Plato's view on woman

IV SUMMARY In this thesis, the subject of Platen's view on woman has been studied with the help of his cosmology, epistemology and love theory. Some important sources that should be mentioned are State, Laws, Timaios, Philebos, Symposion, Phaidros, Theaitetos, Lysis and State Man. Firstly, Plato's cosmology was examined, because his cosmology includes the main idea about his understanding of woman. In Timaios, Plato equates female element with substance and male element with ideas. This equation includes a direct relationship between his epistemelogy and love theory, also it includes an indirect relationship with his political theory. From the point of view of his epistemology, substance is a dark thing that has no knowledge, but ideas are true entities and they have knowledge. Because of female element equated with the thing has no knowledge, the love is seen as a manly thing and woman has no talent to experinence that kind of love. According to Plato, that kind of love is the true love and a man, not a woman, can achieve knowledge and virtue via true love. State must be ruled with a philosopher, because a philosopher has knowledge of ideas and a state guard must be a philosopher. If Plato's cosmology and love theory kept in mind, woman could not be mentioned as a philosopher, so woman can not be mentioned as a state guard too. The contradiction is that a woman's nature is seen as a guard by Plato himself. We know that to be a state guard, someone must be a philosopher, but because of a woman's nature equates with matter, how could a woman be a state guard? This contradiction has been argued in the last chapter of this thesis.