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Few individuals have influenced the world
and many of today's thinkers like Plato.

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One 20th century philosopher 
even went so far

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as to describe all of Western philosophy
as a series of footnotes to Plato.

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He created the first Western university

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and was teacher to Ancient Greece's 
greatest minds,

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including Aristotle.

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But even one of the founders of philosophy
wasn't perfect.

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Along with his great ideas,

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Plato had a few that haven't 
exactly stood the test of time.

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So here are brief rundowns
of a few of his best and worst ideas.

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Plato argued that beyond
our imperfect world

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was a perfect unchanging world of Forms.

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Forms are the ideal versions of the things
and concepts we see around us.

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They serve as a sort of instruction
manual to our own world.

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Floating around the world of Forms
is the ideal tree,

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and the ideal YouTube channel,

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and even the ideal justice,

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or ideal love.

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Our own reality is comprised of imperfect
copies of ideal Forms.

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Plato argued that philosophers
should strive to contemplate

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and understand these perfect Forms

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so that they may better navigate
our misleading reality.

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While it may seem silly,

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the disconnect between the world
as it appears

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and the greater truth behind it

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is one of philosophy's
most vexing problems.

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It's been the subject of thousands
of pages by theologians,

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philosophers,

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and screenwriters alike.

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It raises questions like should we trust
our senses to come to the truth

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or our own reason?

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For Plato, the answer is reason.

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It alone provides us with at least
the potential to contemplate the Forms.

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But reason didn't always pan out
for Plato himself.

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When he sought to situate humankind
amongst the animals,

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he lumped us in with birds.

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"Featherless bipeds" 
was his official designation.

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Diogenes the Cynic,
annoyed by this definition,

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stormed into Plato's class
with a plucked chicken,

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announcing, "Behold. Plato's man."

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But back to a few good ideas.

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Plato is one of the earliest 
political theorists on record,

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and with Aristotle, is seen as one 
of the founders of political science.

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He reasoned that being a ruler
was no different than any other craft,

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whether a potter or doctor,

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and that only those who had mastered
the craft were fit to lead.

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Ruling was the craft 
of contemplating the Forms.

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In his Republic, Plato imagined a utopia
where justice is the ultimate goal.

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Plato's ideal city seeks a harmonious
balance between its individual parts

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and should be lead by a philosopher king.

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Millennia before his time,

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Plato also reasoned that women were
equally able to rule in this model city.

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Unfortunately, Plato was inconsistent
with women,

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elsewhere likening them to children.

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He also believed that a woman's
womb was a live animal

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that could wander around in her body
and cause illness.

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This bad idea, also espoused by other
contemporaries of Plato,

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was sadly influential for hundreds
of years in European medicine.

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Furthermore, he thought that society
should be divided into three groups:

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producers,

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the military,

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and the rulers,

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and that a great noble lie should convince
everyone to follow this structure.

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The noble lie he proposed

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was that we're all born with gold, 
silver, or a mixture of brass and iron

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in our souls,

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which determine our roles in life.

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Some thinkers have gone on
to credit the idea of the noble lie

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as a prototype for 20th century
propaganda,

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and the philosopher king as inspiration
for the dictators that used them.

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Should a few bad ideas

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tarnish Plato's status as one 
of the greatest philosophers in history?

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No!

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Plato gave the leaders and thinkers who
came after him a place to start.

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Through the centuries,

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we've had the chance to test those ideas
through writing and experience,

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and have accepted some
while rejecting others.

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We are continuing to refine,
amend, and edit his ideas

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which have become foundations
of the modern world.