The student of Socrates, the teacher of Aristotle is the ancient Greek thinker and philosopher Plato, whose biography is of interest to historians, stylists, writers, philosophers and politicians. This is an outstanding representative of humanity, who lived in a troubled time of the crisis of the Greek polis, an aggravation of the class struggle, when the era of Hellenism came to replace the era. The philosopher Plato lived fruitfully. The biography, briefly presented in the article, testifies to his greatness as a scientist and the wisdom of his heart.

life path

Plato was born in 428/427 BC. in Athens. He was not only a full citizen of Athens, but also belonged to an ancient aristocratic family: his father, Ariston, was a descendant of the last Athenian king Kodra, and his mother, Periktion, was a relative of Solon.

A brief biography of Plato is typical for representatives of his time and class. Having received an education appropriate to his position, Plato, at about the age of 20, became acquainted with the teachings of Socrates and became his student and follower. Plato was among the Athenians who offered a financial guarantee for the condemned teacher. After the execution of the teacher, he left his hometown and went on a journey without a specific goal: he first moved to Megara, then visited Cyrene and even Egypt. Having learned everything he could from the Egyptian priests, he went to Italy, where he became close to the philosophers of the Pythagorean school. The facts from Plato's life related to travel end here: he traveled a lot around the world, but he remained an Athenian in his heart.

When Plato was already about 40 years old (it is noteworthy that it was to this age that the Greeks attributed the highest flowering of personality - acme), he returned to Athens and opened his own school there, called the Academy. Until the end of his life, Plato practically did not leave Athens, he lived in solitude, surrounding himself with students. He honored the memory of the deceased teacher, but he popularized his ideas only in a narrow circle of followers and did not seek to bring them to the streets of the policy, like Socrates. Plato died at the age of eighty, without losing the clarity of mind. He was buried at Keramika, near the Academy. Such was the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. His biography, upon closer examination, is excitingly interesting, but much of the information about it is very unreliable and looks more like a legend.

Platonic Academy

The name "Academy" comes from the fact that the plot of land that Plato bought specifically for his school was near the gymnasium dedicated to the hero Akadem. On the territory of the Academy, the students not only had philosophical conversations and listened to Plato, they were allowed to live there permanently or for a short time.

The teachings of Plato developed on the foundation on the one hand and the followers of Pythagoras on the other. From his teacher, the father of idealism borrowed a dialectical view of the world and an attentive attitude to the problems of ethics. But, as evidenced by the biography of Plato, namely the years spent in Sicily, among the Pythagoreans, he clearly sympathized with the philosophical doctrine of Pythagoras. At least the fact that the philosophers in the Academy lived and worked together is already reminiscent of the Pythagorean school.

The idea of ​​political education

A lot of attention at the Academy was given to political education. But in antiquity, politics was not the lot of a small group of delegated representatives: all adult citizens, that is, free and legitimate Athenians, took part in the management of the policy. Later, a student of Plato, Aristotle, will formulate a definition of a politician as a person who participates in the public life of the policy, as opposed to an idiot - an asocial person. That is, participation in politics was an integral part of the life of the ancient Greek, and political education meant the development of justice, nobility, firmness of spirit and sharpness of mind.

Philosophical writings

For the written presentation of his views and concepts, Plato mainly chose the form of dialogue. This is a fairly common literary device in antiquity. The philosophical works of Plato in the early and late periods of his life are very different, and this is natural, because his wisdom accumulated, and his views changed over time. Among researchers, it is customary to conditionally subdivide the evolution of Platonic philosophy into three periods:

1. Apprenticeship (under the influence of Socrates) - "Apology of Socrates", "Crito", "Fox", "Protagoras", "Charmides", "Euthyphron" and 1 book of "States".

2. Wanderings (under the influence of the ideas of Heraclitus) - "Gorgias", "Cratyl", "Menon".

3. Teaching (the predominant influence of the ideas of the Pythagorean school) - "Feast", "Phaedo", "Phaedrus", "Parmenides", "Sophist", "Politician", "Timaeus", "Critias", 2-10 of the book "States" , "Laws".

Father of idealism

Plato is considered the founder of idealism, the term itself comes from the central concept in his teaching - eidos. The bottom line is that Plato imagined the world divided into two spheres: the world of ideas (eidos) and the world of forms (material things). Eidoses are prototypes, the source of the material world. Matter itself is formless and ethereal, the world takes on a meaningful shape only due to the presence of ideas.

The dominant place in the world of eidos is occupied by the idea of ​​the Good, and all others flow from it. This Good represents the Beginning of the beginnings, the Absolute Beauty, the Creator of the Universe. The eidos of each thing is its essence, the most important, hidden thing in a person is the soul. and unchanging, their existence flows beyond the space-time boundaries, and objects are impermanent, repeatable and distorted, their existence is finite.

As for the human soul, the philosophical teaching of Plato allegorically interprets it as a chariot with two horses driven by a charioteer. He personifies a reasonable beginning, in his harness a white horse symbolizes nobility and high moral qualities, and a black horse symbolizes instincts, base desires. In the afterlife, the soul (charioteer), along with the gods, is involved in eternal truths and cognizes the world of eidos. After the new birth, the concept of eternal truths remains in the soul as a memory.

Cosmos - the whole existing world, is a completely reproduced prototype. Plato's doctrine of cosmic proportions also stems from the theory of eidos.

Beauty and Love are eternal concepts

From all this it follows that the knowledge of the world is an attempt to discern in things a reflection of ideas through love, fair deeds and beauty. The doctrine of Beauty occupies a central place in Plato's philosophy: the search for beauty in man and the world around him, the creation of beauty through harmonious laws and art is the highest destiny of man. Thus, evolving, the soul goes from contemplating the beauty of material things to understanding beauty in art and sciences, to the highest point - the comprehension of moral beauty. This happens as an insight and brings the soul closer to the world of the gods.

Together with Beauty, Love is called to raise a person to the world of eidos. In this regard, the figure of the philosopher is identical to the image of Eros - he strives for the good, representing a mediator, a guide from ignorance to wisdom. Love is a creative force, beautiful things and harmonious laws of human relationships are born from it. That is, Love is a key concept in the theory of knowledge, it consistently develops from its bodily (material) form to its spiritual, and then spiritual, which is involved in the sphere of pure ideas. This last love is the memory of the ideal being, preserved by the soul.

It should be emphasized that the division into the world of ideas and things does not mean dualism (which was so often later blamed on Plato by his ideological opponents, starting with Aristotle), they are connected by primordial ties. Genuine being - the level of eidos - exists forever, it is self-sufficient. But matter appears already as an imitation of the idea, it is only "present" in the ideal being.

Political views of Plato

Biography and are inextricably linked with the understanding of a reasonable and correct state structure. The teachings of the father of idealism about the management and relationships of people are set forth in the treatise "The State". Everything is built on the parallel between the individual aspects of the human soul and the types of people (according to their social role).

So, the three parts of the soul are responsible for wisdom, moderation and courage. In general, these qualities represent justice. It follows from this that a just (ideal) state is possible when each person in it is in his place and performs the functions established once and for all (according to his abilities). According to the scheme outlined in the "State", where a brief biography of Plato, the result of his life and the main ideas found their final embodiment, philosophers, carriers of wisdom, should manage everything. All citizens are subject to their reasonable beginning. Warriors play an important role in the state (in other translations of the guard), these people are given increased attention. Warriors must be brought up in the spirit of the supremacy of reason and will over instincts and spiritual impulses. But this is not the coldness of the machine, which is presented to modern man, and not an understanding of the highest harmony of the world clouded by passions. The third category of citizens are the creators of material wealth. A just state was described schematically and briefly by the philosopher Plato. The biography of one of the greatest thinkers in the history of mankind indicates that his teachings resonated widely in the minds of his contemporaries - it is known that he received many requests from the rulers of ancient policies and some Eastern states to draw up codes of laws for them.

Plato's later biography, teaching at the Academy, and a clear sympathy for the ideas of the Pythagoreans are associated with the theory of "ideal numbers", which was later developed by the Neoplatonists.

Myths and beliefs

His position on myth is interesting: as a philosopher, Plato, whose biography and works that have survived to this day clearly indicate the greatest intellect, did not reject traditional mythology. But he proposed to interpret the myth as a symbol, an allegory, and not to perceive it as an axiom. Myth, according to Plato, was not a historical fact. He perceived mythical images and events as a kind of philosophical doctrine that does not describe events, but only provides food for thought and reassessment of events. In addition, many ancient Greek myths were composed by the common people without any style or literary processing. For these reasons, Plato considered it expedient to protect the child's mind from most of the mythological subjects, saturated with fiction, often rudeness and immorality.

Plato's first proof in favor of the immortality of the human soul

Plato is the first ancient philosopher whose writings have survived to the present not in fragments, but with the complete preservation of the text. In his dialogues "The State", "Phaedrus" he gives 4 proofs of the immortality of the human soul. The first of them was called "cyclic". Its essence boils down to the fact that opposites can exist only in the presence of mutual conditioning. Those. the larger implies the existence of the smaller, if there is death, then there is immortality. Plato cited this fact as the main argument in favor of the idea of ​​the reincarnation of souls.

Second proof

Due to the idea that knowledge is memory. Plato taught that in human consciousness there are such concepts as justice, beauty, faith. These concepts exist "by themselves". They are not taught, they are felt and understood at the level of consciousness. They are absolute entities, eternal and immortal. If the soul, being born into the world, already knows about them, then it knew about them even before life on Earth. Since the soul knows about eternal beings, it means that it itself is eternal.

Third argument

Built on the opposition of a mortal body and an immortal soul. Plato taught that everything in the world is dual. Body and soul are inextricably linked during life. But the body is part of nature, while the soul is part of the divine principle. The body strives to satisfy base feelings and instincts, while the soul gravitates towards knowledge and development. The body is controlled by the soul. and will, a person is able to prevail over the baseness of instincts. Therefore, if the body is mortal and corruptible, then, in contrast to it, the soul is eternal and incorruptible. If the body cannot exist without the soul, then the soul can exist separately.

Fourth and last proof

The most difficult teaching. He is most clearly characterized by Kebeta in the Phaedo. The proof comes from the assertion that every thing has an unchanging nature. Thus, even things will always be even, white things cannot be called black, and anything that is just will never be evil. Proceeding from this, death brings corruption, and life will never know death. If the body is capable of dying and decaying, then its essence is death. Life is the opposite of death, the soul is the opposite of the body. So, if the body is perishable, then the soul is immortal.

Significance of Plato's Ideas

These are, in general terms, the ideas that the ancient Greek philosopher Plato left to humanity as a legacy. The biography of this extraordinary man for two and a half millennia has become a legend, and his teaching, in one or another of its aspects, served as the foundation for a significant part of the current philosophical concepts. His student Aristotle criticized the views of his teacher and built a philosophical system of materialism opposite to his teaching. But this fact is another evidence of the greatness of Plato: not every teacher is given the opportunity to educate a follower, but perhaps only a few are worthy opponents.

The philosophy of Plato found many followers in the era of antiquity, knowledge of the works and the main postulates of his teaching was a natural and integral part of the education of a worthy citizen of the Greek polis. Such a significant figure in the history of philosophical thought was not completely forgotten even in the Middle Ages, when the scholastics resolutely rejected the ancient heritage. Plato inspired the philosophers of the Renaissance, gave endless food for thought to European thinkers of subsequent centuries. The reflection of his teaching is visible in many existing philosophical and worldview concepts, Plato's quotes can be found in all branches of humanitarian knowledge.

What did the philosopher look like, his character

Archaeologists have found many busts of Plato, well preserved from ancient times and from the Middle Ages. Many sketches and photos of Plato were created based on them. In addition, the appearance of the philosopher can be judged from chronicle sources.

According to all the data collected bit by bit, Plato was tall, athletically complex, broad in bone and shoulders. At the same time, he had a very docile character, was devoid of pride, swagger and pride. He was very modest and always amiable not only with his equals, but also with representatives of the lower class.

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato, whose biography and philosophy did not contradict each other, confirmed the truth of his worldviews through his personal life.

General characteristics of the personality and creativity of Plato.

Plato (427 - 347 BC) - the largest philosopher of ancient Greece, a student of Socrates, the founder of his own philosophical school - the Academy, the founder of the idealistic direction in philosophy. Plato is the first ancient Greek philosopher who left behind a number of fundamental philosophical works, the most important of which are the Apology of Socrates, Parmelides, Gorgias, Phaedo, The State, Laws. Most of Plato's works are written in the form of dialogues.

Plato is the founder of the idealistic direction of philosophy.

Plato is the founder of idealism. The main provisions of his idealistic teachings are as follows:

material things are changeable, impermanent and eventually cease to exist;

the surrounding world (“the world of things” is also temporary and changeable and does not really exist as an independent substance;

only pure (incorporeal) ideas (eidoses) really exist;

pure (incorporeal) ideas are true, eternal and permanent;

any existing thing is just a material reflection of the original idea (eidos) of this thing (for example, horses are born and die, but they are only the embodiment of the idea of ​​a horse, which is eternal and unchanging, etc.);

the whole world is a reflection of pure ideas (eidos).

Triad" Plato - "one", "mind", "soul".

Plato also puts forward the philosophical doctrine of the triad, according to which everything that exists consists of three substances:

"single";

"One": is the basis of all being; has no signs (no beginning, no end, no parts, no integrity, no form, no content, etc.); there is nothing; higher than all being, higher than all thought, higher than all sensation; the origin of everything - all ideas, all things, all phenomena, all properties (both everything good from the point of view of a person, and everything bad).

"Mind": comes from "one"; separated from "one"; opposite to "one"; is the essence of all things; is a generalization of all life on earth.

"Soul": a mobile substance that unites and connects "one - nothing" and "mind - all living things", and also connects all things and all phenomena; also, according to Plato, the soul can be the world and the soul of an individual; with the hylozoic (animated) approach, things and inanimate nature can also have a soul; the soul of a person (thing) is a part of the world soul; the soul is immortal; at the death of a person, only the body dies, while the soul, having answered in the underworld for its earthly deeds, acquires a new bodily shell; the constancy of the soul, the change of bodily forms is a natural law of the Cosmos.

Gnoseology (the doctrine of knowledge) of Plato.

Regarding epistemology (the doctrine of knowledge), Plato proceeds from the idealistic picture of the world he created:

since the material world is just a reflection of the "world of ideas", then the subject of knowledge should be, first of all, "pure ideas";

“pure ideas” cannot be cognized with the help of sensory cognition (this type of cognition does not provide reliable knowledge, but only an opinion - “doxa”);

Only trained people can engage in higher spiritual activity - educated intellectuals, philosophers, therefore, only they are able to see and realize "pure ideas".

The problem of the state in the philosophy of Plato.

Plato paid a special role in his philosophy to the problem of the state (which was not typical for the predecessors - the “pre-Socratics” Thales, Heraclitus and others, who were engaged in the search for the origin of the world and the explanation of the phenomena of the surrounding nature, but not society). Plato distinguishes seven types of state: the ideal "state of the future", which does not yet exist and in which there is no need for state power and laws, and six types of currently existing states. Among the six existing types, Plato indicates:

monarchy - the just rule of one person;

tyranny - the unjust power of one person;

aristocracy - the just power of a minority;

oligarchy - the unjust power of a minority;

democracy is the just rule of the majority;

timocracy is the unjust power of the majority, the power of military leaders, the army.

Since tyranny, oligarchy and timocracy are unjust forms of the state, and democracy - the rule of the majority - is rarely fair and, as a rule, degenerates into tyranny, oligarchy or timocracy, only aristocracy and monarchy can be two stable and optimal forms of state.

Plato's project of the state.

Plato also puts forward his own plan for the state structure, according to this plan:

the entire population of the state (polis) is divided into three classes - philosophers, warriors, workers;

workers (peasants and artisans) are engaged in rough physical labor, create material wealth, and can own private property to a limited extent;

soldiers do physical exercises, train, maintain order in the state, and, if necessary, participate in hostilities;

philosophers (wise men) - develop philosophical theories, learn the world, teach, govern the state;

philosophers and warriors should not have private property;

residents of the state spend their free time together, eat (have meals) together, rest together;

there is no marriage, all wives and children are common;

the labor of slaves is allowed and welcomed, as a rule, barbarians captured.

Later, Plato revised some of the ideas of his project, allowing small private property and personal property for all classes, but other provisions of this plan were retained.

The meaning of Plato's philosophy.

The historical significance of Plato's philosophy is that

for the first time a philosopher left a whole collection of fundamental works;

the foundation was laid for idealism as a major philosophical trend (the so-called "Plato's line" - the opposite of the materialistic "Democrat's line");

for the first time the problems of not only nature, but also society - the state, laws, etc.;

the foundations of conceptual thinking were laid, an attempt was made to single out philosophical categories (being - becoming, eternal - temporary, resting - moving, indivisible - divisible, etc.);

a philosophical school (Academy) was created, which existed for about 1000 years, where many prominent followers of Plato (Aristotle, etc.) grew up.

Academy of Plato.

Plato's Academy is a religious and philosophical school created by Plato in 387 in the nature of Athens and existed for about 1000 years (until 529 AD). The most famous students of the academy were: Aristotle (studied with Plato, founded his own philosophical school - Lyceum), Xenocrite, Cracket, Arcilaus. Clytomachus of Carthage, Philo of Larissa (teacher of Cicero). The Academy was closed in 529 by the Byzantine emperor Justinian as a hotbed of paganism and "harmful" ideas, but over its history it managed to achieve that Platonism and Neoplatonism became the leading trends in European philosophy.

QUESTION 18: THE MAIN PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS OF ARISTOTLE.

Stages of Aristotle's work and his main works.

Aristotle (384-322 BC) - an ancient Greek philosopher of the classical period, a student of Plato, educator of Alexander the Great. In his philosophical work, Aristotle went through three main stages:

367-347 BC. (20 years old) - worked, starting from the age of 17, at the Academy of Plato and was his student (until the death of Plato);

347-335 BC. (12 years old) - lived and worked in Pella - the capital of the Macedonian state at the invitation of King Philip; raised Alexander the Great;

335-322 - founded his own philosophical school - Lycaeus (peripatetic school) and worked in it until his death.

The most famous works of Aristotle include: "Organon", "Physics", "Mechanics", "Metaphysics", "On the Soul", "History of Animals", "Nicomachean Ethics", "Rhetoric", "Politics", "Athenian Politia" , "Poetics".

The main part of Plato's philosophy, which gave the name to a whole trend of philosophy, is the doctrine of ideas (eidos), the existence of two worlds: the world of ideas (eidos) and the world of things, or forms. Ideas (eidos) are prototypes of things, their sources. Ideas (eidos) underlie the whole multitude of things formed from formless matter. Ideas are the source of everything, while matter itself cannot produce anything. The world of ideas (eidos) exists outside of time and space. There is a certain hierarchy in this world, at the top of which stands the idea of ​​the Good, from which all the rest flow. Good is identical to absolute Beauty, but at the same time it is the Beginning of all beginnings and the Creator of the Universe. In the myth of the cave, the Good is depicted as the Sun, ideas are symbolized by those creatures and objects that pass in front of the cave, and the cave itself is an image of the material world with its illusions. The idea (eidos) of any thing or being is the deepest, most intimate and essential in it. In man, the role of an idea is played by his immortal soul. Ideas (eidos) have the qualities of constancy, unity and purity, and things - variability, multiplicity and distortion.

The human soul is represented by Plato in the form of a chariot with a rider and two horses, white and black. The charioteer symbolizes the rational principle in a person, and the horses: white - noble, higher qualities of the soul, black - passions, desires and instinctive principles. When a person is in another world, he (the charioteer) gets the opportunity, together with the gods, to contemplate eternal truths. When a person is born again in the material world, the knowledge of these truths remains in his soul as a memory. Therefore, according to Plato's philosophy, the only way for a person to know is to remember, to find "reflections" of ideas in the things of the sensual world. When a person manages to see the traces of ideas - through beauty, love or just deeds - then, according to Plato, the wings of the soul, once lost by it, begin to grow again.

Hence the importance of Plato's teachings about Beauty, about the need to look for it in nature, people, art or well-organized laws, because when the soul gradually ascends from the contemplation of physical beauty to the beauty of the sciences and arts, then to the beauty of mores and customs, this the best way for the soul to climb the "golden ladder" to the world of ideas. The second force, no less transforming a person and capable of raising him to the world of the gods, is Love. In general, the philosopher himself resembles Eros: he also strives to achieve the good, he is neither wise nor ignorant, but is an intermediary between one and the other, he does not possess beauty and good, and that is why he strives for them. Both philosophy and love make it possible to give birth to something beautiful: from the creation of beautiful things to beautiful laws and fair ideas.

Plato teaches that we can all come out of the "cave" to the light of ideas, since the ability to see the light of the spiritual Sun (that is, to contemplate the truth and think) is in everyone, but, unfortunately, we are looking in the wrong direction. In the "State" Plato also gives us a doctrine about the main parts of the human soul, each of which has its own virtues: the rational part of the soul has wisdom as a virtue, the lustful beginning (passionate beginning of the soul) - moderation and restraint, and the furious spirit (which can be ally of both the first and second) - courage and the ability to obey reason.

Together, these virtues constitute justice. Plato draws parallels between parts of the soul and types of people in the state and calls justice in the state when each person is in his place and does what he is most capable of. Plato gives a special place in the "State" to the guards (warriors) and their education, which should combine two parts: musical and gymnastic. Gymnastic education allows you to subordinate passions to a reasonable beginning and develop the quality of will. And musical - allows you to soften the furious spirit and subordinate it to the laws of rhythm and harmony.

The name of Plato is not just famous, significant or great. With thin and strong threads, Plato's philosophy permeates not only world philosophy, but also world culture. In European history after Plato, there has not yet been a single century when they would not argue about Plato, either exorbitantly praising him, or in every possible way belittling him in any respect - historical-religious, historical-literary, historical or sociological.

World religions that arose after Plato tried to win him over to their side, substantiating their dogma with his help and often achieving success in this. But this founder of the creeds often turned out to be their insidious enemy as well. After all, Platonism is basically a pagan doctrine. There were moments in history when Platonism suddenly rose up with a formidable force against the monotheistic dogma, and under its blows those very theological systems began to stagger and fall, of which Plato had previously seemed the most faithful ally.

Classical and Hellenistic Greeks, ancient Romans, Arab thinkers opposed to Islam, Late Antique Judaism and medieval cabal, Byzantine Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, Byzantine mystics of the 14th century, who summed up millennial Byzantinism, and German mystics of the same century, who created a solid bridge from medieval theology to German idealism, and above all to Kant, the theists and pantheists of the Italian Renaissance, German humanists, French rationalists and English empiricists, the subjective idealist Fichte, the romantic mythologist Schelling, the creator of the universal dialectic of categories Hegel, Schopenhauer with his doctrine of the world of rational ideas (which relegated to the background in comparison with his doctrine of an unreasonable world will), Russian idealist philosophers up to Vladimir Solovyov and Sergei Trubetskoy, the latest German thinkers up to neo-Kantians, Husserlians and existentialists, Italians up to Rosemini, Gioberti, Croce and Gentile, Anglo -America n philosophy up to Royce, Whitehead and Santayana, mathematics and physics up to Heisenberg and Schrödinger, countless poets and prose writers, artists and critics, scientists and dilettantes, creators who break tradition and philistines who cowardly defend it - all this is an infinite number of For the third millennium, minds have been arguing, worrying, getting excited because of Plato, singing praises to him or reducing him to the level of philistine mediocrity. It can be said that Plato turned out to be some kind of eternal problem in the history of human culture, and it is still impossible to imagine when, how, under what circumstances and by whom this problem will be finally resolved.

This unprecedented situation has two kinds of consequences. For inasmuch as Plato constantly exerted influence and, on the other hand, was constantly fought against, the historian of philosophy obtains material that is very interesting, varied, and more or less easily covered at certain moments of history. But due to the fact that so many people thought and dreamed about him, accepted him or even simply studied him, the personality and work of Plato are shrouded in an impenetrable fog of various legends and tales, even a kind of myths and fairy tales. And the question is: how to get through the impenetrable thickness of this fog to the true Plato, how to unravel, how to formulate the true historical essence of Platonic philosophy, without falling into any exaggerations and, if possible, adhering only to facts?

But what are facts? The whole difficulty lies precisely in the fact that it is often quite impossible to establish the facts, that is, to qualify the information that has come down to us about Plato as information about facts, and not as fantastic fiction or just gossip. Some foreign researchers (for example, Zeller) in these cases acted very simply: they questioned all the numerous ancient testimonies about Plato, only sometimes, very rarely, descending from the height of their academic greatness to recognizing the reported event as a real fact.

One of them turned out to be dubious and unreliable, the other - contradictory, the third - extremely confusing, the fourth - an unfounded praise, the fifth - a deliberate reduction, the sixth - a historical-religious or historical-philosophical stencil, etc. With such hypercriticism, we are not talking about Plato, We can know nothing properly about any other ancient thinker, we cannot say anything reliable, and everything in general turns out to be unknowable. This was a huge era of bourgeois historiography, which at the present time seems to have largely been outlived.

Overcoming hypercriticism has long affected Plato. However, we still do not have a sufficiently detailed critical biography of Plato. Wilamowitz-Mellendorff, one of his last major biographers, himself allows such an incredible mixture of hyper-criticism and fantasy that his talented two-volume biography of Plato cannot at present be considered the final word of science.

The modern researcher of Plato still has to construct his biography at his own peril and risk and fear for his constructions from some critical methods still unknown to science. However, this applies not only to Plato. The more remarkable a person is, the more it acquires various kinds of myths and fairy tales in subsequent generations, and the more difficult it is to get to the historical truth.

The name of Plato, a philosopher who lived in ancient Greece, is known not only to students of historical and philosophical faculties. His teachings and works are famous all over the world thanks to the efforts made by the supporters and students of the Platonic school immediately during his lifetime. As a result, Plato's ideas became widespread and began to spread rapidly throughout Greece, and then throughout Ancient Rome, and from there to its numerous colonies.

The life and work of the philosopher was varied, which is associated with the peculiarities of the Greek society of the 5th-4th centuries. BC.

Formation of Plato's worldview

The origin, family, education, political system of Hellas had a great influence on the teachings of the philosopher. Plato's biographers believe that he was born either in 428 or 427 BC, and died in 348 or 347 BC.

At the time of the birth of Plato in Greece, there was a war between Athens and Sparta, which was called the Peloponnesian. The reason for the internecine struggle was the establishment of influence over the whole of Hellas and the colonies.

The name Plato was coined either by a wrestling teacher or by the philosopher's students in his youth, but at birth he was named Aristocles. Translated from the ancient Greek language, "Plato" means wide or broad-shouldered. According to one version, Aristocles was engaged in wrestling, had a large and strong physique, for which the teacher called him Plato. Another version says that the nickname arose because of the ideas and views of the philosopher. There is a third option, according to which Plato had a rather wide forehead.

Aristocles was born in Athens. His family was considered quite noble and aristocratic, leading kinship from King Kodra. Almost nothing is known about the boy's father, most likely his name was Ariston. Mother - Periction - took an active part in the life of Athens. Among the relatives of the future philosopher were the outstanding politician Solon, the ancient Greek playwright Critias, and the orator Andokides.

Plato had one sister and three brothers - two brothers and one stepbrother, and none of them were fond of politics. Yes, and Aristotle himself preferred to read books, compose poetry, talk with philosophers. His brothers did the same.

The boy received a very good education at that time, which consisted of attending music lessons, gymnastics, literacy, drawing, and literature. In his youth, he began to compose his own tragedies, epigrams, which were dedicated to the gods. Hobbies for literature did not prevent Plato from taking part in various games, competitions, wrestling tournaments.

Plato's philosophy was greatly influenced by:

• Socrates, who turned the life and worldview of a young man. It was Socrates who gave Plato the confidence that there is truth and high values ​​in life that can give blessings and beauty. These privileges can only be obtained through hard work, self-knowledge and improvement.
• The doctrine of the sophists, who argued that there is social inequality, and morality is an invention of the weak, and an aristocratic form of government is best suited for Greece.
• Euclid, around whom the disciples of Socrates gathered. For some time they remembered the teacher, experienced his death. It was after moving to Megara that Plato had the idea of ​​traveling around the world, which believed, like his teacher, that wisdom was transmitted from other people. And for this you need to travel and communicate.

Travel

Historians have not fully established where Plato went first. It is possible that it was Babylon or Assyria. Wise men from these countries gave him knowledge of magic and astronomy. Where the wandering Greek followed, biographers can only speculate. Among the versions are Phenicia, Judea, Egypt, several cities of North Africa, where he met with the greatest mathematicians of that time - Theodore and Aristippus. The first philosopher took lessons in mathematics, began to gradually draw closer to the Pythagoreans. Their influence on Platonic philosophy is evidenced by the fact that Plato studied various symbols of the Cosmos and human existence. The Pythagoreans helped make the philosopher's teaching more clear, rigorous, harmonious, consistent and comprehensive. These principles he then used to consider each subject and create his own theories.

The company Plato on the journey was Eudoxus, who glorified Hellas in the field of astronomy and geography. Together they visited the countries mentioned above, and then settled in Sicily for a long time. From there he went to Syracuse, where he met the tyrant Dionysius. The trip lasted until 387 BC.

From Syracuse, Plato was forced to flee, fearing the persecution of the tyrant. But the Greek did not make it home. He was sold into slavery on the island of Aegina, where he was bought by one of the locals. Plato was immediately released.

After long wanderings, the philosopher again ended up in Athens, where he bought a house with a garden. Previously, there was a pagan sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Athena. According to legend, the area was donated by Theseus to the hero Akadem for special merits. He ordered to plant olive trees here and equip the sanctuary.

Platonic Academy

The inhabitants of Athens quickly began to call the place where Plato lived, the Academy. This name covered gardens, gymnasiums, and groves. In 385 BC, a philosophical school was formed, which existed until the 5th century. AD, i.e. until the end of antiquity.

The academy in form represented an association of wise men who served Apollo and various muses.

The academy was also called a museyon, and its founder was called a sholarch. Interestingly, even during his lifetime, a successor to Plato was appointed, whom he made his own nephew.

Above the entrance to the Academy there was an inscription “Let no non-geometer enter”, which meant that the entrance to the school was closed to anyone who did not respect mathematics and geometry.

The main subjects at the school were astronomy and mathematics, classes took place according to the general and individual system. The first type of study was suitable for the general public, and the second - only for a rather narrow circle of people who wanted to study philosophy.

The students of the Academy lived in the gymnasium, so they had to follow the strict daily routine established by Plato himself. In the morning, the students were woken up by the ringing of an alarm clock, which the philosopher himself made. The students lived quite ascetically, as the Pythagoreans preached, they all ate together, spent a lot of time in silence, thought, and purified their own thoughts.

Classes at the Academy were conducted by Plato, and his students, and graduates of the philosophical school, who successfully completed the course of study. The conversations took place in a garden or grove, a house where a special exedra was equipped.

The students of the Platonic Academy paid special attention to the study of the following sciences:

• Philosophy;
• Mathematics;
• Astronomy;
• Literature;
• Botany;
• Law (including legislation, the structure of states);
• Natural science.

Among the students of Plato were Lycurgus, Hyperilus, Philip of Opunte, Demosthenes.

last years of life

When Plato was over 60 years old, he was again invited to Syracuse, where Dionysius the Younger ruled. According to Dion, the ruler sought to acquire new knowledge. Plato managed to convince the tyrant that tyranny is an inefficient form of government. This Dionysius Jr. recognized quite quickly.

Due to gossip and machinations of enemies, Dion was expelled by his ruler from Syracuse, and therefore moved to live in Athens, in the Academy of Plato. Following his friend, the elderly philosopher also returned home.

Once again, Plato visited Syracuse, but was completely disappointed in Dionysius, seeing his treachery towards others. Dion remained in Sicily, who died in 353 BC. The news of the death of a friend greatly crippled the philosopher, he began to constantly get sick and be alone. The year and day of Plato's death has not been precisely established. It is believed that he died on the day of his birth. Before his death, he gave freedom to his slave, ordered a will to be drawn up, according to which the little property of the philosopher was distributed to friends.

The great Greek was buried at the Academy, where the inhabitants of Athens erected a monument to Plato.

Plato's works

Unlike many ancient authors, whose works have reached modern readers in a fragmentary state, Plato's works have been preserved in their entirety. The authenticity of some of them is called into question by biographers, as a result of which the “Platonic question” arose in historiography. The general list of works of the philosopher is:

• 13 letters;
• Apology of Socrates;
• 34 dialogues.

It is because of the dialogues that researchers constantly argue. The best and most famous creations in a dialogue form are:

• Phaedo;
• Parmenides;
• Sophist;
• Timaeus;
• State;
• Phaedrus;
• Parmenides.

One of the Pythagoreans, whose name was Thrasyllus, who served as an astrologer at the court of the Roman emperor Tiberius, collected and published the writings of Plato. The philosopher decided to break all creations into tetralogy, as a result of which Alcibiades the First and the Second, Rivals, Protagoras, Gorgias, Lysis, Cratylus, Apology, Criton, Minos, Laws, Post-laws, Letters, State and others appeared.

Known dialogues that were published under the name of Plato.

The study of creativity and works of Plato began in the 17th century. The so-called "Plato's corpus of texts" began to be critically studied by scholars who tried to arrange the writings in chronological order. At the same time, a suspicion arose that not all the works belonged to the philosopher.

Most of Plato's works are written in the form of a dialogue in which court hearings and trials were held in ancient Greece. Such a form, as the Greeks believed, helped to adequately and correctly reflect the emotions, living speech of a person. Dialogues best corresponded to the principles of objective idealism, the concept of which was developed by Plato. Idealism was based on principles such as:

• The primacy of consciousness.
• The predominance of ideas over being.

Plato did not specifically study dialectics, being and knowledge, but his reflections on these problems of philosophy are set forth in numerous works. For example, in the "Letters of Plato" or in the "State".

Features of the teachings of Plato

• The philosopher studied being based on three main substances - soul, mind and one. However, he did not give a clear definition of these concepts, so the researchers found that in some places he contradicts himself in the definitions. This is also manifested in the fact that Plato tried to interpret these substances from different points of view. The same applied to the properties that were attributed to concepts - often the properties not only contradicted each other, but were also mutually exclusive, incompatible. "One" Plato interpreted as the basis of being and reality, considering the substance as the beginning. One has no signs, as well as properties, which prevents, according to Plato, from finding its essence. One is one, without parts, does not belong to being, therefore it can be attributed to such categories as “nothing”, “infinity”, “many”. As a result, it is difficult to understand what the one is, it cannot be understood, felt, thought about and interpreted.
• The mind was understood by Plato from the point of view of ontology and epistemology. The philosopher believed that this is one of the root causes of everything that happens in the universe, in heaven or on earth. The mind, according to Plato, should bring order, understanding of the Universe by people who should interpret phenomena, stars, the firmament, celestial bodies, living and non-living from a reasonable point of view. The mind is a ratio that lives its own life, having the ability to live.
• Plato divides the soul into two parts - world and individual. The world soul is a real substance, which was also not understood unambiguously by Plato. He believed that the substance consists of elements - eternal and temporal essence. The functions of the soul is the unification of the corporeal and ideas, therefore, it arises only when the demiurge wants, i.e. God.

Thus, Plato's ontology is built on the combination of three ideal substances that exist objectively. They have nothing to do with what a person thinks and does.

Cognition occupied a special place in the philosophy of the scientist. Plato believed that you need to know the world through your own knowledge, love the idea, so he rejected feelings. The source of the present, i.e. true knowledge can become knowledge, and feelings stimulate the process. You can know ideas only through the mind, the mind.

The dialectical concept of Plato was constantly changing, depending on the environment and the views that the Greek professed. The scientist considered dialectics a separate science on which other scientific fields and methods are based. If we consider dialectics as a method, then there will be a division of the united into separate parts, which can then be reduced to a whole. This understanding of the unified once again proves the inconsistency of Plato's ontological knowledge.

Traveling around different countries had a special influence on the formation of the social philosophy of Plato, who for the first time in all of Greece systematically outlined knowledge about human society and the state. Researchers believe that the philosopher identified these concepts.

Among the main ideas put forward by Plato regarding the state, it is worth noting such as:

• People created countries because it was a natural need to unite. The purpose of this form of organization of society was to facilitate the conditions of life, existence, and economic activity.
• People sought to fully satisfy their own needs, and therefore began to involve others in solving their own problems.
• The desire to get rid of need is one of the main tools why people began to create states.
• There is an invisible connection between the human soul, the state and the cosmos, since they have common principles. In the state, one can find three principles that correspond to the principles in the human soul. This is reasonable, lustful, furious, which correlated with deliberative, business and protective. Three estates arose from the business beginning - philosophers who were rulers, warriors who became defenders, artisans and farmers who played the role of producers.
• If each of the estates will correctly perform its functions, then the state can be interpreted as fair.

Plato recognized the existence of only three forms of government - democracy, aristocracy and monarchy. He rejected the first because the democratic regime of Athens killed Socrates, who was the philosopher's teacher.

Because of this, Plato spent the rest of his life trying to develop a concept of what the state and political system should be like. He built his thoughts in the form of dialogues with Socrates, with which the "Laws" were written. These works were never completed by Plato.

At the same time, the philosopher tried to find an image of a just person who, due to democracy, will have perverted ideas and mind. It is possible to get rid of democracy only with the help of philosophers, whom the scientist considered to be true and right-thinking people. Therefore, he believed that philosophers are obliged to occupy only the highest positions in the state, to manage others.

Consideration of issues related to the state, the structure of the country, the development of the political system, Plato devoted his great work "The State". Some ideas can be found in the writings of The Politician and The Gorgias. It also outlines the concept of how you can bring up a real citizen. This can only be done if the society is class-based, which will make it possible to create a correct system for the distribution of material wealth. The state must be looked after by its inhabitants, who are not engaged in commerce and do not own private property.

Special attention deserves the cosmological teaching of Plato, who understood the Cosmos and the Universe as a ball. He was created, therefore he is finite. The demiurge created the Cosmos, who brought order to the world. The world has its own soul, because is a living being. An interesting state of mind. It is not inside the world, but envelops it. The world soul consists of such important elements as air, earth, water and fire. Plato considered these elements to be the main ones in creating a world in which there is both harmony and relationships expressed by numbers. Such a soul has its own knowledge. The world created by the creator contributes to the emergence of many circles - stars (they are not fixed) and planets.

Plato thought of the structure of the world as follows:

• At the very top was the mind, i.e. demiurge.
• Under it was the world soul and the world body, which is commonly called the Cosmos.

All living things are the creation of God, who creates people with souls. The latter, after the death of their owners, move into new bodies. The soul is immaterial, immortal, and therefore will exist forever. Each soul creates a demiurge only once. As soon as she leaves the body, she enters the so-called world of ideas, where the soul is transported by a chariot with horses. One of them is a symbol of evil, and the second is of purity and clarity. Due to the fact that evil pulls the chariot down, it falls, and the soul again enters the physical body.

The soul in Plato, like everything else, has a certain structure. In particular, na consists of lust, prudence and ardor. This allows a person to think, especially in the process of comprehending and knowing the truth. The consequence of this is that a person gradually, through internal dialogues, solves his own problems, contradictions, finds the truth. Without such a logical connection, it is impossible to find objectivity. The philosophy of Plato says that human thinking has its own dialectic, which allows you to comprehend the essence of things.

The ideas of the ancient Greek philosopher could be further developed only by thinkers of the 19th century, who brought dialectics to a new level. But its foundations were laid in ancient Greece.

The ideas and philosophy of Plato developed after his death, penetrating medieval and Muslim philosophical thought.

Plato (428/7 BC - 347 BC)

Plato is an ancient Greek philosopher, a classic of the philosophical tradition. Plato's teaching permeates not only world philosophy, but also world culture.

One of the main themes of Plato's teachings is a just (ideal) state. It underwent changes from the moment of the unjust condemnation of Socrates in Athens until the end of Plato's life. The theory of the ideal state is most fully represented by Plato in the work "State" and developed in the "Laws".

Convinced that a decent life can only be led in a perfect state, Plato creates the conditions of an ideal state for his students in the Athenian school.

“Justice preserves the state as much as it preserves the human soul, therefore, since it is impossible to always maintain the correct state structure, it is necessary to build it within oneself” (Plato)

Biography

Plato was born in Athens in 428-427. BC. His real name is Aristokles, Plato is a pseudonym denoting "broad-shouldered", which was given to him in his youth for his strong build by the wrestling teacher Ariston from Argos. He was the son of Ariston, a descendant of King Codrus, and Perictione, who descended from the great legislator Solon. He learned literacy from Dionysius, whom he mentions in his Rivals. It is also known that he was engaged in wrestling, painting, and besides that he composed praises, songs and tragedies. Subsequently, a penchant for poetry manifested itself in the artistically processed form of his dialogues. Being gifted mentally and physically, he received an excellent education, the consequence of which was his close acquaintance with the philosophical theories of that time. Aristotle reports that Plato was at first a student of Cratylus, a follower of Heraclitus.

At the age of 20, Plato met Socrates and remained with him until the death of his teacher - only 8 years. According to an Attic legend, on the night before the meeting with Plato, Socrates dreamed of a swan on his chest, which flew high with sonorous singing, and after meeting Plato, Socrates allegedly exclaimed: “Here is my swan!”. Interestingly, in the mythology of antiquity, the swan is the bird of Apollo, and contemporaries compared Plato with Apollo as the god of harmony.

As Plato himself recalls in the Seventh Letter, while still young, he was preparing to actively participate in the political life of his city. The unjust condemnation of Socrates caused Plato to become disillusioned with the politics of Athens and became a turning point in his life.

At the age of 28, after the death of Socrates, Plato, along with other students of the great philosopher, left Athens and moved to Megara, where one of the famous students of Socrates, Euclid, lived. At 40, he visited Italy, where he met the Pythagorean Archytas. He had previously visited Egypt and Cyrene, but he is silent about these travels in his autobiography.

He meets Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, and dreams of realizing his ideal of a philosopher-ruler. However, very soon hostile relations arose with the tyrant Dionysius the Elder, but a friendship was struck up with Dion, the tyrant's nephew. In Dion, Plato hoped to find a worthy student and, in the future, a philosopher on the throne. Plato offended the ruler with his arguments about tyrannical power, saying that not everything is for the best, that it is only for the benefit of the tyrant if he is not distinguished by virtue. For this, Plato was sold into slavery on Aegina, from which Annikerides, the philosopher of the Megarian school, ransomed him and freed him.

Subsequently, Plato wanted to return this money to Annikeris, and when he refused to take it, he bought a garden on them in the suburbs of Athens, named after the local hero Akademi Academy. In this garden, Plato in 387 BC. founded his school, the famous Platonic Academy, which existed in Athens for 1000 years, until 529, until it was closed by Emperor Justinian.

Twice more he went to Syracuse at the insistence of Dion, hoping to fulfill his dream of an ideal state on the lands that Dionysius the Younger had promised him. And although these attempts almost cost Plato his life, his perseverance is an example of high service to the ideal.

In 360, Plato returned to Athens and did not part with the Academy until his death in 347 BC.

Artworks

Plato's writings take the form of dialogues or letters. A large place in his dialogues is occupied by a myth, or a mythical story. Mythology always had a symbolic meaning for him and was used primarily to express philosophical concepts.

The writings of Plato were ordered by the grammarian Thrasilus; they can be grouped into nine tetralogy.
1. Euthyphro, Apology of Socrates, Crito, Phaedo.
2. Cratyl, Theaetetus, Sophist, Politician.
3. Parmenides, Philebus, Feast, Phaedrus
4. Alcibiades I, Alcibiades II, Hipparchus, Rivals
5. Theag, Charmides, Laches, Lysid.
6. Euthydemus, Protagoras, Gorgias, Menon.
7. Hippias the Lesser, Hippias the Greater, Ion, Minixen.
8. Clitophon, State, Timaeus, Critias.
9. Minos, Laws, Epinomides, Letters.

Philosophy of Plato

About philosophy

Philosophy for Plato is not only a cognitive process, but also the aspiration of the soul to the supersensible world of ideas, and therefore it is closely connected with Love. According to Plato, only Gods or those who are completely ignorant and arrogantly think that they know everything do not engage in philosophy. And, on the contrary, only those who feel the need for knowledge and are seized by the desire to know wisdom are engaged in philosophy. This tension, generated by a lack of knowledge and a great desire for it, Plato defines as Eros, Love, the desire for Beauty, which he understood as order and harmony.

Plato's doctrine of ideas

The doctrine of ideas is the central element of Plato's philosophy. He interpreted ideas as some kind of divine essence. They are eternal, unchanging, independent of the conditions of space and time. All cosmic life is summarized in them: they govern the Universe. These are archetypes, eternal patterns, according to which the whole multitude of real things is organized from formless and fluid matter. Ideas have their own existence in a separate world, and things exist only insofar as they reflect this or that idea, insofar as this or that idea is present in them. In relation to sensible things, ideas are both their causes and the goal towards which the beings of the sensible world aspire. At the same time, there are relations of coordination and subordination between ideas. The highest idea is the idea of ​​the absolute Good, the source of truth, beauty and harmony.

Theory of knowledge

Plato's theory of knowledge is built as a theory of recollection, with the mind or the rational part of the soul acting as the guiding principle. According to Plato, the soul is immortal, and before the birth of a person, it resides in the beyond world, where it observes the brilliant world of eternal ideas. Therefore, in the earthly life of the human soul, it becomes possible to comprehend ideas as a recollection of what has been seen before.

“And since everything in nature is related to each other, and the soul has known everything, nothing prevents the one who remembered one thing - people call this knowledge - to find everything else himself, if only he is courageous and tireless in search: after all, to seek and to know is precisely to remember” (Menon).

A person receives true knowledge when the soul remembers what it already knows. Knowledge as a recollection of what was before the birth of man is one of Plato's proofs of the immortality of the soul.

About the soul

Accepting the idea of ​​the immortality of the soul and realizing that in this case, death takes away everything from a person except the soul, Plato leads us to the idea that the main concern of a person in life should be taking care of the soul. This care means the purification of the soul, the liberation from the sensual in an effort to unite with the spiritual - intelligible world.

Explaining the nature of the soul, what the soul is now and what it was before its descent into the sensual world, Plato symbolically identifies it with the sea deity Glaucus, to whose body a lot of dirt has attached itself during a long stay in the depths of the sea. He is covered with shells, algae and sand, and his body is broken and mutilated by the waves ... The soul is in a similar state, and it must shake off everything superfluous - everything that, making it heavy and shapeless, does not allow it to recognize itself. She needs to be cleansed of everything with which she has grown together over many reincarnations.

Outwardly, the soul seems to be one being, but in fact it is a combination of three - a man, a lion and a chimera, which are firmly fused with each other. Each of the three parts of the soul has its own virtue: the rational beginning - wisdom, the furious - courage, and the lustful - moderation.

Purification of the soul in Plato is associated with bodily and mental discipline, which internally transforms a person, likens him to a deity.

“Prudence, justice, courage and wisdom are the means of such purification” (Phaedo).

All these virtues are the aim of the philosophical search.

Plato's ideal state

The theory of the ideal state is most fully represented by Plato in the "State" and developed in the "Laws". True political art is the art of saving and educating the soul, and therefore Plato puts forward the thesis that true philosophy coincides with true politics. Only if a politician becomes a philosopher (and vice versa) can a true state be built based on the highest value of Truth and Good. To build a City-State means to know to the end a person and his place in the universe.

The state, according to Plato, like the soul, has a tripartite structure. In accordance with the main functions (management, protection and production of material goods), the population is divided into three classes: farmers-artisans, guards and rulers (sages-philosophers). A fair state structure should ensure their harmonious coexistence. The first estate is formed from people in whom the lustful beginning prevails. If the virtue of moderation prevails in them, a kind of love for order and discipline, then these are the most worthy people. The second estate is formed from people in whom the strong-willed principle prevails, the duty of the guard is vigilance in relation to both internal and external danger. According to Plato, only aristocrats are called to rule the state as the best and most wise citizens. The rulers should be those who know how to love their City more than others, who are able to fulfill their duty with the greatest zeal. And most importantly, if they know how to cognize and contemplate the Good, that is, the rational principle prevails in them and they can rightly be called sages. So, a perfect state is such a state, in the first estate moderation prevails, in the second - courage and strength, in the third - wisdom.

The concept of justice is that everyone does what he has to do; it concerns the citizens in the City and the parts of the soul in the soul. Justice in the outer world is manifested only when it is in the soul. Therefore, in a perfect City, education and upbringing must be perfect, and for each class it has its own characteristics. Plato attaches great importance to the education of guards as an active part of the population, from which rulers emerge. Education worthy of rulers had to combine practical skills with the development of philosophy. The purpose of education is to give a model through the knowledge of the Good, which the ruler should become like in his desire to embody the Good in his state.

In the finale of Book IX of the "State" it is said that "it is not as important as it should or how it can be" in an ideal state, it is already enough if someone alone lives according to the laws of this City, that is, according to the law of Goodness, Goodness and Justice. After all, before appearing in reality externally, that is, in history, the Platonic City will be born inside a person.

“... you are talking about the state, the structure of which we have just analyzed, that is, about the one that is only in the field of reasoning, because on earth, I think, it is nowhere to be found.
- But perhaps there is a sample of it in heaven, available to everyone; looking at it, a person will think about how to arrange it for himself. And whether there is such a state on earth and whether it will be is completely unimportant. This person would take care of the affairs of such - and only such - a state.