UGFN1000 In Dialogue with Nature

與自然對話

Text 1a: Plato, Republic

Text 1b: David C. Lindberg,The Beginnings
of Western Science

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Core Question:

What is real?

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 Text 1
 Plato, Republic / translated by C.D.C. Reeve.
Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2004.
(JC71.P513 2004)
Read: Verses 514-517.
 David C. Lindberg, The Beginnings of Western
Science, 2nd edition. Chicago: The University
of Chicago Press, 2007.
Read: Chap. 2, Para. 28-39 (Plato’s World of Forms)
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Lecture today…

 Who is Plato
 What is Republic
 David C. Lindberg and his The Beginnings
of Western Science
 How to start reading classics?

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 Plato
 c.428 BC – c. 348 BC
 Classical Greek philosopher.
 Mentor: Socrates,
 Student: Aristotle
 Socrates + Plato + Aristotle
(希臘三哲人): laid the
foundations of Western
philosophy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato

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 Plato and Socrates in
a medieval depiction

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato
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 Plato’s father: Ariston,
 Mother: Perictione
 Elder brothers: Adeimantus and Glaucon.
 Sister: Potone.
 Note: Glaucon and Socrates are
characters in Republic.

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 The School of Athens (雅典學院)
-- by Raffaello Sanzio in 1509–1510

They are Plato and

Socrates Aristotle. Which is which?
Raphael Painter: Raffaello Sanzio (
Parmenides 拉斐爾，1483–1520),
an Italian painter

Ptolemy?
Pythagoras Euclid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_School_of_Athens 8
 Hints

 Plato talked about

the ideal world.
Aristotle talked
about the real world.

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 More hints

 Their arms.
 The orientation of
their books.
 Answer:
◦ Left: Plato
◦ Right: Aristotle

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 Republic《國家篇》
– outline (by Bertrand Russell)

Book I-V the Utopia portion, portraying the ideal

community, starting from an attempt to
define justice
Book VI-VII since philosophers are seen as the ideal
rulers of such community, this part of the text
concentrates on defining precisely what a
philosopher is
Book VIII-X discusses several practical forms of
government, their pros and cons.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Republic_(Plato)

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 Republic
 What is justice?
 Personal justice  justice in a city
 The ruler should be a philosopher.
 The ruler should know “the form of good.”

education

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 Allegory of the cave:
an illustration on education

Plato’s Allegory of the cave, Engraving of Jan Saenredam (1565-1607) after a

painting of Cornelis Corneliszoon van Haarlem (1562-1638) (Wikimedia Commons)
http://platophilosopher.pbworks.com/w/page/17201867/Analysis%20of%20the%20Allegory%20of%20the%20Cave
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQfRdl3GTw4
How is the allegory related
to education?
 Republic
 What is justice?
 Personal justice  justice in a city
 The ruler should be a philosopher.
 The ruler should know “the form of good.”

education
 To know the good: studying arithmetic,
geometry, solid geometry, astronomy.

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(不懂幾何學勿入此門)

(Text 2, P.34)
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Para. 4, Text 11a (William Dunham,
The Mathematical Universe)
 What are the relationship among…

Arithmetic, geometry,…
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analogy_of_the_divided_line

Plato’s two-world system

Type of object Type of Knowledge

The Form of
Intelligible realm the Good
understanding

Who can teach

you these
knowledge?

Education
mathematical forms reason

Sensible realm Physical objects: perception

animals, plants,
manufactured things

Shadows, reflections
imagination
in water, etc.
Plato’s philosophical assumptions:

1. the world revealed by our senses is not the ideal

world but only a poor copy of it, and that the ideal
world can only be apprehended intellectually;
2. knowledge cannot be transferred from teacher to
student, but rather that education consists in
directing students’ minds toward what is true and
important and allowing them to apprehend it for
themselves;
3. his faith that the universe ultimately is good;
4. his conviction that enlightened individuals have an
obligation to the rest of society, and that a good
society must be one in which the truly wise are the
rulers.
Text 1b: The Beginnings of Western Science,
Chap. 2: The Greeks and the Cosmos, Para. 28-
39 (Plato’s World of Forms)
A guide for how Plato’s view
shaped the way of thinking
of natural philosophers

A excellent
textbook for the
history of science
 The author
 Main focus: History of
medieval and early modern
science, especially physical
science and the relationship
between religion and science
 was recipient of the Sarton
medal (薩頓勳章) in 1999 (the
medalists include Joseph
Needham in 1968, I. Bernard
Cohen in 1974, Edward Grant
in 1992)
David C. Lindberg (1935-2015),
an American historian of science
http://histsci.wisc.edu/people/faculty/lindberg/lindberg.shtml
Text 1b – outline

Para. 28-29: Background of Plato

Para. 30-31: The realm of forms and the material realm
Para. 32: The importance of the form
Para. 33-34: The allegory of the cave and the reality
Para. 35-36: Implications of Plato's view
Para. 37-38: Usefulness of senses
Para. 39: Plato's view and modern thought

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 Plato’s philosophy:
Realm of forms versus Material realm
(intelligible) (sensible)
 Are the two tables exactly the same?
Are they the same as that in the carpenter’s mind?
 Realm of forms

Material realm （Demiurge神匠）

Plato’s philosophy versus modern science

Type of object Levels of Knowledge

The Form of Scientific theories
understanding
the Good

mathematical forms reason Empirical laws

a2 + b2 = c2

Physical objects: perception Experimental data

animals, plants,
manufactured things Observations

Shadows, reflections
imagination
in water, etc.
 Ponder on…
 Is the sole purpose of education to train us
up to be rulers? If not, what is the purpose?
 Can science education help turn people’s
heads around to see the truth?
 Do you agree to Plato’s view on the level of
reality?
 What’s your guess on the relation between
Plato’s view and the modern scientists?
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Release of chimpanzees, 30 years after
undergoing experiments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7PAMgNEtSY

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How to start reading classics?
Some steps into classics:
1. Attend lecture
2. Read introduction and outline of the
reading guide.
3. Attend PASS
4. Read the text at a reasonable pace;
make good use of Dianable and the
reading guide.
Enjoy reading

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