc., to make them meet moral requirements and promote the development of children's minds.
As far as teaching methods are concerned, Plato learned from Socrates’ question-and-answer method and regarded the process of recalling existing knowledge as a teaching and inspiration process. He opposed the use of coercive means to instill knowledge, and advocated asking questions, exposing contradictions through question and answer forms, and then conducting analysis, induction, synthesis, judgment, and finally drawing conclusions.
Rational training
Rational training is the main feature of Plato’s teaching thought. In the teaching process, Plato always takes the development of students' thinking ability as the ultimate goal. In "The Republic", he used the words "reflection" and "contemplation" many times, believing that only through reflection and contemplation can the knowledge about rationality be truly integrated and draw inferences from one instance to other cases. The role of feeling is limited to the understanding of phenomena and cannot be a tool for obtaining ideas. Therefore, teachers must guide students to concentrate their minds, combine learning and thinking, move from one idea to another, and finally boil it down to ideas. Teachers should be good at enlightening, inspiring, and inducing students to enter this state, so that they can "suddenly enlighten themselves" and enjoy the "joy of reason" after "hard thinking". This is similar to Socrates’ midwifery.