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Political and military decline at a time of intellectual and artistic blossoming . . . The Socratic Revolution and Platonic Idealism

The Decline of Athens

Sparta decisively beat Athens at the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 B.C. Athens surrendered her fleet and naval empire Athens was temporarily ruled by a pro-Spartan oligarchy known as the Thirty Although democracy was restored and Athens revived some measure of her strength and influence, she never again dominated Greece Athens nonetheless remained the cultural and intellectual center of Greece

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16. Fourth Century Greece

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A Period of Instability
Following the defeat of Athens in 404 B.C., Sparta was the dominant force in Greece for over three decades Sparta is later temporarily replaced by Thebes as the strongest Greek state As the fourth century continued, no one Greek polis was able to become supreme

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16. Fourth Century Greece

Decline of City-states
War and economic decline reduced the strength of the Greek states City-states became dependant upon mercenaries rather than citizen militias Individualism became more important than civic duty Peripheral states, including and especially Macedon, come to dominate Greece

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16. Fourth Century Greece

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Continued Creativity
Nevertheless, intellectual and artistic developments continue
The Socratic Revolution Platonic thought and idealism Isocrates program of liberal education Aristotles encyclopedic learning and rigorous method Refined artistic styles

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Socrates and Postwar Athens

The Historical Socrates Middle class hoplite, fought in Peloponnesian War Somewhat involved in politics, known for his principled stance in the trial of generals after Arginusae Married with two sons Some of his students were members of the Thirty Executed after trial for atheism and corrupting the youth The Socratic Problem Like Jesus, Socrates left no writings of his own so we are dependant upon others Can we ever capture the personality and philosophy of the historical Socrates or will we always be dependant upon existing literary/philosophical representations of him?

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16. Fourth Century Greece

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Views of Socrates
Aristophanes treatment in Clouds a natural philosopher peering into the heavens and under the earth, teaching his students to make the weaker argument the stronger . . . in short, both a natural philosopher and a sophist Xenophon: disciple who tried to disprove popular image Socrates did not teach for money, taught a conventional understanding of traditional values, attacked by personal and political enemies Plato: student who propounded an even more idealized image held no personal views, was not the teacher of any subject, merely a simple seeker of truth

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16. Fourth Century Greece

Platos Apology of Socrates

Socrates trial in 399 B.C. took place in the context of Athens defeat in the Peloponnesian War
Athens experienced a series of revolutions in which some of Socrates disciples had been involved in antidemocratic movements General disillusionment

Apologiaa judicial defense

Charges: corrupting youth, atheism Socrates the wisest because he knew that he did not know everything Elenchos, or cross examining, had made him unpopular
tried to disprove the oracle by finding someone who was wiser than himself Those who were wise or good at one thing thought that they were wise about everything! Socrates asked questions and followup questions, proving that they were not as wise as they thought

Death of Socrates Jacques-Louis David, 1878

Believed in daimones or divine things but not necessarily the traditional gods gadfly of the state midwife of ideas

His conviction and punishment

His association with Kritias won him enemies His free lunch proposal offended more He was executed by drinking hemlock

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16. Fourth Century Greece

16. Fourth Century Greece

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Greek Philosophy and the Gospel Perspective

D&C 93:139 Truth: Knowledge of things as they are, as they were, and as they are to come (v. 24)
How does this compare to the Platonic doctrine of learning and remembering?

Intelligence: Man was in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made . . . (v. 29)
Contrast with Platos Theory of Ideas

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Plato
c. 429347 B.C. From a wealthy and influential Athenian family His uncle Kritias has been a member of the oligarchy that had ruled Athens after the Peloponnesian War Fervent disciple of Socrates; the Athenian governments execution of Socrates helped turn Plato against democracy

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Platos Republic
About the perfect state: written in the context of disillusionment with contemporary political structures Example of a dialogue with interlocutors (Socrates and Glaucon) Social status to be determined by ability to reason, not wealth or inheritance
meritocracy

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Theory of Forms or Ideas

Plato the fountainhead of Western idealism . . . Favors the invisible world (spiritual) over the physical world everything earthly a pale reflection of an eternal ideal or idea (eede-a) Allegory of the Cave: like shadows on the wall of a cave, things in the material world were a poor imitation of metaphysical realities
This works better for moral qualities such as love, courage, virtue than for physical objects

Mimesis or imitation
example of a painting of a bed < actual bed < carpenters vision of a bed a poets description of bravery < bravery of a real man < eternal quality of bravery

Wisdom comes only after an intellectual quest that ends in apprehension of the Ideas.
Psyche existed before this life and continues afterwards: learning = remembering

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