Plato Part 1: Sources

Russell starts his five chapters on Plato by discussing the sources of his opinions.

Plato was a well-to-do aristocrat, related to various people who were involved with the regime of the Thirty Tyrants. He was a young man when Athens was defeated by Sparta and probably attributed the defeat, and also the death of Socrates, to democracy. Therefore it was perhaps not surprising that his political leanings were pro-Spartan and anti-democratic. Russell sets up the case that he was an advocate of totalitarianism.

Russell suggests that his philosophical influences where as follows. Firstly Pythagoras, from whom he derived much of his mixture of intellect and mysticism. Parmenides, from whom he derived his belief that reality is eternal and timeless and that change is illusory. Heraclitus, who influenced his negative doctrine that there is nothing permanent in the sensible world, which combined with Parmenides led him to conclude that knowledge is to be derived from the intellect rather than the senses. And finally Socrates from whom he learnt his preoccupation with ethical problems, rather than science.

Russell then outlines the reasons that he thinks these influences are connected to Plato's authoritarian politics.

Russell then discusses how Plato's conception of wisdom connects with his politics. Russell suggests that Plato argues that wisdom consists in knowledge of the good, that people who know what is good will inevitably do what is right and that these people should therefore rule.Russell questions whether this view of wisdom is realistic and, even if it is, how a constitution might ensure that the wise will rule. There is no group in society that has a clear monopoly on wisdom. Even if the wise are to be trained the same problem exists, how do we decide on the training or the trainers? This, Russell argues, is why democracy is essential.