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ABSTRACT. Using material translated from the original Greek, this article provides insight into the teachings of Plato and their continuing myriad applications for organization and management. For example, Plato moved beyond the endemic semi-religious speculations of his day to a more rigorous and more precise form of criticism and discussion that explored moral philosophy and logical and metaphysical theory. Moreover, Plato understood and taught that conceptual understanding was different from understanding of the natural world and he concentrated on the form and purpose of an object rather than its material constitution as central to knowledge development. The article concludes with an examination of Plato's effect on modern organization theory and administrative practice.
"The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato."
Alfred North Whitehead (1985), Process and Reality II, I, I
"And this which you deem of no moment is the very highest of all: that is whether you have a right idea of the gods, whereby you may live your life well or ill."
Plato (348 BCE), Laws, p. 888
INTRODUCTION
The resurgence of interest in Plato among contemporary scholars may be attributed to at least three factors: the decline in civility leading one to reflect on Plato's solution to incivility in one of the most uncivil ages of all, his own; the increasing interest in soul [psyche]1 as a category in understanding human behavior, including behavior in organizations,2 and the renewed attention to things historical in the theory and practice of public administration.3
The deeper reason behind the Plato revival is man's abiding interest in what Plato called "forms." In our day we tend to call "forms" "principles," and they include such things as justice, beauty, honesty, goodness, and courage. Many people feel these principles are more real than anything we can see, hear, or touch. Despite the flux, change, impermanence, and chaos4 astride the world, there are certain principles which are fixed and do not change. A modem Platonist might say, for example, that justice continues to exist no matter how muddleheaded we may be about its precise nature and no matter how baffled we are in complex situations where equally just principles seem to be in conflict. To support...