Three Minute Philosophy: Plato

The other day I was wandering down a path in a ravine near my house. It was almost night and there wasn't many other people out, so I really got to take in the beauty and peacefulness of my surroundings. There were no thoughts running through my head, I wasn't stressing out over work that had to get done, I really just felt a sense of calmness.

And I loved it. There was nothing bothering me at all. Who knew that literally just walking down a path with a bunch of trees on my side could give me such peace of mind? I left to go on the walk feeling really burnt out, and I came back with such mental clarity!

I really wanted to figure out why this occurred, how the environment I was in had an impact on my mental state, and after doing a little research I came across what I knew would help me find my answer: Greek Philosophy (specifically Plato)!

Plato was a famous philosopher who lived in the time of around 430 BC. Like Socrates (who was one of his teachers), he spent a great amount of time learning about methods of self-understanding and tending for one's soul (click here to check out an article I wrote on Socrates!) . Yet he also looked deeply into an area of thought that most other philosophers hadn't: our relationship between our inner soul to our environment.

While many other philosophers were focused on how our surroundings can affect us, Plato reversed it by learning about how our inner selves can relate to the environment we put ourselves in.

And after spending lots of time thinking, thinking, and more thinking, he finally came up with two simple statements on this topic!

1) Our Interpretation of Beauty is Correlated to what we want in Life

A few years ago I remember talking to my grandma about her past and how she grew up as an immigrant here in Canada. She mentioned her school and her friends and family, but one area that, now looking back, has particularly stood out to me was an experience she had with her job.

She told me that she had this horrible boss who fired her because she was caught not working even though it was her break (the usually story) and that afterwords she went to see a movie to help cheer herself up. And after it was finished, to this day she said that that was the best film she had ever watched.

Now, this little action can actually have a lot of meaning with what Plato's first statement is about. He said that:

"Beautiful objects are whispering important truths to us about the good life."

Or in other words, we find things beautiful or appealing when we unconsciously sense in them qualities we need, but are missing in our lives.

My grandma was clearly upset that she got fired, and as a result, her subconscious told her that she should place herself in an environment that could give her what she was currently emotionally seeking: happiness.

You can also see the philosophy behind what I'm saying in the story I was telling above.

Before I took the walk down in the ravine, I was really stressing out over all the work I had to get done. So to compensate, my subconscious directed me to surround myself in an area with peace and calmness, which was something that I was really needing. And that's why the walk really appealed to me!

You can see this simple but powerful philosophy everywhere, especially in old literature (In fact, if you pay close attention, you can even find hints of this work in films like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings!) .

2) Sparta: From a City of War to a Metaphorical Mental Model

If you ever watched the movie 300, you're probably very familiar with Sparta, Greece.

Sparta was a city with the sole purpose of turning its citizens into war-machines. Everything they did was to contribute to that one goal, and as a result, they were hugely successful with its military.

Unlike most people who looked at Sparta as a terrifying place to live and be raised, Plato looked at it from a different angle. He observed the focus that the city had when it came to its soldiers and wondered if such determination could be applied to ourselves at a personal level.

He explained that we should do everything we can to maximize our self-understanding. Relating back to the Spartan way of life time after time, he states how getting rid of harmful relationships and thoughts and giving ourselves time to think about our way of life can allow us to maximize our happiness, productivity, and general well-being.

He said that, as the Spartans were intentional about how their army force was raised and the influences they were exposed to, we should have the same awareness in our own personal lives. For example, Plato said that:

“Bad heroes give glamour to flaws of character.”

Or in other words, it really matters who we admire or who we get into a relationship with, because that has influence on our outlook to the world as well as our inner happiness.

Though Plato lived thousands of years ago, the philosophies he thought of have really revolutionized the way we think of our world today. Whether it be self-understanding to how our environment relates to our mental-clarity, we can really accomplish a lot if we give ourselves time to just reflect.

Or as Plato said:

"The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself"

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