Plato: biography life ideas philosophy: plato. Plato: philosopher and mathematician from the royal family

Plato's works belong to the classical period of ancient philosophy. Their peculiarity is in the combination of problems and solutions that were previously developed by their predecessors. For this Plato, Democritus and Aristotle are called taxonomists. Plato the philosopher was also the ideological opponent of Democritus and the founder of the objective.

Biography

The boy, known to us as Plato, was born in 427 BC and was named Aristocles. The city of Athens became the birthplace, but scientists are still arguing about the year and city of the philosopher's birth. His father was Ariston, whose roots go back to the king Codra. Mother was a very wise woman and bore the name of Periktion, she was a relative of the philosopher Solon. His relatives were prominent ancient Greek politicians, and the young man could have followed their path, but such activity "for the good of society" hated him. All that he took advantage of by birth was the opportunity to get a good education - the best available at that time in Athens.

The youthful period of Plato's life is poorly understood. There is not enough information to understand how its formation went. The life of a philosopher has been studied more since his acquaintance with Socrates. At that time, Plato was nineteen years old. Being a famous teacher and philosopher, he would hardly have taken up teaching an unremarkable young man, similar to his peers, but Plato was already a prominent figure at that time: he took part in the national Pythian and Isthmian sports games, was engaged in gymnastics and power sports, was fond of music and poetry. Plato owns the authorship of epigrams, works related to the heroic epic and the dramatic genre.

The biography of the philosopher also contains episodes of his participation in hostilities. He lived during the Peloponnesian War and fought at Corinth and Tanagra, practicing philosophy in between battles.

Plato became the most famous and beloved of Socrates' disciples. Respect for the teacher is imbued with the work "Apology", in which Plato vividly painted the portrait of the teacher. After the death of the latter from the voluntary acceptance of poison, Plato left the city and went to the island of Megara, and then to Cyrene. There he began to take lessons from Theodore, studying the basics of geometry.

After graduating from there, the philosopher moved to Egypt to study with the priests of mathematical science and astronomy. In those days, adopting the experience of the Egyptians was popular among philosophers - Herodotus, Solon, Democritus and Pythagoras resorted to this. In this country, Plato's idea of ​​the division of people into estates was formed. Plato was convinced that a person should fall into one or another caste in accordance with his abilities, and not origin.

Returning to Athens, at the age of forty, he opened his own school, which was named the Academy. She belonged to the most influential philosophical educational institutions not only in Greece, but throughout antiquity, where the students were Greeks and Romans.

The peculiarity of Plato's works is that, unlike the teacher, he told thoughts in the form of dialogues. When teaching, he used the method of questions and answers more often than monologues.

Death overtook the philosopher at the age of eighty. He was buried next to his brainchild - the Academy. Later, the tomb was dismantled and today no one knows where his remains are buried.

Plato's ontology

As a taxonomist, Plato synthesized the achievements made by philosophers before him into a large, holistic system. He became the founder of idealism, and his philosophy touches upon many issues: knowledge, language, education, political system, art. The basic concept is an idea.

According to Plato, the idea should be understood as the true essence of any object, its ideal state. To comprehend an idea, it is necessary to use not the senses, but the intellect. The idea, being the form of a thing, is inaccessible for sensory knowledge, it is incorporeal.

The concept of an idea is put at the foundation of anthropology and Plato. The soul has three parts:

1. reasonable ("golden");
2. volitional principle ("silver");
3. the lustful part ("copper").

The proportions in which people are endowed with the listed parts can be different. Plato suggested that they should form the basis of the social structure of society. And the society itself, ideally, should have three estates:

1. rulers;
2. guards;
3. breadwinners.

The latter class was supposed to include merchants, artisans and peasants. In accordance with this structure, each person, a member of society, would do only what he has a predisposition to. The first two estates do not need to create a family or private property.

Plato's ideas of two types stand apart. According to them, the first kind is the world, which is eternal in its immutability, represented by authentic entities. This world exists regardless of the circumstances of the external, or material world. The second kind of being is the middle between two levels: ideas and matter. In this world, an idea exists by itself, and real things become shadows of such ideas.

The described worlds contain masculine and feminine principles. The first is active and the second is passive. A thing materialized in the world has matter and idea. It owes the latter its unchanging, eternal part. Sensual things are distorted reflections of their ideas.

The doctrine of the soul

Discussing the human soul in his teaching, Plato gives four proofs in favor of the fact that it is immortal:

1. Cyclicity in which opposites exist. They cannot exist without each other. Since more implies less, the existence of death speaks of the reality of immortality.
2. Knowledge is actually memories from past lives. Those concepts that people are not taught - about beauty, faith, justice - are eternal, immortal and absolute, known to the soul already at the moment of birth. And since the soul has an idea of ​​such concepts, it is immortal.
3. The duality of things leads to the opposition of the immortality of souls and mortality of bodies. The body is part of the natural shell, and the soul is part of the divine in man. The soul develops and learns, the body wants to satisfy base feelings and instincts. Since the body cannot live without the soul, the soul can be separate from the body.
4. Every thing has an unchanging nature, that is, white will never turn black, and even odd. Therefore, death is always a process of decay, which is not inherent in life. Since the body smolders, its essence is death. As the opposite of death, life is immortal.

These ideas are described in detail in such works of the ancient thinker as "Phaedrus" and "State".

The doctrine of knowledge

The philosopher was convinced that only individual things can be comprehended by the method of feelings, while essences are cognized by reason. Knowledge is neither sensations, nor correct opinions, nor definite meanings. True knowledge is understood as knowledge that has penetrated into the ideological world.

Opinion is part of the things perceived by the senses. Sensory cognition is impermanent, since the things subject to it are variable.

Part of the teaching on cognition is the concept of remembrance. In accordance with her, human souls remember the ideas known to her before the moment of reunification with this physical body. The truth is revealed to those who know how to close their ears and eyes, remember the divine past.

A person who knows something has no need for knowledge. But one who does not know anything will not find what he must look for.

Plato's theory of knowledge is reduced to anamnesis - the theory of memory.

Dialectic of Plato

Dialectics in the works of the philosopher has a second name - "the science of existence." Active thought, which is devoid of sensory perception, has two paths:

1. ascending;
2. downward.

The first path involves the transition from one idea to another until the moment the higher idea is discovered. Having touched it, the human mind begins to descend in the opposite direction, moving from general ideas to particular ones.

Dialectics touches upon being and non-being, the one and the many, rest and movement, the identical and the other. The study of the latter sphere led Plato to the derivation of the formula of matter and idea.

Political and legal doctrine of Plato

Understanding the structure of society and the state led to the fact that Plato paid them a lot of attention in his teachings and systematized them. The real problems of people, and not natural-philosophical ideas about the nature of the state, were placed at the center of political and legal doctrine.

Plato calls the ideal type of state that existed in antiquity. Then people did not feel the need for shelter and devoted themselves to philosophical research. After that, they faced a struggle and began to need funds for self-preservation. At the moment when joint settlements were formed, the state arose as a way to introduce a division of labor to meet the diverse needs of people.

Negative Plato calls such a state, which has one of four forms:

1. timocracy;
2. oligarchy;
3. tyranny;
4. democracy.

In the first case, power is held in the hands of people who have a passion for luxury and personal enrichment. In the second case, democracy develops, but the difference between the rich and poor classes is colossal. In a democracy, the poor revolt against the rule of the rich, and tyranny is a step towards the degeneration of the democratic form of statehood.

Plato's philosophy of politics and law also identified two main problems of all states:

• incompetence of top officials;
• corruption.

Negative states are based on material interests. For the state to become ideal, the moral principles by which citizens live should be at the forefront. Art should be censored, godlessness should be punished with death. State control should be exercised over all spheres of human life in such a utopian society.

Ethical views

The ethical concept of this philosopher is divided into two parts:

1. social ethics;
2. individual or personal ethics.

Individual ethics is inseparable from the improvement of morality and intellect through the harmonization of the soul. The body is opposed to it, as related to the world of feelings. Only the soul allows people to touch the world of immortal ideas.

The human soul has several sides, each of which is characterized by a specific virtue, briefly it can be represented as follows:

• to the reasonable side - wisdom;
• strong-willed - courage;
• affective - moderation.

The listed virtues are innate and are steps on the path to harmony. Plato sees the meaning of human life in the ascent to the ideal world,

Plato's students developed his ideas and passed them on to subsequent philosophers. Touching upon the spheres of public and individual life, Plato formulated many laws of the development of the soul and substantiated the idea of ​​its immortality.

Plato (Aristocles) (428-347 BC)

Came from a family of aristocrats. Disciple of Socrates. Plato's real name is Aristocles. When his father brought him to study with Socrates, the great sage said that he had seen a white swan in a dream the night before, a sign that he would have a new student, who in the future would become one of the most enlightened thinkers in the world.

Socrates has always been an indisputable authority for Plato, and later became an indispensable participant in all his dialogues. After the execution of Socrates, Plato, grieving over the death of his teacher, left Athens and went on a long journey. He was a guest in Cyrene with the philosopher Aristippus, with the Pythagorean mathematician Theodore, and also visited Egypt, Persia, Assyria, Babylon. In 389 BC. he ended up at the court of the ruler of Syracuse, Dionysius I the Elder. First, the ruler brought the philosopher closer to him, but then he became angry and sold him into slavery. Plato was bought by the philosopher Annekerides.

Around 387 BC Plato founded a school of philosophy in Athens. It was located in a grove dedicated to the Greek hero Academy - hence its name: the school's students and followers of Plato began to be called academicians. In total, the Academy existed for 915 years.

According to Plato's theory, ideas (the highest among them is the idea of ​​good) are eternal and unchanging intelligible prototypes of things, of all transient and changeable being; all things are similarities and reflections of ideas. Cognition is anamnesis - the memory of the soul about the ideas that it contemplated before its connection with the body.

Love for an idea is the motivating cause of spiritual ascent.

The ideal state is a hierarchy of three estates: rulers-wise men, warriors and officials, peasants and artisans.

Plato intensively developed dialectics and outlined the scheme of the main stages of being developed by Neoplatonism.

In the history of philosophy, the perception of Plato changed: "divine teacher" (antiquity), the forerunner of the Christian worldview (Middle Ages), the philosopher of ideal love and political utopian (Renaissance).

Almost all of Plato's works have survived to our time in full. These are highly artistic dialogues, the most important of which are "Apology of Socrates", "Phaedo", "Feast", "Phaedrus" (doctrine of ideas), "State", "Teetet" (theory of knowledge), "Parmenides" and "Sophist" (dialectics categories), "Timaeus" (natural philosophy).

His myths about the cave, the chariot, and the androgyne are widely known.

The cave myth examines the picture of human knowledge of the world.

In the chariot myth, the philosopher describes his concept of the human soul as a driver who drives the chariot. At the same time, the white horse represents noble feelings, and the black one personifies base passions.

The androgynous myth is dedicated to the problem of love between a man and a woman. It says that once a person was a single being with four arms, one head, two faces. Possessing both masculine and feminine qualities, androgynes improved so quickly that Zeus began to fear that they would soon surpass the Olympic gods themselves, and divided them into two halves. Since then, men and women have roamed the world in
searching for their halves.

Plato died in 347 BC. on your birthday during a feast.

Name: Plato

Years of life: about 429-427 BC NS. - 347 BC NS.

State: Ancient Greece

Field of activity: Philosophy

Greatest achievement: He was a student of Socrates, and became the teacher of Aristotle. His works have come down to us completely intact.

Plato (428/427 - 348/347 BC) - an outstanding Greek philosopher, known for his famous dialogues, as well as the Academy created in Athens - the prototype of the world's first university.

Plato was born into a very wealthy and powerful family. Many of his relatives were associated with Athenian politics, although the future philosopher himself was not interested in political issues. For some time they were the center of the Peloponnesian War, and Plato fought for victory for several years like an ordinary soldier.

When Plato was young, he decided to listen to Socrates' lectures. Plato learned a lot from the lips of Socrates: about how to manage your thoughts, build inferences and what to think about.

When in 399 BC. Socrates was killed, Plato was heartbroken. Soon the young man (Plato was about 30 years old) began to remember the dialogues he had with his teacher, and reproduced them on paper.

Almost all the information that we know about Socrates has been preserved only in the records of Plato.

Plato's ideas

After some time, Plato began to write down his own philosophical views, moving away from the ideas of his teacher.

One of Plato's early works is Republic. In it, Plato outlined his views on public administration in Athens and proposed a different form of government. The philosopher believed that the right to choose and vote should not be given to everyone, since the majority of the population are uneducated people who have no idea how the state should develop.

This is how the idea arose that the people should choose their representatives from the nobility and pundits, and they, in turn, should decide state issues.

Recall that Plato himself came from a very wealthy family, so he probably thought that only people from noble families can have the right to make important decisions.

Allegory of the cave

Plato also talked a lot about the structure of the world. He thought everything had a kind of ideal shape. For example, a chair is a kind of imitation of an ideal image - an upholstered chair (however, this image exists only in a person's head).

Plato explained his views through the metaphor of the cave: “Suppose several men are chained to the wall in the cave, they can only see the opposite wall, each other and nothing else.

But they notice the shadows of objects that are outside the cave. That is, the chained can in their imagination create an image of an object, thing or living being, whose shadow will be seen. "

If one of the men escaped, left the cave and saw that there were other people outside the cave, trees and grass were growing, the sun was shining.If he goes back to the cave and tells other people what he saw, will they believe him or think he's crazy?

Plato argues that people are like those who sit in a cave: we think we understand the real world, but because we are limited by our body, we only see shadows.

One of Plato's main goals was to help people learn about the world around them, find ways to predict events, the appearance and structure of things and objects, even without being able to physically see them.

From this point of view, mathematicians and physicists know the world.

Plato, Hinduism and Buddhism

It is possible that Plato's ideas about the difference between reality and the illusion that exists in the inferences of people are related to the Hindu and about nirvana, which took shape in India at about the same time.

The philosopher traveled a lot in Italy, Sicily, and Quirina.

Historians claim that Plato returned to his homeland at the age of 40 and organized his famous Academy, the area of ​​which was comparable to six stadiums.

In the educational institution, young men from noble families were trained in various sciences. The academy was destroyed by Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 84 BC.

The Neoplatonists revived the Academy at the beginning of the 5th century, and it operated until 529 AD, when it was finally closed by Justinian I of.

Death of Plato

There are several opinions about how exactly Plato died: someone says that the philosopher died in his bed while a young Thracian girl played the flute for him; other historians hold the theory that Plato died at a wedding feast.

Tertullian says that Plato died in a dream.

Plato and his years of life, as well as his works, are of genuine interest to many. I hope his short biography will be interesting for my readers as well. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato was born in 427 BC. on the island of Aegina. He belonged to people who reject materialism and strive to seek - justice, truth and a more perfect life. Plato is the ancestor of idealism. He came from a noble family, whose roots led to the last Attic king Codru, and according to another version to the sea god Poseidon. Although he was born on the island of Aegina, he did not live there for long. Soon the whole family returned to Athens, it was there that he spent his childhood, youth and most of the life of the famous philosopher. The mother of Plato, Periktion, at birth gave her son the name Aristocles, while Plato (Greek latitude, width) is a nickname given to the philosopher for his broad shoulders and strong physique, according to another version for his broad forehead.

He received his primary education in an ordinary Athenian school, where, as the neo-Platonist Olympiodorus writes in his biographical work Life of Plato: “These were the three subjects of instruction for children in Athens: literature, music and palestra; and not without purpose, and then, so that the knowledge of literature develops their minds, music softened their souls, and classes in palestra and gymnasium strengthened their bodies against idle lust ”. In his younger years, Plato was very fond of composing poetry, writing praises and tragedies, and was fond of painting. But a meeting on the Athenian streets with Socrates, when he witnessed one of the "street conversations" of the wise Hellene, forever changed his life. He burned all his works and became a zealous follower of the famous philosopher. Together with him, he walked down the street and learned the secrets of "mayovtika" - the science of finding the truth.

Socrates loved his student very much and called him a swan. There is a legend that on the eve of their first meeting, the philosopher dreamed of a swan, which, sitting on his chest, soared upward with beautiful singing. He was sure that it was Plato who would continue his work. And he continued - conversations with Socrates became the model and theme of his philosophical works. All his work is permeated with the Socratic understanding of the meaning and role of philosophy in human life, the Socratic style of seeking truth. The death of his beloved teacher deprived Plato of moral support. Socrates was sentenced to drink a cup of hemlock poison, accusing him of creating new gods and corrupting youth.

After the death of the teacher in 399 BC. Plato left Athens and traveled for 12 years, visiting during this time Italy, Sicily, Egypt, the African Cyrene. In Egypt, Plato talked with the priests of Heliopolis, in Cyrene with the famous mathematician Theodore. In Italy, he met with the Pythagoreans and thoroughly familiarized himself with their teachings, as well as with their views in the field of mathematics, philosophy, politics, mechanics and other sciences. In Sicily, he enjoyed the beauty of nature, was received at the court of the Syracuse tyrant Dionysius the Elder. Here he made friends with the young aristocrat Dion, who really liked Plato's criticism of vices. However, the tyrant himself did not like her, and their relationship escalated. Diogenes Laertius in his book "On the Life, Teachings and Sayings of Famous Philosophers" writes: "Plato insulted him with his arguments about tyrannical power, saying that not everything is for the better, that is only for the benefit of the tyrant, if the tyrant is not distinguished by virtue. “You talk like an old man,” Dionysius told him in anger; "And you are like a tyrant," replied Plato.

For this, Plato almost paid with his life, but thanks to the persuasions of Dion and Aristomenes, he was given to the Spartan Pollid, so that he sold him into slavery outside Syracuse. Pollides brought Plato to the island of Aegina, where he put him up for sale. But since Plato was an Athenian, a mortal threat hung over him. The Corinthian war was going on, and Athens and Aegina belonged to hostile camps and, according to the law of that time, any Athenian who entered the island was subject to execution without trial, but the Aegins allowed Plato to be sold into slavery as a prisoner of war. It was bought by Annikerides of Kirensky, who had known him since childhood, and sent the philosopher to Athens.

Plato returned to Athens at the age of 40. On the outskirts of the city, he bought a grove that bore the name of the hero of the Academy, in which he founded his school - the Academy. This school has existed for almost a thousand years. The Academy was ruled by strict morals and restraint in the expression of feelings was encouraged. Young men from all over Hellas studied there. Girls were also accepted. Many of the graduates of the Academy have become famous scientists, philosophers and politicians.

Plato's studies at the Academy were interrupted twice. The first time his longtime friend Dion wrote that the time had finally come for the implementation in Sicily of Plato's ideas about a fair state system and he urgently needed to come to Syracuse. Where Plato, after much hesitation, nevertheless decided to go, despite his 62 years old. But his dreams were not destined to come true. Dionysius the Younger, who replaced the Syracuse tyrant, did not dare to embody Plato's ideas. Dion was accused of conspiracy and exiled in disgrace. Plato was subjected to home supervision, but then he was still released to his homeland.

The second time he visited Syracuse in order to achieve reconciliation between Dionysius the younger and Dion. But he did not succeed. To escape from Syracuse again, Plato had to resort to the help of the Architus of Tarentum. After that, tired of political intrigue and violence, he abandoned state affairs forever and devoted himself entirely to philosophical and scientific research at the Academy. In old age, his body underwent illness, but his mind was always clear. Until now, for many, he is a guiding star, and his light continues to shine for us through the centuries.

Plato died in 347 BC, at the age of 80. He was buried on the territory of the Academy. A message has survived about two inscriptions on his grave:

Knowledge of measure and righteous disposition

excellent among mortals,

This divine husband is buried here

Aristocles.

If any of the people achieves a great

wisdom,

This is more than anyone else: envy is something

in front of him.

In the deep bosom the earth hid the remains

His immortal spirit in the assembly of the blessed

Son of Ariston, you knew the insight of the divine

And among the most worthy we honor in near and far

Plato (Πλάτων)

427 - 347 BC

Plato is a wonderful person in all respects: cultural, philosophical, pedagogical, esoteric and religious.

In European history after Plato there has not yet been a single century when they did not argue about Plato, either praising him excessively or belittling him in every way in any respect - historical - religious, historical - literary, historical or sociological.

A philosopher who, 23 centuries after his death, has followers, cannot be called ordinary. All the ideas that are subsequently developed by European philosophy, including those bear the imprint, reflection, light of Plato's ideas.

ON THE FORMATION OF THE FATE OF PLATO

Among his contemporaries, a student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle was known as Aristocles... And only after leaving the subtle world, the playful nickname Plato given to him for his wide chest, or according to other legends, for a wide forehead, gained great popularity and supplanted his native name.

Plato was born in 427 BC. May 27. The family to which Plato belonged was one of the oldest and most influential in the country. His father Ariston was a descendant of the famous king Codra, who without hesitation sacrificed himself when he learned from the oracle that the side whose king would lose his kingdom would win the war.

Plato's mother was called Periktion or Potona.

The nobility of origin provided Plato with a brilliant education... He studied a lot and diligently. His abilities began to be discovered early, and in all subjects he made progress. In gymnastics, he was so different that his teacher Ariston gave him what became the historical nickname of Plato. His achievements in music and poetry were outstanding.

All circumstances developed in such a way as to open a brilliant political career to Plato. Plato strove for the heights of esoteric knowledge. This was greatly influenced by the meeting with Socrates when he was twenty years old. He did not immediately "settle" at the teacher's feet and did not immediately become friends with him. Even having met Socrates, Plato continued to study the then existing philosophical systems. Then Plato had to often leave the city - to carry military service. At that time, the Peloponnesian War was in full swing, when the Spartans besieged Athens. But it is known that by the end of Socrates' life, he was on the best terms with him and was considered one of the beloved students... When his teachers were on trial, Plato prepared a defensive speech, but during her

utterance was driven from the rostrum by the wild shouts of the crowd. In his dialogues, he paints a portrait of his teacher with the greatest love, and even the fact that he makes Socrates the protagonist of his dialogues shows the full extent of his adoration. Socrates had a tremendous influence on Plato. A real revolution took place in his soul and the life of the young thinker. Saying goodbye to the secular way of life, Plato arranged a feast for his friends, at which he announced his determination to follow the example of Socrates.

“This is the last feast in which I participate with you. From this hour on, I give up the joys of life in order to devote myself to Wisdom and follow the teachings of Socrates. Know that I even renounce poetry, for I understood its powerlessness to express the truth, as I understand the truth from now on. I will not write another verse and now, in your presence, I will burn everything that I have written so far. " Plato remained in Athens until the death of Socrates, after which his wanderings begin.

First he visited the island of Mechara, where the philosopher Euclid ascended- one of the noblest people of his time. This meeting was useful for Plato in the sense of increasing knowledge. Then Plato goes to the famous geometer Theodore, where he takes lessons in mathematics. Subsequently, as they say, Plato made an inscription on the gates of his school stating that access to the school was open only to people who knew geometry. Plato also visited Egypt where mathematics flourished too. Everything here amazed the human imagination. And astronomical predictions, and engineering structures, canals, bridges, highways and many other mechanical inventions. The most mysterious, of course, were the priests. Inquiring personalities, thirsty for knowledge, flocked to them.

They studied geometry, mathematics, astronomy, mechanics, they sought initiation into esoteric knowledge, and were ready to spend years to acquire at least a grain of intimate knowledge. Plato stayed in Egypt for 13 years. They say that further Plato went to India, where he studied the wisdom of Zoroaster and Buddha, Chaldeans and Brahmins. But the greatest impression on him was made by the integral philosophy of Pythagoras, drawing from all world sources and taking all the most valuable. This school prepared humanity for the perception of the teachings of the Great Christ.

In Greece itself, the influence of the Pythagoreans was so enormous that this doctrine often surpassed in popularity the philosophy of Plato himself. Briefly about the philosophy of the Pythagoreans we can say that they taught about the infinity of the Universe in space and time, that it is ruled by a single deity, harmony reigns everywhere, that the Earth moves on its axis, and the Sun is the center of the Solar System. The soul itself is a living harmony that sets in motion the body - its dungeon. She is immortal. Man, in essence, is a soul, the body is only a shell - a dungeon for the soul. The Pythagoreans lived in communist communities, and severe discipline reigned. Only after becoming acquainted with the teachings of the Pythagoreans did the worldview of Plato finally begin to take shape. The Pythagorean doctrine of numbers could have pushed Plato to the doctrine of ideas as real essences of visible and invisible objects of knowledge. In many other ways, Plato's doctrine is close to the Pythagorean one: about the structure of the Cosmos, about universal harmony, about the soul and its reincarnations. And the very social organization of the Pythagoreans with its communist principles and aristocratic tendencies influenced the social and political ideals of Plato.

As a mature husband, Plato returned to his homeland. He goes to Sicily, where the tyrant Dionysius the elder, energetic, stern, ambitious, ruled. He united almost all of Sicily, founded the maritime trade, imposed levies on the people. At the same time, he was a well-educated person and cultivated science and art, built splendid temples and other public buildings.

It was he who invited Plato to him. He willingly accepted the invitation, especially since the tyrant's brother-in-law, Dion, an enthusiastic admirer of Plato, lived at the tyrant's palace. However, Dionysius did not like the unsolicited advice and remarks of Plato, who demanded that the tyrant limit his power in the interests of the people. Dionysius wanted to deal with the philosopher immediately, but was restrained by Dion. Then the tyrant gave the philosopher to the Spartan ambassador Pollid, the same sold him into slavery... Here a certain Annikirit ransomed the thinker and released him. Plato wanted to return the money to Annikirides, but he refused. With the money returned, Plato bought a beautiful corner on the outskirts of Athens with gardens and a shady grove. Here founded a philosophical school called the Academy, which was called so in part of the hero of the Academy.

Twice more Plato again had a chance to visit Sicily. He cherished the idea of ​​realizing his project of a perfect political system. But on the spot, all illusions were dispelled. The philosopher quickly became convinced that he was achieving the impossible. For the past 14 years, Plato has lived in the quiet of his school, developing his philosophy. Various sciences were taught here. Its main teacher was Plato himself. At the Academy, Plato wrote most of his writings.

After the death of its founder, "Academy" existed for almost 1000 years.

Plato was a student of Socrates for a time, but while Socrates did not reach the degree of Initiation, Plato became the Great Initiate.

36 works of Plato have come down to us... Beginning in the 17th century, the corpus of its texts was subjected to careful critical examination from the point of view of their truth and chronology.

And if you tell each of them, you can delve into amazing discoveries and heights.

Plato's manner of writing in dialogues “is one of a kind; never before or after him has any philosopher achieved anything like this. "

Plato's dialogues are full of lively dramatic movement; Widely and freely sketched, expressive in colors and picturesque portrayal of characters, they shine with a heroine, mockery, breathe inspiration and passion.

In this article we will talk about the main themes reflected in his works: about the origin of the Universe, about the Beginnings, half-hearted souls, about the world of ideas, about the soul, about the types of state, about the classes that inhabit them, and the demonstration of the ideal state.

ABOUT THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE

In the Timaeus dialogue, Plato talks about the creation of the universe, and first of all, he considers the following question:

- There is eternal, non-arising being (or as we call it the unmanifest Cosmos or Absoyut).

- There is an eternally arising, but never existing being. (Manifest Cosmos, Universe).

- Cosmos, or the sky that we see, does it have the beginning of its origin?

The answer is given - it has arisen, because it is visible and felt.

And if the Cosmos has arisen, then there must be a Cause (or some prototype of the future Universe, Divine thought, which rests in the unmanifest Cosmos).

- looking at what prototype did the one who made the Universe work?

- if the Cosmos is beautiful, and its Demiurge is good, then He looked to the eternal. And if on the contrary, then he looked at the emerging image.

Now let's consider the question for what reason the Universe arose.

Plato says that God took care of all visible things, which were not at rest, but in constant and disorderly movement. He brought them from disorder to order (i.e. matter is always in motion, and even during Maha-Pralaya there is a certain movement that never stops).

The same idea is contained in the Secret Doctrine, which tells us about two kinds of movement:

- Intracosmic movement - which is eternal and continuous;

- Cosmic movement is visible and that which is subject to cognition.

The Manifested Cosmos periodically arises and then dissolves again.

The Secret Doctrine also tells us about the Great Breath, which does not stop and pulsates even during Maha-Pralaya, and we can call this Great Breath the cause of the universe.

It consists of 3 parts:

- from one that is indivisible and eternal (related to the Absolute);

- one that undergoes separation in bodies (related to Mulaprakriti);

- the third kind, which God created by mixing the first two.

And, taking these three principles, God merged them into a single idea. (The same idea bears a resemblance to the Trinity of Christianity or the three Logoi of the Secret Doctrine).

When the entire composition of the Soul was born, the Creator arranged everything bodily within the soul and connected one to another at the central points.

Plato says that nothing can be visible without the participation of fire, and tangible without something solid, i.e. land. However, these two principles cannot be well connected with each other without some connection that unites them.

And the Creator placed water and air between fire and earth, and after that established more accurate relationships between them.

On these bases and from such components, the number 4 gave birth to the body of the Cosmos, ordered due to proportion.

We have all heard of such a concept as "". Plato wrote about them in his treatise Timaeus, where compared each of the four elements to a certain regular polyhedron. Earth was associated with a cube, air with an octahedron, water with an icosahedron, and fire with a tetrahedron. For the emergence of these associations were the following reasons: the heat of the fire is felt clearly and sharply (like small tetrahedrons); air consists of octahedrons: its smallest components are so smooth that you can hardly feel them; water pours out, if you take it in your hand, as if it were made of many small balls (to which the icosahedrons are closest); in contrast to water, completely unlike a ball, cubes make up the earth, which causes the earth to crumble in the hands, as opposed to the smooth flow of water. Regarding the fifth element, the dodecahedron, Plato made a vague remark: "... God defined it for the Universe and resorted to it as a model" (perhaps here Plato gave a hint of the existence of the ether).

Our Cosmos is a living being... But Plato says that we should not belittle the Cosmos by speaking of a particular being. We are talking about a Single being that unites many others.

So, as soon as the Cosmos appeared, the question arose, what is time?

Time is an eternal image moving from number to number, which is a kind of moving semblance of eternity.

There were no days, no nights, no months, no years, until the sky was born.

Simply put, time arises from the moment the universe originated. And such concepts as "was" and "will" refer only to the moment of the beginning and end of the Universe. But if you think more correctly, then the time should be only “is.

But the prototype for time was eternal nature. For the archetype is that which exists for all eternity, while the reflection (of it) is possible, is and will be in the course of the integral time.

So that time was born from the mind and thought of God, the Sun, the Moon and 5 other luminaries, called planets, arose in order to determine and observe the numbers of time.

He placed them in number 7 on 7 circles. They began to rotate, some in small circles, others in large ones.

But, unlike the modern heliocentric model of planetary rotation, Plato says that the rotation of the planets has a spiral bend, due to the opposite of the 2 main motions.

In other words, one of the movements is circular or centrifugal, and the other is centripetal, which crosses the first and subordinates to itself. As a result of the interaction of two forces, a spiral motion of the planets is obtained.

But, in addition, I would like to tell you about one experiment that was carried out in space on board the ISS.

In a special vacuum chamber, a plasma was created, which was free from the action of the earth's gravity, and, gradually, dust particles were introduced into this chamber.

And, getting into the chamber, these particles were twisted into a spiral.

In the dialogue Timaeus, Plato also gives a hint that in the Cosmos there are not only known and visible planets, but also many others, the movements of which can be calculated. But this is already the science of the future.

It is in the knowledge of the world of ideas that Plato sees the only way to understand the world and its laws. This path runs not outside, but in the person himself.

This is an attempt in the field of the human mind to explain the "subtle reality", or the "heavenly" world. Such concepts as GOD, man, evolution, the Universe. These categories helped to view the inner man.

ABOUT THE WORLD OF IDEAS AND THE SOUL

Before Plato, the idea that the visible world does not coincide with the present reality was already expressed by some philosophers, for example, Anaximenes, Heraclitus. But it was Plato who developed this idea.

According to Plato, the world is the formation of a transitional state into another.

But at the same time there should be something unchanging, something that lies at the basis of this becoming. Realistically and first, there are concepts or ideas of things. And they do not exist in our mind, but outside of us, in a higher world inaccessible to our senses, and all the things that surround us are just products of these "ideas" and are their reflections or shadows. The world of "ideas" is eternal and unchanging, the world of things is changeable and impermanent... This thought is the main one in the teachings of Plato.

So, "ideas" exist independently, separately from things and independently of our thoughts.

The properties of things are actually properties of "ideas." "Idea" is being, the living embodiment of all generic, specific and individual characteristics of things.

In relation to things, "idea" plays the same role as the concept of an artist or artisan in relation to his work or product. But the artist's concept exists in his mind, and the “ideas” exist in reality.

In Plato's view, the Universe splits into two worlds: one is the higher, invisible world of ideas, real, unchanging, eternal, and the other is the lower, perceived by us, perishable, changeable world of things. The first world gives rise to the second.

We cognize the external world of things with the help of our senses, while the mind serves to cognize the supersensible world of ideas.

In the works of Plato, we find different meanings of the concept of "idea":

1) the reason, or the source of being;

2) the model, looking at which the demiurge creates the world of things;

3) the goal to which, as to the supreme good, all that exists; and finally

4) the meaning, with the thought that modern people put into this word - this is a plan, a guiding principle, a thought.

The most complete characterization of the "idea" was developed by Plato in the study of the essence of beauty in his dialogues "Phaedo", "Feast", "Fileb". He defines the beautiful as something irrespectively beautiful, good, as something irrespectively good, and so on. In the dialogue "Phaedo" he declares: "I start from the position that there is something in itself beautiful, good, great and other things."

In its objective existence, the beautiful is one of the highest "ideas." But the highest "idea", according to Plato, is the "idea of ​​the good." In the dialogue “State” we read: “Good is not an essence, but in dignity and strength it is above the limits of essence. It is the "unintended" "beginning of all good things."

Plato's doctrine of the idea of ​​the good as the highest idea is extremely important for the entire system of his worldview. This doctrine becomes a doctrine of expediency: since the idea of ​​goodness dominates over everything, the idea of ​​goodness rises, this means that the order that prevails in the world is expedient - after all, everything is directed towards a good purpose. Everything that is temporary and relative has the goal of something objective and permanent. And this something, being a goal, is at the same time a good ("Fileb"). And this is the essence of all things, their sample ("Politician", "Theetetus"). All things strive to achieve good, although in our physical world this is impossible.

For all living beings, the highest goal, the object of aspiration is happiness. But happiness, as explained in a number of dialogues, consists precisely in the possession of the good. Therefore, every soul strives for the good and does everything for the good.

Striving for the possession of the good, the soul strives for the knowledge of the good.

Since the criterion of any relative good is the unconditional good, then the highest of all philosophical teachings is the doctrine of the "idea" of good. Only when the “idea” of the good is guided, what is just becomes useful and useful. Without the “idea” of the good, all human knowledge, even the most complete, would be completely useless (“State”).

Man does not completely belong to the world of things. He has a soul - an eternal and ideal essence, it binds him with an invisible world. After the death of the body, the soul goes exactly there, stays there for some time, while contemplating the "ideas" themselves and joining the higher knowledge. Then she descends into the material world and, settling into any body, forgets about her knowledge. However, oblivion hides the ability to remember. It turns out that when a person is born, he already knows everything, but only potentially. Therefore, knowledge, according to Plato, is the recollection of the soul... Later, this view was called "Theory of innate ideas."

As a person is spiritualized by the soul, it is also exactly the whole universe has its own soul. Our body is a part of the world body, our soul is a part of the world soul. Everything is set in motion only by the soul.

Plato shared the idea of ​​soul reincarnation... The human soul is forced to incarnate on Earth until it grows heavenly wings. Only then will she be able to return to her heavenly homeland.

According to the teachings of Plato, the soul, doomed to wander in darkness, that is, in the shell of the corporeal, in the sphere of sensual illusions, at a certain moment breaks out of the dungeon and rushes into completely different dimensions and spaces. How does Plato describe the journey of the soul before its imprisonment in the body. In the treatise Phaedrus, the soul is represented in the images of two winged horses harnessed to one team. One white, strives for glory, greatness, goodness, symbolizes our noble aspirations, thirst for beauty and perfection. The other horse is dark, ugly, with a short neck, bloodshot eyes, and a matted mane. She is prone to rampage and has difficulty obeying the bridle. These are our base instincts that breed evil and injustice.

This symbolic couple also has a charioteer who personifies the best in man - the mind that controls two winged creatures.

Following divine aspirations, we can ascend to the heavenly spheres, to the Absolute, where eternal ideas, beauty, and justice reign. However, most human souls are only able to notice true wisdom for a short moment. With the pull of earthly material forces, they constantly lose their wings and fall down. But if you remember where, in what heights the soul was previously, then you can again rise to the top of your own greatness (100 famous sages).

Hence follows the meaning of virtue, for the good of the soul consists in approaching the Divine and returning to heaven.

Passions or striving for sensual pleasures Plato considered illegal, interfering with the achievement of harmony. Plato did not deny ordinary love, but above physiological love he put spiritual fusion, the joint desire of two natures to achieve philosophical knowledge, that is, knowledge of ideas: for such a union, the highest goal is truth, and his delights lie in the consciousness of this common desire for a divine goal ... Thus, platonic love does not deny physical, but at the same time it grows on spiritual beauty, and not on bodily, and seeks not carnal, but spiritual, not perishable, but immortal.

ABOUT HALF SOULS

In his work "The Feast" Plato tells us that once the nature of man was not the same as it is now, but completely different. And since then it has undergone some changes.

First of all, people were of three sexes, and not two, as it is now - male and female, for there was still a third sex, which combined the characteristics of both of them; he himself disappeared, and only the name "Androgyne" remained from him.

So, each of us is a half of a man, cut into two parts, and therefore each is always looking for a half corresponding to him.

When someone happens to meet just their half, both are seized by such an amazing feeling of affection, closeness and love that they truly do not want to be separated, even for a short time.

The reason for this is that this was our original nature and we were something whole.

Plato says that if someone wants to choose the right path in bringing the halves together, then this is the way to go in love - on your own or under someone else's guidance: starting with individual manifestations of the beautiful, you must all the time, as if up the stairs, for the sake of the most beautiful upwards - from beautiful bodies to beautiful morals, from beautiful morals to beautiful teachings, until you rise from these teachings to the one that is the teaching about the most beautiful, and you do not finally know what it is - beautiful.

The concept of a correct combination includes the following elements: half-hearted souls must be combined, united for thousands of years on the earthly plane by a great heart and spiritual feeling. These souls must belong to one element, because each element has its own Lord, in other words, they must have a Single Focus of their striving. Armed with a single idea, directed to the Single Focus of attraction, such half-hearted souls will have the full opportunity to direct passion to higher creativity and thus master it through joint efforts. Developing among themselves a feeling of high, selfless love, they will gain contact with the Focus of selflessness and join the Inexhaustible Source of high creative energy, and as a creative battery they will affirm cooperation with the Highest.

Helena Roerich writes that the unification of minds and hearts is not accomplished in one life, and even over several lifetimes, namely, thousands of years are needed to accumulate the energies intertwining these inextricable bonds.

The book "The Fiery World" says that Plato with half souls was not only closer to the truth, but expressed it beautifully.

PLATO'S TEACHING ABOUT PERFECT AND IMPERFECT FORMS OF THE STATE

The best state, according to Plato, should:

1. Possess the strength and means of his protection;
2. To carry out a systematic and sufficient supply of all members of society with the material benefits necessary for them;
3. Control and guide the development of spiritual activities and creativity.

The state structure depends on the morals of people, on their mentality or character. The state is what its constituent people are. Plato sees a direct correspondence between the character warehouse and the form of government. He distinguishes the following types of state:

1. Aristocracy.
2. Timocracy.
3. Oligarchy.
4. Democracy.
5. Tyranny.

Under the aristocracy, the state is ruled by sages - philosophers. If there are several of them, this is actually the aristocracy, if there is only one ruler, this is a monarchy. This type of state was closest to Plato, he considered it ideal.

Plato opposed the ideal type of state to a negative type of social structure. In this case, the main driver of human behavior is material concerns and incentives. These are timocracy, oligarchy, democracy and tyranny. Plato gives them a characteristic and shows the transition from one type to another through degradation. Closest to an acceptable form of state, he puts timocracy - the power of several individuals, based on military strength, that is, on the virtue of the middle part of the soul. This reign is similar to the aristocratic Sparta of the 5th-4th centuries BC. With this type of state, although not the wisest ruled, nevertheless one of the upper classes - the guardians of the state. Under such a government, military qualities prevail over others. However, over time, ambition develops, and the desire for power gives rise to the desire for wealth. The accumulation of property in the hands of a few produces excessive enrichment for some while impoverishing others. Money becomes a measure of honor and influence on public affairs. The poor are excluded from participation in political life, they are deprived of political rights, a qualification is introduced, and the rule of a timocracy turns into an oligarchy, that is, the power of the rich.

Oligarchy is a state of wasteful people, the rich are like drones in a bee hive. Over time, they become spiritual poor. In the end, such a person becomes a completely useless member of society. At the same time, the base aspirations of a person, such as greed, are manifested. The board is handed over to people not according to merit, but according to wealth. The oligarchy is based on intimidation and the use of military force. The poor develop hatred of the greedy rich, leading to a coup in the state and the establishment of democracy.

Democracy is majority rule and rule. In a democracy, all citizens are divided into three classes, which are at enmity with each other.

The first class is made up of orators and demagogues, false teachers of wisdom, whom Plato calls drones with a sting.

The second class is the rich, representatives of false moderation. They are stingless drones.

The third class - the poor, constantly at war under the influence of the first class with the second. Plato likens them to worker bees.

Due to the dominance of false opinions inherent in the crowd, a loss of moral guidelines and a reassessment of values ​​occurs: impudence will be called enlightenment, licentiousness - freedom, debauchery - splendor, shamelessness - courage. Already unlimited freedom reigns here. Everyone believes that everything is allowed to him, disorder reigns in the state. Passions and desires, previously restrained, appear in all their unbridledness: impudence, anarchy, debauchery, and shamelessness dominate society. People who flatter the crowd are elevated to the board. Respect for authority and the law disappears. Children equate themselves with their parents, students with mentors, slaves with masters. The very excess of freedom undermines its foundations, for one extreme causes another. The people persecute anyone who rises above the crowd and wealth, nobility or ability. Hence, new and incessant strife follows. The rich conspire to protect their wealth, and the people are looking for a leader. The latter, little by little, takes power into his own hands; he surrounds himself with hired bodyguards and finally destroys all popular rights and becomes a tyrant.

Democracy is intoxicated by undiluted freedom and from it grows its continuation and opposite - tyranny.

Tyranny is the worst kind of state system, where lawlessness reigns, the destruction of more or less outstanding people - potential opponents, the constant inspiration of the need for a leader, suspicion of free thoughts and numerous executions under a far-fetched pretext of betrayal, "cleansing" of the state from all those who are courageous, generous, reasonable, or rich.

Any story about Atlantis begins with a mention of two famous works of Plato - "Timaeus" and "Critias". This immutable rule is followed by both supporters of the existence of the most ancient legendary country in the Atlantic, and their opponents. The theme of the ideal state structure was close to the philosopher. According to one version, Atlantis was invented by him to illustrate his views. The defenders of Atlantis, on the other hand, believe that Plato was looking for confirmation of his theories in real facts, the news of which could have reached the Egyptian priests.

First, let's talk about the occasion on which Plato turned to the legend of Atlantis. This task is not difficult, since “Kritiy” does not stand alone, but completes the triad of dialogues connected by the commonality of the participants and the proximity of the time to which they are assigned.

The first and most famous of them, "The State", is probably the first scientific and political science research in history. In it, Socrates analyzes the flaws of the existing state systems and constructs a kind of ideal state (as you know, Plato never speaks on his own behalf in dialogues, but puts his thoughts in the mouths of those who are talking).

The next dialogue, Timaeus, is dedicated to the structure of the world, which the demiurge creates according to the laws of harmony. As it is clear from the participants' remarks, this dialogue takes place the day after the talk about the state. In addition to Socrates, the Pythagorean philosopher Timaeus, the commander Hermocrates and the Athenian philosopher and politician, a disciple of Socrates Critias, participate in Timaeus.

At the beginning of the Timaeus there is something like a preface to the Critique. There Socrates reminds his interlocutors of yesterday's conversation about an ideal state.

Finally, in the last dialogue, Critias fulfills his promise and begins a story about Atlantis in front of the same interlocutors. So, this legend comes up in connection with the image of an ideal state, and to confirm it.

Describing the beautiful drowned country, Plato hoped to amaze the imagination of his contemporaries, and he succeeded. The ancient civilization, which has no equal in development and wealth, is described so reliably that it involuntarily fascinates the reader, and against this background, statements about politics and military conflict, declared as the main theme of the essay, fade.

Here Plato mentions gigantic structures and unknown technologies, demonstrating unheard of luxury. In the description of Atlantis, the influence of the Pythagoreans is noticeable, to whom the philosopher was close; perfect figures - a circle, a square, a rectangle - as well as non-random numerical ratios, demonstrate Plato's attachment to geometric harmony. The symbol of Atlantis is symmetry and order. Plato writes: "... at an equal distance from the shores and in the middle of the whole island there was a plain, according to legend, more beautiful than all other plains and very fertile, and ... about fifty stadia (10 kilometers) from its edges there was a mountain low on all sides" ... There Poseidon, who took possession of the island, became friends with the mortal woman Kleito.

Giant structures and unknown technologies, displaying unheard of luxury. In the description of Atlantis, the influence of the Pythagoreans is noticeable, to whom the philosopher was close; perfect figures - a circle, a square, a rectangle - as well as non-random numerical ratios, demonstrate Plato's attachment to geometric harmony. The symbol of Atlantis is symmetry and order. Plato writes: "... at an equal distance from the shores and in the middle of the whole island there was a plain, according to legend, more beautiful than all other plains and very fertile, and ... about fifty stadia (10 kilometers) from its edges there was a mountain low on all sides" ... There Poseidon, who took possession of the island, became friends with the mortal woman Kleito.

The hill where Kleito lived was strengthened by the caring god “around the circumference, separating it from the island and fencing alternately with water and earth rings ... drawn at an equal distance from the center, as if with a compass”. Poseidon's descendants spared no effort to continue his undertaking: “Using ... the gifts of the land, the kings built sanctuaries, palaces, harbors and shipyards and put the whole country in order ... From the very beginning they built a palace where the abode of God and their ancestors stood, and then ... more and more it was decorated, until in the end they created a structure of striking size and beauty. From the sea, they drew a channel three pletra (100 meters) wide ... and fifty stades long, up to the extreme of the water rings: thus they created access from the sea to this ring, as if to a harbor ”. There were three circular canals: the inner one was one stage wide (200 meters), the next two, and the outer one three (600 meters); he served as the main harbor. The city was surrounded by a grandiose circular wall, 10 kilometers from the outer channel. “It closed up,” writes Plato, “near the canal that entered the sea. The area around it was densely built up, and the channel and the largest harbor were overflowing with ships, on which merchants arrived from everywhere, and, moreover, in such a multitude that talk, noise and knocking could be heard day and night ”.

The wealth of the capital was exorbitant. For example, the stone walls around the canals were faced by the Atlanteans with “copper, applying molten metal,” casting from tin, and the mysterious “orichalcum” that “emitted a fiery shine”. In the huge temple of Poseidon there was a golden statue of a god in a chariot, ruling six winged horses, and around it there were also golden sculptures of a hundred Nereids on dolphins. In this splendor of the decoration and architecture of the temple, according to Plato, there was even something barbaric.

Further, following the already given description of Atlantis, Critias tells about its state structure. He says that this island was divided into ten regions, each of which was ruled by its own king, moreover: “Each of the ten kings in his region and in his state had power over people and over most of the laws, so that he could punish and execute anyone he wants. " That is, in internal affairs they were completely autonomous. But their relations with each other were strictly regulated and "none of them was supposed to raise arms against the other, but everyone was obliged to come to the rescue if someone intended to overthrow the royal family in one of the states ..."

It should be noted that the island strictly observed universal equality before the law of even kings and the strictest prohibition of any internecine strife.

The ruler of the island-state, born of Poseidon, was Atlas, the firstborn of Poseidon and Kleito... Plato describes this significant event in detail in Critias: “Having given birth to a couple of male twins five times, Poseidon raised them and divided the entire island of Atlantis into ten parts, and to the one of the older couple who was born first, he gave his mother's house and the surrounding possessions as the greatest and best share and made him king over the rest, and these others - archons, each of whom he gave power over a populous people and a vast country. He gave the elder and the king the name by which both the island and the sea are named, which is called the Atlantic, for the name of the one who was the first to receive the kingdom then was Atlas. "

Atlantis proved to be a generous ruler and, together with his brothers, created a civilization of prosperity on Atlantis. The island nation did not lack anything and acquired such riches that it had not before or since.

According to Plato, a large and revered clan originated from Atlant, in which the oldest was always a king and passed the throne to the eldest of his sons, retaining power in the clan from generation to generation.

In those early days, kings ruled under the blessing of the gods. Here is how Plato writes in "Critias" about the wisdom and decency of the descendants of Atlas:

“Over the course of many generations, until the nature inherited from God was exhausted, the rulers of Atlantis obeyed the laws and lived in friendship with their kindred divine principle: they observed the true and great structure of thought, treated the inevitable determinations of fate and each other with reasonable tolerance despising everything except virtue, they did not put wealth into anything and easily revered it almost for the annoying burden of a pile of gold and other treasures. They did not get drunk with luxury, did not lose power over themselves and common sense under the influence of wealth. "

But when the divine nature degenerated, mingling with the human, they were mired in luxury, greed and pride, and their reign came to an end.

In the Atlantis of the early period and the heyday described by Plato, we see an ideal state - monarchy - according to Plato, the best type in which a wise king rules, based on divine laws.

Thus, the main provisions on which the "Secret Doctrine" is built are actually included in the classical philosophy of Plato. Esoteric philosophy contains the "key" to the history of philosophy. It allows you to deeper reveal the historically developed philosophy, to reveal hidden in it and not yet sufficiently realized knowledge about the world, the meaning of life and human evolution, and the thought-creation of Plato, E.P. Blavatsky, E.I. Roerich was carried out in a single problem area, giving it unity and continuity. They are, as it were, eternal spiritual companions and interlocutors, their worldview positions with exceptional systematicity and evidence offered a solution to world problems that cosmic events posed to them and their contemporaries.

"We will call Christ The Great Traveler, also called Plato Flying Light, let's call Krishna
The Perfect Singer. "

(From the Letters of Helena I. Roerich )

"When the Great Plato left Us, His last Decree was: Create heroes" (Agni Yoga, 290).