Platon Obras Maestras

by Plato, Platón

BOOKS IN SPANISH

608 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2013

About the author

Plato (Greek: Πλάτων), born Aristocles (c. 427 – 348 BC), was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms. He raised problems for what became all the major areas of both theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy, and was the founder of the Platonic Academy, a philosophical school in Athens where Plato taught the doctrines that would later become known as Platonism.
Plato's most famous contribution is the theory of forms (or ideas), which has been interpreted as advancing a solution to what is now known as the problem of universals. He was decisively influenced by the pre-Socratic thinkers Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and Parmenides, although much of what is known about them is derived from Plato himself.
Along with his teacher Socrates, and Aristotle, his student, Plato is a central figure in the history of philosophy. Plato's entire body of work is believed to have survived intact for over 2,400 years—unlike that of nearly all of his contemporaries. Although their popularity has fluctuated, they have consistently been read and studied through the ages. Through Neoplatonism, he also greatly influenced both Christian and Islamic philosophy. In modern times, Alfred North Whitehead famously said: "the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato."

Reviews

[Miguel Cisneros Saucedo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plato is one of the most important philosophers in history and his ideas have influenced many areas of philosophy, including psychology. In this explanation, I will focus on Plato's influence on psychology and what his most significant contributions consist of.

Although Plato did not explicitly pursue psychology as a separate discipline, in fact his philosophy can be viewed as a psychological theory and his thought has been highly influential in the development of modern psychology. His was an exploration of the most fundamental human problems, and his work is full of ideas and observations about human nature.

First of all, it should be noted that Plato was one of the first philosophers to recognize that the mind is something important. In his thinking, he understood that the mind is something separate from the body. This idea states that human beings have a soul, which is a vital and intelligent principle that guides us in thought and directs our actions. In this sense, for Plato, psychology is not just a subject of study, but it becomes an essential tool for understanding human nature.

Another great contribution of Plato to psychology is his theory of Ideas. Plato thought that reality is made up of two levels: the sensible level and the intelligible level. The sensible level is the world of perceptual experience, and the intelligible level is the world of ideas. In the second world, Plato understood that there were perfect forms of everything that exists in the sensible world. They are ideal, because they are beyond what we can see with our senses. He argued that these perfect forms were the basis for all existing physical objects. In fact, earthly things only approximate these ideas, but can never fully reach them.

This theory of Plato's Ideas is important to psychology because it suggests that our perception of the world is influenced by what we think and what we feel. That is, our perception is not simply a reflection of what is in the world, but is conditioned by what we believe is in the world. This means that the way we see things is a construction, and not reality itself. Consequently, the world is subject to our interpretation, and therefore what we observe and experience is a result of our interpretation. This is a key concept in cognitive psychology.

Another very important idea in Plato's work is his theory of reminiscence. He argued that human souls existed before they were born, and that during that time, they had access to knowledge of all things. The life we lead here on earth, therefore, becomes a process of remembering what we already know and not a learning process. This position of Plato's has been very influential in psychology because it suggests that human potential is limitless, and that in reality, our knowledge and abilities are already there within us. We just have to look for that hidden truth, which implies that knowledge is an internal construction, and that there is much more to us than what we see with the naked eye.

Plato's theory of the three parts of the soul was also very influential in psychology, in history. According to Plato, the soul had three parts: the intellect, the desires, and the emotions, each governed by a different hierarchy. The rational part (intellect) dominated the other two. The desire part was the one in the middle and the emotional part was the bottom position. The soul of man could achieve harmony and happiness only if these three parts were properly balanced.

This aspect of Plato's theory is important to psychology because it suggests that there are different parts of the human being and that in order to achieve emotional health, people must find a balance between these parts. This concept has been influential in psychological currents such as cognitive behavioral psychotherapy or gestalt psychotherapy, among others.

In conclusion, Plato's contributions to psychology are numerous. His ideas influenced the way we think today about knowledge, the construction of reality, human nature, emotional balance, and many other important issues that are present in the human mind and behavior. In terms of psychological theory, Plato's legacy has been an important influence in the history of this science and his thought has been relevant to the evolution and development of modern psychology.