Exploring Plato's Republic

The Republic is one of the most influential works of philosophy and political theory. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place looks at the ideal state Plato outlines in its context and consider its ongoing relevance for understanding society and individuals today.

[@jtta8282]

Wow for the first time the volume on this channel is comparitively better, should still be slightly louder, but it is much better than all previous videos. Another great video, john is as always superb.

[@cae02]

My phone still needs it louder

[@jonathansloane702]

“I went down yesterday to the Piraeus. . ." The cave is an allegory for the human skull, in which our senses project the shadow play.

[@kathleenhandron3092]

Thank you so very much for your lectures. Great organization and content.

[@vampireangelus]

These lectures are awesome!

[@waihinative6927]

Very good lessons thx your a fantastic teacher that communicates really clearly i appreciate all your work

[@jaredsayers9920]

Absolutely love these videos! Coming from an individual with degrees in philosophy!

[@unikuadam6035]

I quit vaping 2 days ago so I know what he means about battling with carnal natures

Great lecture. Starts off slow, but ultimately does a great job in presenting the main themes of the work.

[@howielisnoff]

Great discussion!

[@scottweaverphotovideo]

I luved Play Doh as a child.

[@geometron3646]

@1:26:50 Platonic essences seem really solid (pun alert), and I came to this series off the back of researching zero truth plausibility of evolutionary game theory, the fallacy of SpaceTime, and the allure of the Amplituhedron geometry in simplifying Boson particle scatterings. Plato seems to nail it again, everything emanates from geometrical truths, but the Lady mentions Heraclitus's flux so I need to look at that next.

[@unikuadam6035]

Money sucks abundance is all around “Ubuntu” elevates - We have to fight for it!☀️💪🏽❤️✨✨✨

[@unikuadam6035]

I see and understand this and can relate to much of this …… I am That … so to speak❤️🏳️‍🌈☀️✨❤️🙏 stand with you forever!❤️☝🏼

[@The1Helleri]

Socrates may have been right as well to doubt the value of writing his ideas down. Not having much of what he thought and said in a fixed media is probably what made him an ideal character in Plato's writings. Being that character probably brought him more renown than he would have ever achieved otherwise. He even gets credit for some good ideas that possibly were not his.

[@lecelcelec]

Plato is a central figure in the history of philosophy and he gave the idea, that a successful republic (state, government...) can be created, if lies are used, what he called the noble lie. He also suggested the importance of ruling from the shadows... So one of the most famous in the world, he suggested lies, a secret government… and we wonder why this exists, why the real decision-makers are those who are not elected by the people, why politicians follow them like little puppies, why is the judiciary subordinate to these unelected, ... Obviously, it is necessary to make a new version of philosophy, because this very old one, has been doing great chaos for a long time and has long beguiled the minds that read this philosophy.

[@PeterSt1954]

It always amuses me how philosophers conclude that the people in charge should be people like themselves.

[@user-dr5yv8jv9f]

PLATO GAVE US KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SOULS IN REPUBLIC . AND SOULS MEAN FORMLESS HELL BEINGS OF THE WORLD. SOULS ARE HELL BEING AFTER METAMORPHOSIS OR CHANGE.

[@ncarmstron]

How historically reliable is the existence of Socrates? Could he be a literary construct?

[@andrewsuryali8540]

Socrates actually parallels the historical Jesus in that the only historically verifiable record of his life is that of his execution. The difference is that his execution is recorded in the chronicles of the Athenian city-state, so we're pretty sure he existed. However, the Socrates we get from his students (not only Plato) who wrote about him is definitely a literary construct. In his case, there was never a sayings gospel, so none of his students' records of what he said actually match. They all took the character of Socrates and went their own ways.

[@dbarker7794]

The great philosophy duo of Bill and Ted often refer to Socrates, therefore proving he really existed.

[@ncarmstron]

@@dbarker7794 🙂

[@jounik8980]

What do u do in Internet using vpn

[@ztimbo]

Turns out being on a reality show is one of many characteristics that worked.

[@savvageorge]

I think psychology was a lot more advanced at the time of the ancient Greeks than modern people give them credit for and many modern ideas are just repackaged Greek ideas. Hippocrates talks about the 'four temperaments' back in 400BC so they were already aware of different personality types and the different natural inclinations that people have. The ancient Greek Gods had very complex personalities so psychology was strongly linked to their religion and a part of daily life.

[@RestoringReality]

Interesting he would bring up the spherical shape of the earth when discussing the Allegory of the Cave as the first thing I think of with regards to what this stroy means to us is the Fact that we've been led to understand everything backwards in that water does not form to the inverse shape of it's container in this reality because we don't live on the exterior surface of a spinning sphere of mostly water just because "they" (scum of the earth) repeat this lie loud and often enough to get the whole world beLIEving the lie. Obviously this story points to many other similar things but I had to toss this one out there since he brought it up. Cheers and welcome to our flat and stationary plane of existance. We are center stage and important, not some random rock among billions.

[@unikuadam6035]

Justice Stands For All!🏳️‍🌈❤️✨🌈☀️🙏☝🏼

[@mikemegame1]

I have a question on your other Bible lectures which I enjoy. So where did alk the gentiles come from after the flood if everyone descended from Moses?

[@kinanshmahell8065]

noah not moses and the jews and isrealites are only the descendents of jacob

[@mikemegame1]

@@kinanshmahell8065 ahh yeah Noah. Anyway where did all the non Jews come from?

[@kinanshmahell8065]

@@mikemegame1 the jews are only the descendants of jacob

[@mikemegame1]

So where did the Egyptians and sodom etc. come from before the time of Noah? And then after the flood where did the Egyptians and Persians come from yet again ?

[@kinanshmahell8065]

@@mikemegame1 are you asking where the bible says they came frome?

[@shelleyharris9349]

332😊

[@ningenJMK]

As Plato might say, "oh Hellas Yeah!"

[@p4radigm989]

a very good presentation. thank you. btw. the only time Aristotle is even mentioned by original Greek authors is as an Admiral of the Navi, not as Philosopher, so it is quite likely the whole Aristotle Philosophy was made up and written by a Roman. anyway, Platon and Socrates are way better than Aristotle.

[@andrewsuryali8540]

Herophilus wrote a long treaty refuting Aristotle on biology a century before Romans got into the action, so historians are quite sure the writings of Aristotle were Greek in origin despite the very little known about him. If he's a literary creation, then the Lycaeon's Theophrastus would be the one to blame.

[@martind349]

I would do the superhero s*** cuz Lestat

[@nevermindthebull0cks]

This sounds like some of the old families picked this up and use it today.

[@thomasjamison2050]

One has to wonder if Athens didn't decide to ostracize Socrates, most likely for just being logically annoying with his excellent sales banter, but perhaps more likely for older political grievances.

[@p4radigm989]

bad people dont like being reminded that they are bad people, which is what Socrates did all the time. Of course the reasons given were a fraud. he was targetted by the poweful in a corrupt Democracy, where the rich can buy votes from the poor. reminds me of today, frankly.

[@JaneAlwaysWellSaid]

are you sure? I thought Socrates was an amazing thinker, all inclusive.

[@OddawallWood]

When did Socrates' trial and execution move to the Republic?

[@lionelkimchee]

Good note to end on. Richard Nixon - not a philosopher king.

[@danielrodgers3002]

Thanks. Please cut out the audience's stupid comments and questions, otherwise very good presentation.

[@cpthardluck]

The comments in this episode are actually very good in comparison. Guessing you're a big fan of censorship

[@jdjones4825]

​@@cpthardluck 😂😂😂😂 well said... let them speak ( and I think it's their presentation )

[@rogerpropes7129]

King Hezekiah was so poor he had to rent his garments?

[@leesnyder9144]

lol I have not got to that part yet but I am sure it means he tore his cloths

[@donwolff6463]

Socrates both proves the gods wrong and himself the greatest fool of them all. The Gods proclaim him (through second hand testimony) that he is the wisest man of all. Then the wisest man of all goes around to all the affluent and powerful people and declares them all fools. These affluent men then use the system to kill him. Now, honestly, is that the course of a wise man or the course of a foolish man who publicly humiliates those holding the gun to his head? And thus in his foolishness proves the gods utterly wrong. Way to go Plato! But here is the kicker, we don't have the 400 books of Epicurus, or the thousand others. Why? Because of the great Christian conflagration of the late 300's where they burned or put to sword anything that wasn't Christian or Christian approved. This is why we still have plato and Aristotle because the Christians found portions of them could be used to support their beliefs. This abhorrent destruction of knowledge has shaped our beliefs and education just as dramatically as the 1500 years of the dark ages which were the golden ages of the church. Few bother to think what our education would have been like, especially in philosophy, had the great conflagration never occurred.