Plato’s best (and worst) ideas - Wisecrack

Idete me te mira dhe me te keqija te Platonit

Translator: Helena Bedalli Reviewer: Anisa Fezga

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

Pak njerez kane influencuar boten dhe filozofet e sotem si Platoni.

One 20th century philosopher even went so far

Nje filozof i shekullit te 20 arriti

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

te pershkruaje te gjithe filozofine perendimore si seri shenimesh te Platonit.

He created the first Western university

Ai krijoi universitetin e pare europian

and was teacher to Ancient Greece's greatest minds,

dhe ishte profesori i mendjeve te medha te Greqise se lashte

including Aristotle.

duke perfshire Aristotelin.

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

Por edhe nje nga themeluesit e filozofise nuk ishte perfekt.

Along with his great ideas,

Bashke me idete e medha

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

Platoni kishte disa qe nuk i kane rezistuar testit te kohes.

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

Ja nje pershkrim i shkurter te disa nga idete me te mira dhe me te keqija.

Plato argued that beyond our imperfect world

Platoni argumentonte qe pertej botes imperfekte

was a perfect unchanging world of Forms.

ekzistonte bota e Ideve, perfekte dhe te pandryshueshme.

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

Idete jane versioni ideal i objekteve dhe koncepteve qe na rrethojne.

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

Ato sherbejne si nje lloj manuali udhezimesh per vete boten tone.

Floating around the world of Forms is the ideal tree,

Ne boten e Ideve gjejme pemen ideale,

and the ideal YouTube channel,

kanalin YouTube ideal,

and even the ideal justice,

dhe bile drejtesine ideale,

or ideal love.

apo dashurine ideale.

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

Realiteti yne permban kopje imperfekte te Ideve.

Plato argued that philosophers should strive to contemplate

Platoni argumentonte qe filozofet duhet te perpiqen te mendojne

and understand these perfect Forms

dhe kuptojne keto Ide perfekte

so that they may better navigate our misleading reality.

qe te behen me te zote per te lundruar ne realitetin çorientues.

While it may seem silly,

Ndersa duket qesharake,

the disconnect between the world as it appears

shkeputja midis botes qe duket

and the greater truth behind it

dhe te vertetes qe qendron pas saj

is one of philosophy's most vexing problems.

eshte nje nga problemet me te nderlikuara te filozofise.

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

Ka qene subjekti i mijera faqeve te teologjisteve,

philosophers,

filozofeve,

and screenwriters alike.

dhe skenaristeve.

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

Ngre pyetje si, per te gjetur te verteten,

or our own reason?

ti besojme shqisave apo arsyes?

For Plato, the answer is reason.

Per Platonin, pergjigja eshte arsyeja.

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

Ajo e vetme na jep mjetet e mundshme per te kuptuar Idete.

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

Por arsyeja nuk punonte gjithmone edhe per vete Platonin.

When he sought to situate humankind amongst the animals,

Kur ai u mundua te klasifikonte gjinine njerezore midis kafsheve,

he lumped us in with birds.

ai na grupoi me shpendet.

"Featherless bipeds" was his official designation.

"Dy kembesh pa pupla" ishte emertimi zyrtar.

Diogenes the Cynic, annoyed by this definition,

Ciniku Diogjen, i irrituar nga ky emertim,

stormed into Plato's class with a plucked chicken,

i nderpreu mesimin ne klase Platonit me nje pule te shpupluar,

announcing, "Behold. Plato's man."

duke thirrur, "Shikoni! Njeriu i Platonit"

But back to a few good ideas.

Por le te kthehemi te idete e mira.

Plato is one of the earliest political theorists on record,

Platoni eshte nje nga teoricienet e pare politike te dokumentuar,

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

dhe bashke me Aristotelin, ai konsiderohet nje nga themeluesit e shkences politike.

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

Ai arsyetoi qe puna e sovranit nuk ishte e ndryshme nga punet e tjera,

whether a potter or doctor,

nga ajo e poçarit apo e doktorit,

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

dhe vetem ata qe e kishin mesuar zanatin ishin te denje per te udhehequr.

Ruling was the craft of contemplating the Forms.

Te mbreteroje ishte zanat i soditjes se Ideve.

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

Ne vepren Republika, ai imagjinoi nje utopi ku drejtesia eshte qellimi kryesor.

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

Qyteti ideal i Platonit kerkon nje balance harmonike midis pjeseve

and should be lead by a philosopher king.

dhe duhet te drejtohet nga nje mbret filozof.

Millennia before his time,

Mijevjeçare para kohes se tij,

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

ai arsyetoi qe grate jane barazisht te zonjat te drejtojne kete qytet model.

Unfortunately, Plato was inconsistent with women,

Fatkeqesisht, Platoni ishte kontradiktor me grate,

elsewhere likening them to children.

nganjehere i krahasonte me femijet.

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

Ai po ashtu besonte qe mitra e gruas eshte nje kafshe e gjalle

that could wander around in her body and cause illness.

qe mund te levize neper trup e te shkaktoje semundje.

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

Kjo teori, e perqafuar nga bashkekohesit e tij,

was sadly influential for hundreds of years in European medicine.

ka influencuar, per fat te keq, mjekesine europiane per shekuj.

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

Ai mendonte se shoqeria duhet te ndahet ne tri grupe:

producers,

prodhuesit,

the military,

ushtria,

and the rulers,

dhe udheheqesit,

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

e nje genjeshter fisnike duhet ti bindte ato te ndiqnin kete strukture.

The noble lie he proposed

Genjeshtra fisnike qe propozoi

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

ishte qe ne kemi lindur me ar, argjent, ose nje perzierje bakri me hekur

in our souls,

ne shpirtin tone,

which determine our roles in life.

qe percakton rolet tona ne jete.

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

Disa filozofe kane vazhduar ta kreditojne idene e genjeshtres fisnike

as a prototype for 20th century propaganda,

si prototip i propagandes se shekullit 20-te,

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

dhe mbretin filozof si nje frymezim per diktatoret qe e perdornin.

Should a few bad ideas

A munden idete e keqija

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

te demtojne statusin e Platonit si nje nga filozofet me te mire?

No!

Jo!

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

Ai i ka dhene mendimtareve me te medhenj qe e ndoqen nje vend nga ta fillonin.

Through the centuries,

Pergjate shekujve,

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

kemi pasur shansin te testojme keto ide me shkrim dhe eksperience,

and have accepted some while rejecting others.

kemi pranuar disa dhe hedhur poshte te tjerat.

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

Ne vazhdojme te permiresojme, ndryshojme e modifikojme idete e tij

which have become foundations of the modern world.

qe jane pilastrat e botes moderne.