Plato, who was a disciple of Socrates, shared his master's ideas, but at the same time, Plato went deeper than Socrates in his queries about life comprehending not only ethical and social philosophy but also metaphysics and epistemology. Plato even had the chance to fund his own Academy, and he was not afraid to teach the Athenian youth what he knew. I think that the impact of the ideas of Plato in western education could be considered as notable if his academy of Athens was really the first one of its kind in the world; this would mean a huge step toward the formation of the western education system as we know it today. Plato believed that because the physical world and matter were imperfect and changeable, they were fake or surreal. For example, factors like temperature, height, and everything that could be perceived by the physical senses was changeable according to Plato, so they did not constitute the real world. The philosopher believed in the existence of what is called Platonic Forms that were abstract ideas that could not be acquired by any physical or bodily experience. Platonic Forms were perfect, undeniable, and unchangeable. For example, 6 + 6 = 12. This is a mathematic truth, and there is no way to discuss this truth, so it constitutes a Platonic Form. Plato's idealism suggests that ideas are the reality and not mere mental images, so what many people see as the real world, the material world, is not real. According to Plato, ideas are the one who make possible for people to name and identify everything around them. For example, you consider that a chair is small because you have previously think that the chair is small, so ideas have the power to change and define how people see the world around them. It is my point of view that because the theory of Platonic Forms gave great importance to ideas, it contributed to the development of the intellectual and scholastic activity. The theory of reminiscence proposed by Plato stated that the material world cannot be the source of knowledge for human's ideas because everything we perceived by the physical senses is surreal, so the only way to find the real knowledge is by following our instincts or sense impressions. Although human beings acquire most of their knowledge from what the elderly teach them, there are certain situations that require a knowledge that cannot be thought and that comes straight from a Superior Entity, according to Plato. For example, a governor of a city cannot learn how to lead because others tell him how to do it, but he has to trust in his sense impressions. Plato thought that humans knew the truth or the Platonic Forms before they were born. He also believed in the immortality of the souls. Because the body is changeable, imperfect matter, it cannot be real, so only the immortal soul is real together with the Platonic Forms or abstract ideas. Plato is one of the first and most important philosophers, so I think that his contributions to the discipline of Philosophy are remarkable. He also supported the equality for males and females regarding education, and he said that men and women should have the same opportunities in society. Plato also thought that in order to serve the interests of the state, children should be educated by the state rather than their parents, so Plato's thoughts opened the door to new learning opportunities besides homeschooling. I believe that his ideas were an early incentive to the progress of education and the desire of human beings to think about the great mysteries of the Universe, express their ideas, and stop living a simple life to understand and discover the complications of life itself.
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