e, because from love spawns all goodness and beauty. This will be explained further later. Plato's theory of forms (the two world theory- one sensory world of objects, and another world of forms and ideas), wisdom and justice as necessary factors in a happy life, and the nature of the soul (Immortality). Plato placed a lot of importance on beauty, the true appreciation for beauty. Plato's circular dogma comes in into play in a lot of his theories, so this too will be investigated. Let us start with the death of Socrates, Plato's mentor and lover. Illustrated in the Phaedo, Plato shows us an insight into this great man's teachings, of which there are no copies. He was thought to be the wisest man in Greece at the time of his execution. Socrates would be considered the epitome of Platonic man; he had achieved the highest levels of wisdom and goodness, the absolutes of beauty. But how did this man achieve these degrees of understanding and insightfulness? He simply lived his life following the motto he set for himself, "Become what you are". There is the knowledge and beauty there for the "taking", it is up to us to find our path.If Socrates is the ideal platonic man then he is a good role model for me as I prepare myself for my "ending" day. I would strive for the "Good" which in Platonic terms is a totality of perfection. The emphasis is on the achieving of wisdom instead of the wisdom itself. According to Plato, man's highest purpose is to strive towards openness of mind so as to appreciate the harmony of the cosmos. Knowledge = openness of the mind leading to eternal order. Plato's philosophy is about a vision of truth. To acquire this vision one must be able to prize true knowledge, not mere opinions. Reaching "enlightenment" through a separation of intellect and empirical experiences, later Plato developed his two world theory based upon this thinking. He didn't have much faith in the world of science, as discussed in the next pa...
