What was Plato's big ideas?

Question

What worked and did not work?

Also what was Descartes big ideas? and what worked and did not worked?

Please only serious answer, I need a little help with this.

Answer 1

Plato: Goodness and Government

In 1972 and 1973, Srila Prabhupäda held a series of philosophical discussions with his personal secretary, Syämasundara, while traveling around the world. These sessions were recorded and published to provide an understanding of Western philosophy, psychology, and science from the viewpoint of the timeless teachings of India's Vedic literature. In the following conversation, the striking similarities between Plato's ideal state and that outlined in the Bhagavad-gita prompt one to ask, "Could Plato have gotten his ideas from India's ancient Vedas?"

Çyämasundara: Plato believed society can enjoy prosperity and harmony only if it places people in working categories or classes according to their natural abilities. He thought people should find out their natural abilities and use those abilities to their fullest capacity—as administrators, as military men, or as craftsmen. Most important, the head of state should not be an average or mediocre man. Instead, society should be led by a very wise and good man—a "philosopher king"—or a group of very wise and good men.

Çréla Prabhupäda: This idea appears to be taken from the Bhagavad-gétä, where Kåñëa says that the ideal society has four divisions: brähmaëas [intellectuals], kñatriyas [warriors and administrators], vaiçyas [merchants and farmers], and çüdras [laborers]. These divisions come about by the influence of the modes of nature. Everyone, both in human society and in animal society, is influenced by the modes of material nature [sattva-guna, rajo-guna, and tamo-guna, or goodness, passion, and ignorance]. By scientifically classifying men according to these qualities, society can become perfect. But if we place a man in the mode of ignorance in a philosopher's post, or put a philosopher to work as an ordinary laborer, havoc will result.

In the Bhagavad-gitä krishna says that the brähmanas—the most intelligent men, who are interested in transcendental knowledge and philosophy—should be given the topmost posts, and under their instructions the kñatriyas [administrators] should work. The administrators should see that there is law and order and that everyone is doing his duty. The next section is the productive class, the vaiçyas, who engage in agriculture and cow protection. And finally there are the çüdras, common laborers who help the other sections. This is Vedic civilization—people living simply, on agriculture and cow protection. If you have enough milk, grains, fruits, and vegetables, you can live very nicely.

The Srimad-Bhägavatam compares the four divisions of society to the different parts of the body—the head, the arms, the belly, and the legs. Just as all parts of the body cooperate to keep the body fit, in the ideal state all sections of society cooperate under the leadership of the brähmaëas. Comparatively, the head is the most important part of the body, for it gives directions to the other parts of the body. Similarly, the ideal state functions under the directions of the brähmaëas, who are not personally interested in political affairs or administration because they have a higher duty. At present this Krishna consciousness movement is training brähmaëas. If the administrators take our advice and conduct the state in a Kåñëa conscious way, there will be an ideal society throughout the world.

Çyämasundara: How does modern society differ from the Vedic ideal?

Çréla Prabhupäda: Now there is large-scale industrialization, which means exploitation of one man by another. Such industry was unknown in Vedic civilization—it was unnecessary. In addition, modern civilization has taken to slaughtering and eating animals, which is barbarous. It is not even human.

In Vedic civilization, when a person was unfit to rule he was deposed. For instance, King Vena proved to be an unfit king. He was simply interested in hunting. Of course, kñatriyas are allowed to hunt, but not whimsically. They are not allowed to kill many birds and beasts unnecessarily, as King Vena was doing and as people do today. At that time the intelligent brähmaëas objected and immediately killed him with a curse. Formerly, the brähmaëas had so much power that they could kill simply by cursing; weapons were unnecessary.

At present, however—because the head of the social body is missing—it is a dead body. The head is very important, and our Kåñëa consciousness movement is attempting to create some brähmaëas who will form the head of society. Then the administrators will be able to rule very nicely under the instructions of the philosophers and theologians—that is, under the instructions of God-conscious people. A God conscious brähmaëa would never advise opening slaughterhouses. But now, the many rascals heading the government allow animal slaughter. When Mahäräja Parékñit saw a degraded man trying to kill a cow, he immediately drew his sword and said, "Who are you? Why are you trying to kill this cow?" He was a real king. Nowadays, unqualified men have taken the presidential post. And although they may pose themselves as very religious, they are simply rascals. Why? Because under their noses thousands of cows are being killed, while they collect a good salary. Any leader who is at all religious should resign his post in protest if cow slaughter goes on under his rule. Since people do not know that these administrators are rascals, they are suffering. And the people are also rascals because they are voting for these bigger rascals. It is Plato's view that the government should be ideal, and this is the ideal: The saintly philosophers should be at the head of the state; according to their advice the politicians should rule; under the protection of the politicians, the productive class should provide the necessities of life; and the laborer class should help. This is the scientific division of society that Kåñëa advocates in the Bhagavad-gitä [4.13]: cätur-varëyaà mayä såñöaà guëa-karma-vibhägaçaù. "According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me."

Çyämasundara: Plato also observed social divisions. However, he advocated three divisions. One class consisted of the guardians, men of wisdom who governed society. Another class consisted of the warriors, who were courageous and who protected the rest of society. And the third class consisted of the artisans, who performed their services obediently and worked only to satisfy their appetites.

Çréla Prabhupäda: Yes, human society does have this threefold division, also. The first-class man is in the mode of goodness, the second-class man is in the mode of passion, and the third-class man is in the mode of ignorance.

Çyämasundara: Plato's understanding of the social order was based on his observation that man has a threefold division of intelligence, courage, and appetite. He said that the soul has these three qualities.

Çréla Prabhupäda: That is a mistake. The soul does not have any material qualities. The soul is pure, but because of his contact with the different qualities of material nature, he is "dressed" in various bodies. This Krishna consciousness movement aims at removing this material dress. Our first instruction is "You are not this body." It appears that in his practical understanding Plato identified the soul with the bodily dress, and that does not show very good intelligence.

Çyämasundara: Plato believed that man's position is marginal—between matter and spirit—and therefore he also stressed the development of the body. He thought that everyone should be educated from an early age, and that part of that education should be gymnastics—to keep the body fit.

Çréla Prabhupäda: This means that in practice Plato very strongly identified the self as the body. What was Plato's idea of education?

Çyämasundara: To awaken the student to his natural position—whatever his natural abilities or talents are.

Çréla Prabhupäda: And what is that natural position?

Çyämasundara: The position of moral goodness. In other words, Plato thought everyone should be educated to work in whatever way is best suited to awaken his natural moral goodness.

Çréla Prabhupäda: But moral goodness is not enough, because simple morality will not satisfy the soul. One has to go above morality—to Kåñëa consciousness. Of course, in this material world morality is taken as the highest principle, but there is another platform, which is called the transcendental (vasudeva) platform. Man's highest perfection is on that platform, and this is confirmed in Çrémad-Bhägavatam. However, because Western philosophers have no information of the vasudeva platform, they consider the material mode of goodness to be the highest perfection and the end of morality. But in this world even moral goodness is infected by the lower modes of ignorance and passion. You cannot find pure goodness (çuddha-sattva) in this material world, for pure goodness is the transcendental platform. To come to the platform of pure goodness, which is the ideal, one has to undergo austerities (tapasä brahmacaryeëa çamena ca damena ca [SB 6.1.13]). One has to practice celibacy and control the mind and senses. If he has money, he should distribute it in charity. Also, one should always be very clean. In this way one can rise to the platform of pure goodness.

There is another process for coming to the platform of pure goodness—and that is Krishna consciousness. If one becomes Krishna conscious, all the good qualities automatically develop in him. Automatically he leads a life of celibacy, controls his mind and senses, and has a charitable disposition. In this age of Kali, people cannot possibly be trained to engage in austerity. Formerly, a brahmacäré [celibate stu

Answer 2

the best part of wikiis that this are the only things listed

for me plato's concept of reality; that is to say we are all things that only know the inside of a cave and all our perceptions of reality are only the variances of your own shadow cast on the wall by a light source placed behind us.