SocratesAlexanderthe Great

Aristotle Plato

Socrates taught Plato who taught Aristotle who taught Alexander the Great whocreated the first Western Empire (with this baton handed down to the Roman thenBritish and finally the American Empire of today) Has there ever been such a closepersonal relationship between four of the world’s big, influential figures (and theseguys are perhaps all in the top 10 of recorded history)? Plato said that wisdom cannot be taught in the way that subjects like maths can,but it leaps like an invisible spark between teacher and the right student. It is fair tosay that alongside modern progress in science a lot of that ancient wisdom (thatwould allow us to use our wonderful tools of science) has been lost. Plato himself hid a lot of what he knew in puzzling dialogues that mostly featureSocrates in discussion with people of Athens on various philosophical and moral topicsin the 5th Century BC. Some of these puzzles are only now being uncovered (see JayKennedy’s recent work).

One thing Plato did understand well was what motivates people – people aredefined by what they love.

Answer question 1-20 below marking how much you identify yourself with the twoopposing words and phrases.

Q1Q2Q3Q4Q5Q6Q7Q8Q9Q10

Q11

Q12

Q13

Q14

Q15

Q16

Q17

Q18

Q19

Q20

-12 -10 -3 0 3 10 12Spontaneous Routine Prone

Random Predicable

WildNormalObedient Chaotic

TechnicalArtistic

“Money makes theworld go round”

“The higher Spiritual powerShould be in colntrol”

‘Mind’ over ‘Body’ ‘Body’ over ‘Mind’

Abstract Concrete

Ideas Action

Physical Work Mental Work

“Reality is what I canSee, Hear, Touch etc”

“Concepts & Ideas are what’struly Real ”

Practical Thinker

Experimenting Theorising

“Like to leadon own projects” “Prefer to take direction”

Like to study Like to exercise

SolidFluid

Logic Intuition

Improvised Planned

Unconscious influenced In total control

Natural goodness Law

Total= =X

Q1Q3Q5 (change sign)

Q6 (change sign)

Q8Q11(change sign)

Q12Q15Q17(change sign)

Q19

Total= =Y

Q2Q4 (change sign)

Q7 (change sign)

Q9Q10(change sign)

Q13(change sign)

Q14Q16(change sign)

Q18(change sign)

Q20

-100-90-80-70-60-50-40-30-20-10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

-10 -20 -30 -40 -50 -60 -70 -80 -90-100

Y

X

1

2

5

4

7

6

3

81

2

3

4

5

6 7

8

Philosopher: a lover of wisdom

Prophet: has a broad vision,

Warrior-King: bold, brave &

Artist:often inspired in the way

Statesman: a fair-minded leader

Sophist: a bullshiter basically,

Doctor: focused on maintaining

Artisan: down-to-earth, and no

but often a bit woolly.

practical - sometimes too much bite!

they represent reality - but art isat least one step removed from reality!

Intelligent and spiritual - weaves thecommunity together into a whole.

Plato’s Personality Test

with an understanding of rules and theirplace in society. Prone to over-cautionand long-winded verbiage.

and makes a living from it!!

a healthy body. Interested in scienceand experiment. A too narrow focus?

nonsense. Pleasure seeking, and moneyobsessed, though with some self-control.

Add up your scores in these columns(and change sign where indicated)

Plot your totals on the graph to discover your soul-type

Warning this is not a scientific test - just a bit of fun that gets you thinking!

Ancient Greece did havesome strange ways of doinglove - women were often nobetter than slaves, and thisdistorted the morals of thesociety. Plato and Socrateswere well aware of theseproblems and had moreenlightened views on women.However they would becritical of our society and it’ssex-obsessed Hedonism. Forthem “pleasure “ does notequal “good”! But they havesome good advice for someonein love:- until you win thatperson over don’t let themknow that you are in lovewith them: treat them meanto make them keen! For tworeasons:

1. If you big-up and lavishthe person you love withattention then you are reallybigging up yourself. Becauseyou are really saying thatyou must be so special todeserve such a wonderfulperson - the one you aretrying to win. This unconsciousarrogance Is off-putting.

2. Also by bigging thatperson up you make him orher harder to catch! Andwhat kind of hunter scaresoff what they are trying tocatch?

Plato on Love

-12 -10 -3 0 3 10 12

-12 -10 -3 0 3 10 12