Redpill me on Plato - is his philosophy in any way applicable nowadays, or is it rooted to much in his time? Is he really the most important philosopher in history in your opinion?
>>863038
Yes, but you'll have to let the more theoretical works take a backseat to works that are more suggestive about policy. If you're going to read one work, make it the Laws (and then maybe follow it with the Republic). If you're looking for something with a set of particular rules to follow, Plato won't provide that to you, and that's by intention--his suggestion is that if there were such knowledge, it's entirely elusive.
>>863055
I've actually read The Republic, but I'm a complete amateur to philosophy, so I haven't got much to compare it with. I think most of the ideas in it went over my head, though I enjoyed it nevertheless. Mostly, I felt like it didn't "apply" to me and my age, as a lot of his [and Socrates', or him-through-Socrates'] philosophy is about democracy in their time and other perceptions of the world/society that are relevant to their time.
Society basically ran on philosophy derived from Plato up until Nietzsche showed up: neoplatoism, Aristotle, Christianity, Kant, even Hegel. It's still too early to say but our era of post-war USA cultural domination and globalism might have broken this pattern.
"Applicable nowadays" and "rooted to much in his time" are such plebeian and hypocritical demands, and not realistic if you're going to be doing literal interpretation.
>Is he really the most important philosopher in history in your opinion?
Well he is almost universally considered the best candidate amongst philosophers, academics and laymen.
>>863063
Try reading it again with the tentative guiding hypothesis "okay, what if he's right?" The more theoretical elements will still be unlikely to persuade you, but the stuff about how people act (roughly, the "psychology" of the Republic) can still describe people today very well, as well as more basic and concrete political phenomena that gets completely missed by the more abstract modern philosophers.
>>863075
>"Applicable nowadays" and "rooted to much in his time" are such plebeian and hypocritical demands, and not realistic if you're going to be doing literal interpretation.
Not sure why you would say that, I was under the impression that philosophy was supposed to be close to "timeless", the idea being that it would trigger some reflection upon your world and your perception of it, not something to be appreciated as a historic piece.
I repeat, I am an amateur, so I appreciate any education on the subject.
>>863112
>I was under the impression that philosophy was supposed to be close to "timeless
This is true. Plato has had massive influence on philosophy long after his death: Aristotle, the Stoics, medevil Christian/Muslim philosophy, Descartes and his Dualism, Kant, Hegel. The man literally invented systematic philosophy and so he is going to present in all of them.
>>863112
Well let me tell you, the notion of "applicable nowadays" does not sound like a very "timeless" approach to judging a thinker, to my ears.
I think I smell another plebeian assumption here. The conception of "timeless" almost literally being "without time", which is nonsense and when unexamined merely means "without [within] my time". The correction of this is to recognise "timeless" actually means making use of all times, so historical sense and appreciation are crucial.
>>863125
>The man literally invented systematic philosophy
That is contested.
>>863112
You misunderstand what makes something "timeless" and I'm not going to enlighten you.
>>863112
>not something to be appreciated as a historic piece.
I thought that was what anon was getting at, that the take any of Plato's writings or the ideas therein as "of their time/culture" is to have already put Plato at a distance before even reading him to test that out.
>>863138
I can almost hear you snorting over your caffè latte while adjusting your fedora.
>>863138
Unluckily for you, I just schooled him on that right above your post.
At least I was overly flowery.
