Research on Plato's Ethical Thought
Abstract
Plato’s ethical thought possesses immense theoretical value and practical significance. As there is currently no systematic monograph on Plato's ethical thought in the academic community, filling this gap is both urgent and necessary. Grounded in the economic, political, cultural, and moral developments of 4th-century BCE ancient Greece, Plato comprehensively demonstrated the core issues of ethics, establishing a solid foundation for the subsequent development of the field.
The author contends that moral metaphysics is the central axis of Plato's entire ethical system. Its origins lie in Pythagorean number theory, Orphism, the realism of the Eleatic school, Heraclitean dialectics, and the Socratic method of universal definition. Moral metaphysics establishes the priority of the "Form of the Good" and the following value standard: true value resides in the good and the noble. Due to defects in the early "Theory of Forms"—such as the theories of participation and separation, as well as certain teleological principles—the later Theory of Forms overcame these shortcomings by defining Forms as a mixture of pluralistic primary "kinds" and utilized a "three-step glimpses" method to encounter the Form of the Good.
Distinguished from general research works, this study argues that the concept of the Good plays a decisive role in Plato’s ethical thought. The Good is the highest universal criterion, the law of cosmic generation and soul movement, and the standard of justice. The "Good" performs a transitional function between the "Highest Good" and "moral virtue"; the goodness of the soul takes priority over bodily and external goods, while the "Highest Good" and "supreme bliss" are inherently unified.
Moral virtues such as courage, temperance, pleasure, and friendship must ultimately submit to the ethical criterion of moderation (the mean), which is the concrete manifestation of the "art of measurement" within virtue. Knowledge and wisdom possess epistemological and teleological priority among specific virtues. Through the recollection and imitation of the immutable "Form of the Good," daily life establishes the boundaries of various empirical ethical behaviors in a secondary sense.
For a long time, researchers have focused only on Plato's concepts of individual justice, polis justice, and psychic justice, while neglecting divine justice. Within Plato's overall conception of justice, the dimension of divine justice requires in-depth elucidation. Through a functional analogy between the tripartite soul and the various classes of the polis, Plato arrived at a unique definition of justice: "doing one’s own business and not interfering with the business of others." Polis justice is merely the starting point for seeking individual justice and correcting the soul, while psychic justice is the ultimate destination of individual justice. Accompanied by the "turning of the soul," individuals can rescue themselves from a cave-like polis existence. In daily life, relying on the weaving arts of philosophy, piety, and politics, and on a loyalty to the collective interest and the happiness of the polis, they can construct a "second-best" world. Ultimately, they realize the unity of the individual soul and the cosmic soul through divine faith and rational contemplation.
Plato critiqued the amoral stance of the Sophists and poets, as well as their base moral motivations for peddling intellectual products. Simultaneously, from an opposing perspective, this work points out the significant role played by Sophists and poets in the dissemination of Greek secular culture and moral education. The author then summarizes seven contemporary trends of anti-Platonic moral philosophy, providing a clear overall account of these critiques and offering commentary on the respective merits and flaws of the Platonic moral stance versus our current moral positions.
Finally, proceeding from the basic viewpoints of Marxist ethics, this work provides a critical analysis of Plato’s moral metaphysics, his holistic and universalist ethics, and the future growth points of Platonic ethics. The conclusion is that the development of human morality must return to the Platonic tradition to draw nourishment, while simultaneously developing and deepening that tradition at the level of practice and political democracy. Regardless of how ethics develops, it can never abandon the height of moral metaphysics, the depth of rationalism, the breadth of universalism, or the dimensions of moral romanticism and idealism.
About the Author
Liu Xukuan, PhD in Law, born August 1973, is a young scholar at the Institute of Marxism Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). He is primarily engaged in research on ethics, the theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics, public services, and social construction. His major research achievements include: co-editor-in-chief of The 27 Most Influential Ethical Classics in History; co-author of the Blue Book of Public Services (2012, 2013, 2014 series); and author of over 20 papers published in journals such as Philosophical Trends (Zhexue Dongtai), Journal of Beijing Normal University, Ethics Studies, and Chongqing Social Sciences. He participated in the compilation of the Study Reader on the Scientific Outlook on Development [1] produced by the Theoretical Bureau of the CPC Central Committee’s Propaganda Department. He has undertaken and completed numerous projects commissioned by national ministries and commissions and has been invited to participate in research projects for the Beijing Municipal Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy and public service projects for the Lhasa Municipal Government.
Contents
Introduction: Plato's Life, Works, and Ethical Essence — 1 Section 1: Plato’s Era, Life, and Works — 2 I. Portrait of the Era — 2 II. Plato’s Life — 10 III. Plato’s Works — 16 Section 2: The Socratic Moral Prelude — 21 I. Socrates’ Humanistic Turn — 21 II. The Socratic Method of Moral Practice — 23 III. Socrates’ Personal Charisma — 29 IV. The Death of Socrates — 30 Section 3: Examining the Platonic View of Ethics from a Marxist Standpoint — 33 I. The Scientific Ethical Attitude of Marxism — 33 II. Successions of the Ethics of Liberation from Platonic Ethical Thought — 35 III. The Transcendental Moral Theory of Idealism — 39 Chapter Summary — 41
Chapter 1: Moral Metaphysics — 44 Section 1: Plato’s Theoretical Origins — 44 I. Gazing at the "Immutable" from "Flux" — 45 II. Conceiving Order and Harmony from "Number" — 50 III. Standing on the Shoulders of the Eleatic School — 55 IV. Penetrating "Forms" through Universal Definitions — 59 Section 2: Plato’s "Theory of Forms" — 64 I. The Map of the Early Theory of Forms — 65 II. The Later Theory of Forms — 73 III. A Brief Commentary on Moral Metaphysics — 77 Chapter Summary — 81
Chapter 2: The Concept of the Good — 83 Section 1: The Good and Its Variables — 83 I. Goodness, the Good, and the "Form of the Good" — 83 II. Multidimensional Perspectives on the Virtue of the Good — 86 III. Classification of Goods — 92 Section 2: The Good and Moral Virtue — 96 I. The Dialectical Course of the Good — 96 II. The Relationship between the Good and Moral Virtue — 99 III. Critique of the Concept of the Good and the Critique of the Critique — 101 Section 3: Supreme Bliss and the Highest Good — 105 I. Happiness as the Continuity of the Good — 106 II. Unhappiness as the Disorder of the Soul — 109 III. The Pinnacle of Happiness: Contemplation and Attaining Divinity — 112 Chapter Summary — 118
Chapter 3: Reflections on Moral Virtue — 119 Section 1: Courage — 119 I. Etymological Investigation and Definition of Courage — 120 II. Courage as the Core Quality of the Ancient Greek Nation — 124 III. Excess and Deficiency of Courage — 126 Section 2: Temperance — 128 I. Etymological Investigation of Temperance — 129 II. Desire as a Pathology of the Soul — 132 III. Temperance as the Harmony of the Soul — 134 IV. Temperance and Regimen — 140 Section 3: A Study of Plato’s Thought on Pleasure — 143 I. What is Pleasure and Whose Pleasure? — 143 II. Analysis of Plato’s View of Pleasure — 146 III. Gradations of Mental and Physical Pleasure — 152 IV. Critique and Inheritance of Plato’s Thought on Pleasure — 158 Section 4: A Study of Plato’s Thought on Friendship/Love (Philia) — 162 I. The Foundational Work of Friendship — 163 II. The Ladder of Love: From Physical Degradation to Divine Frenzy — 171 III. How Same-Sex Love Became the Center of Eros — 178 Chapter Summary — 182
Chapter 4: Order and Harmony—A Specialized Investigation into Justice — 184 Section 1: What is Justice? — 184 I. What Kind of Good is Justice? — 184 II. Several Common-Sense Conceptions of Justice — 187 III. The Relationship between Justice and the Soul — 192 IV. Plato’s Concept of Justice — 199 V. A Brief Commentary on Plato’s View of Justice — 204 Section 2: The Justice of the Polis — 208 I. Polis Justice Writ Large — 209 II. The Realization Process of Polis Justice — 218 III. Representative Forms of Polis Justice — 223 IV. Evaluation of Polis Justice — 232 Section 3: Therapy, Weaving, and the Turning of the Soul — 238 I. Preparation for Correcting the Pathological Soul: Beginning with Treating the "Fevered Polis" through Law — 239 II. Environmental Construction for the Soul’s Turning: Weaving a Just State — 242 III. Methods for the Soul’s Turning: The Analogies of the Divided Line, the Sun, the Cave, and Imitation — 247 IV. The Significance of the Soul’s Turning: Supreme Virtue and the Highest Good — 253 Section 4: Divine Justice Theory — 258 I. Justice, the Good, and the Divine — 258 II. Two Aspects of Divine Justice — 269 III. A Brief Commentary on Divine Justice Theory and Its Influence — 273 Chapter Summary — 279
Chapter 5: Plato and His Contemporary Adversaries — 281 Section 1: Enmity with the Sophists — 281 I. Who is a Sophist? — 282 II. The Various Imitative Arts of the Sophist — 286 III. Distinctions between Sophists and Philosophers — 290 IV. Commonalities between Sophists and Philosophers — 294 V. The Positive Influence of the Sophists — 296 Section 2: The Ethical Dispute between Philosophers and Poets — 299 I. From Poetry to Philosophy: Taking "Time" as an Example — 299 II. The Moral Rationality for Banishing the Poets — 301 III. The Tension of Virtue between Poetry and Philosophy — 303 IV. The Absence of Fundamental Paradox between Philosophy and Poetry — 306 V. How Philosophy Unifies with the Amoral Stance of Poetry — 309 Chapter Summary — 312
Chapter 6: Critique and Inheritance of Plato’s Ethical Thought — 313 Section 1: Contemporary Trends of Anti-Platonic Moral Philosophy (Part I) — 313 I. Anti-Moral Metaphysics — 314 II. The Critical Dimension of Political Ethics — 319 III. The Critical Dimension of Emotivism — 326 Section 2: Contemporary Trends of Anti-Platonic Moral Philosophy (Part II) — 331 I. The Critical Dimensions of Neopragmatism and Meta-ethics — 331 II. The Critical Dimension of Situationism — 339 III. The Critical Dimensions of Phenomenology and Existentialism — 346 IV. The Critical Dimension of Relativism — 350 Section 3: Discarding the Universal Ethical View of Transcendental Idealism — 353 I. A Beautiful Flower that Bears No Fruit — 353 II. The Theory of the Form of the Good as Universalism and Eternalism — 355 III. The Realistic Nihilist Ethical View and Mysticism — 357 IV. Beautifying the Class-based Ideal State — 359 Section 4: Which Platonic Ethical View Does Modern Society Need? — 363 I. Inheriting Plato’s Moral Metaphysics — 363 II. Moderately Drawing on Plato’s Holism and Universalism — 368 III. Critical Inheritance of Moral Utopianism — 372 IV. The Growth Space for Platonic Ethics — 376 Chapter Summary — 379
References — 380 Afterword — 391