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Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.17,0:00:13.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Few individuals have influenced the world\Nand many of today's thinkers like Plato.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.22,0:00:15.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One 20th century philosopher \Neven went so far
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.80,0:00:22.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as to describe all of Western philosophy\Nas a series of footnotes to Plato.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.13,0:00:24.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He created the first Western university
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.39,0:00:27.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and was teacher to Ancient Greece's \Ngreatest minds,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.33,0:00:29.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,including Aristotle.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.13,0:00:32.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But even one of the founders of philosophy\Nwasn't perfect.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.73,0:00:34.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Along with his great ideas,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.25,0:00:38.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Plato had a few that haven't \Nexactly stood the test of time.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.64,0:00:44.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So here are brief rundowns\Nof a few of his best and worst ideas.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.36,0:00:47.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Plato argued that beyond\Nour imperfect world
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.83,0:00:52.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was a perfect unchanging world of Forms.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.05,0:00:57.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Forms are the ideal versions of the things\Nand concepts we see around us.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.56,0:01:01.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They serve as a sort of instruction\Nmanual to our own world.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.76,0:01:05.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Floating around the world of Forms\Nis the ideal tree,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.58,0:01:07.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the ideal YouTube channel,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.58,0:01:09.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and even the ideal justice,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.39,0:01:11.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or ideal love.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:11.74,0:01:17.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our own reality is comprised of imperfect\Ncopies of ideal Forms.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.47,0:01:20.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Plato argued that philosophers\Nshould strive to contemplate
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.94,0:01:23.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and understand these perfect Forms
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.81,0:01:28.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that they may better navigate\Nour misleading reality.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.09,0:01:29.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While it may seem silly,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.57,0:01:32.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the disconnect between the world\Nas it appears
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.07,0:01:34.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the greater truth behind it
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.21,0:01:37.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is one of philosophy's\Nmost vexing problems.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.43,0:01:40.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's been the subject of thousands\Nof pages by theologians,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.74,0:01:41.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,philosophers,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.93,0:01:44.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and screenwriters alike.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.21,0:01:48.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It raises questions like should we trust\Nour senses to come to the truth
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.20,0:01:50.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or our own reason?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.40,0:01:52.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For Plato, the answer is reason.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.89,0:01:57.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It alone provides us with at least\Nthe potential to contemplate the Forms.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.75,0:02:01.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But reason didn't always pan out\Nfor Plato himself.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.36,0:02:04.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When he sought to situate humankind\Namongst the animals,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.52,0:02:07.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he lumped us in with birds.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.75,0:02:11.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Featherless bipeds" \Nwas his official designation.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.60,0:02:14.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Diogenes the Cynic,\Nannoyed by this definition,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.68,0:02:17.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,stormed into Plato's class\Nwith a plucked chicken,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.99,0:02:22.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,announcing, "Behold. Plato's man."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.30,0:02:24.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But back to a few good ideas.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.42,0:02:27.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Plato is one of the earliest \Npolitical theorists on record,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.61,0:02:32.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and with Aristotle, is seen as one \Nof the founders of political science.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.42,0:02:36.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He reasoned that being a ruler\Nwas no different than any other craft,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.48,0:02:38.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether a potter or doctor,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.61,0:02:42.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that only those who had mastered\Nthe craft were fit to lead.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.83,0:02:46.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ruling was the craft \Nof contemplating the Forms.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.41,0:02:52.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In his Republic, Plato imagined a utopia\Nwhere justice is the ultimate goal.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.34,0:02:57.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Plato's ideal city seeks a harmonious\Nbalance between its individual parts
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.18,0:02:59.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and should be lead by a philosopher king.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.86,0:03:01.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Millennia before his time,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.86,0:03:07.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Plato also reasoned that women were\Nequally able to rule in this model city.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.64,0:03:11.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Unfortunately, Plato was inconsistent\Nwith women,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.28,0:03:13.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,elsewhere likening them to children.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.63,0:03:16.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He also believed that a woman's\Nwomb was a live animal
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.92,0:03:21.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that could wander around in her body\Nand cause illness.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.01,0:03:25.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This bad idea, also espoused by other\Ncontemporaries of Plato,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.02,0:03:29.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was sadly influential for hundreds\Nof years in European medicine.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.90,0:03:34.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Furthermore, he thought that society\Nshould be divided into three groups:
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.23,0:03:35.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,producers,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.25,0:03:36.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the military,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.36,0:03:37.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the rulers,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.65,0:03:42.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that a great noble lie should convince\Neveryone to follow this structure.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.100,0:03:44.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The noble lie he proposed
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.78,0:03:50.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was that we're all born with gold, \Nsilver, or a mixture of brass and iron
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.25,0:03:51.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in our souls,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.82,0:03:54.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which determine our roles in life.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.46,0:03:58.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some thinkers have gone on\Nto credit the idea of the noble lie
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.03,0:04:01.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a prototype for 20th century\Npropaganda,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.51,0:04:06.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the philosopher king as inspiration\Nfor the dictators that used them.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.79,0:04:07.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Should a few bad ideas
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.92,0:04:11.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,tarnish Plato's status as one \Nof the greatest philosophers in history?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.82,0:04:12.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,No!
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.99,0:04:17.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Plato gave the leaders and thinkers who\Ncame after him a place to start.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.27,0:04:18.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Through the centuries,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.41,0:04:22.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we've had the chance to test those ideas\Nthrough writing and experience,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.34,0:04:25.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and have accepted some\Nwhile rejecting others.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.65,0:04:29.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We are continuing to refine,\Namend, and edit his ideas
Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.82,0:04:33.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which have become foundations\Nof the modern world.