What were Plato's ideas?

Answer 1

Plato was the student of Socrates. Their philosophical beliefs were very similar. Plato was a philosopher in the 400th century. Plato believed that our knowledge is only widened by our experience; for example, I know that a plate is hot because I have touched it and found out for myself, but if I didn't touch that plate, I wouldn't have known that the plate was hot. He is saying that we think we might think we know about the world and everything about it, but that's because we have experienced certain things in the world. One of the stories he tells is the 'Prisoners in the Cave' which is about prisoners who have been in the cave since birth, so they have no knowledge whatsoever of the outside world, one day one of the prisoners is released and he discovers the world, but when he goes and tells his fellow prisoners they don't want to know, because they are happy with there own world. That cave is their world because it's all they know, so maybe our world is just like that cave, because our world is all we know. Plato yelled at children and died because of that.

Answer 2

Plato believed in the existence of a higher realm of reality beyond that which we perceive with our senses, known as the world of forms. He argued that true knowledge comes from contemplating these forms, and that the pursuit of wisdom and virtue leads to a just and harmonious society. Plato also emphasized the importance of reason and philosophy in guiding human behavior and understanding the nature of reality.