A student of Socrates, Plato lived through some of the worst political upheavals in ancient Greece. This social turmoil formed the basis of his dialog, The Republic, where Plato describes his ideal state and lays out his complete theory on what actually exists (ontology) and how we can know it (epistemology). Plato claims that the most real things in the world are the Forms; perfect metaphysical prototypes of all physical things. From chairs to emotions, anything earthly owes its existence to its pure Form, and the ultimate reality everything is based upon - the Form of the Good is also the ultimate object of knowledge. Sadly, access to the Forms, therefore access to true knowledge, is restricted. Only philosophers can grasp the Forms and truly know anything, the rest of us are stuck in the material, non-conceptual world of Beliefs and Opinions. The Republic is ultimately concerned with the possibility of political justice, but by claiming that the foremost leader would be the Philosopher-King, Plato bases his social theory on metaphysical ideas. What exists in the world are only impure shadows or representations of transcendental, immaterial objects and we can only know them (i.e. know anything) if we are part of the most elite class of humanity all others must answer to: the philosophers. A bit restrictive then yes? Carry on...
David Wagner is an author/musician who splits his time between Oakland, CA and Istanbul, Turkey.
David has published two novels, both available on his website, and as a fan of movies, comics, and genre television, he is happy to be working with WhatCulture as a regular contributor.
