Plato

Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, born around 428–423 BC and died in 348/347 BC. He is often considered the most important thinker in the Western philosophical tradition. Plato was known for creating new ways to write about ideas, using special conversations called dialogues and a method of discussion known as dialectic.

One of Plato's most famous ideas is called the Theory of Forms, which tries to explain how things that seem different can still share the same basic idea. He was taught by Socrates and later taught Aristotle, two other very important philosophers. Plato's writings have survived for over 2,400 years, and people have kept studying them ever since.

Through a later movement called Neoplatonism, Plato's ideas also influenced Christian, Jewish, and Islamic philosophies. Even today, people say that much of European philosophy can be seen as building on Plato's work.

Life

Plato was born between 428 and 423 BC into a well-known family in Athens. His mother, Perictione, was related to Solon, a leader who helped create Athenian democracy. Some ancient writers said Plato’s real name was Aristocles, but most scholars think this is not true. Plato had two brothers, Glaucon and Adeimantus, and a sister named Potone.

As a young boy, Plato lived during the Peloponnesian War, when Athens fought against Sparta. Despite the war, Plato and other young boys learned gymnastics and music. Young Plato enjoyed writing poems and plays, but he stopped when he met Socrates, who became his main teacher. Socrates asked many questions to help people think more clearly, a method called the Socratic method. Plato wrote many stories showing Socrates talking with others about important ideas.

Plato’s life changed when a group called the Thirty Tyrants took control of Athens. Some of Plato’s family members joined them, and they did some bad things. Later, when democracy returned, Socrates was put on trial. This made Plato decide not to get involved in politics. After Socrates died, Plato spent time studying with other thinkers. He learned from people who believed the world was always changing and from others who thought the world was unchanging.

Plato also studied mathematics and traveled to places like Italy. There, he met people who believed numbers and shapes were important for understanding the world. When he was about 40, Plato visited a city called Syracuse but faced problems there.

Eventually, Plato returned to Athens and started his own school called the Academy around 383 BC. He spent many years teaching and writing there. Plato died in 348 or 347 BC and was buried in the garden of the Academy.

Philosophy

Plato wrote many conversations where Socrates talked with others about big ideas. They discussed topics like what is real, what is true, and what makes something good or beautiful. Plato believed there are two kinds of things: what we can see and touch, which changes all the time, and what we cannot see but understand with our minds, which never changes. These unchanging ideas are called "Forms."

Plato thought the soul gives life to a person. He believed the soul is immortal and that we can remember things from before we were born. In his stories, Socrates often talks about the afterlife and how the soul has different parts.

Plato also talked about knowledge. He believed real knowledge comes from understanding these unchanging Forms, not just from what we see or hear. He thought that to know something truly, we must understand its Form.

Several talks by Socrates explore what is right and wrong, good and bad. Socrates asked if something is loved by the gods because it is good, or is it good because the gods love it? Plato believed that doing what is good comes from knowing what is good, and that wisdom is very important.

The talks also cover how societies should be run. Socrates thought that societies, like people, have three parts: workers, protectors, and rulers. He believed that when rulers are wise and love learning, the society is best.

Plato also talked about art and stories. He thought that poetry and stories are powerful ways to share ideas, even though they are not always logical. He used many stories himself to explain deep philosophical ideas.

Works

Plato wrote many discussions called dialogues, where people talk and ask questions about big ideas. In these talks, a man named Socrates often helps others think more deeply. Some of these discussions have no one telling the story, while others are told by Socrates himself or by his friends.

Plato's writings were rediscovered in Europe a long time ago, and many old copies of his work have been found. Scholars today think that not all of the writings known as Plato's were actually written by him. His works are usually split into three groups: early, middle, and late dialogues, though the exact order they were written is still debated. The middle dialogues include some of Plato's most famous ideas, like his Theory of Forms.

See also: List of speakers in Plato's dialogues

See also: List of manuscripts of Plato's dialogues

Further information: Pseudo-Platonica

The following works were transmitted under Plato's name in antiquity, but were already considered spurious by the 1st century AD: Axiochus, Definitions, Demodocus, Epigrams, Eryxias, Halcyon, On Justice, On Virtue, Sisyphus.

The modern standard complete English edition is the 1997 Hackett Plato: Complete Works, edited by John M. Cooper.

No one knows the exact order Plato's dialogues were written in, nor the extent to which some might have been later revised and rewritten. The works are usually grouped into Early, Middle, and Late period; The following represents one relatively common division amongst developmentalist scholars.

• Early: Apology, Charmides, Crito, Euthyphro, Gorgias, Hippias Minor, Hippias Major, Ion, Laches, Lysis, Protagoras
• Middle: Cratylus, Euthydemus, Meno, Parmenides, Phaedo, Phaedrus, Republic, Symposium, Theatetus
• Late: Critias, Sophist, Statesman, Timaeus, Philebus, Laws.

Whereas those classified as "early dialogues" often conclude in aporia, the so-called "middle dialogues" provide more clearly stated positive teachings that are often ascribed to Plato such as the theory of Forms. The remaining dialogues are classified as "late" and are generally agreed to be difficult and challenging pieces of philosophy. It should, however, be kept in mind that many of the positions in the ordering are still highly disputed, and also that the very notion that Plato's dialogues can or should be "ordered" is by no means universally accepted. In the most recent Plato scholarship, writers are increasingly skeptical of the notion that the order of Plato's writings can be established with any precision, though Plato's works are still often characterized as falling at least roughly into three groups stylistically.

Thirty-five dialogues and thirteen letters (the Epistles) have traditionally been ascribed to Plato, though modern scholarship doubts the authenticity of at least some of these. There is a broad consensus among scholars to doubt the authenticity of Alcibiades II, Epinomis, Hipparchus, Minos, Lovers, and Theages, while opinions on Alcibiades I, Clitophon, Letters, and Menexenus are more divided.

Legacy

Medieval era

During the Islamic Golden Age, a philosophy called Neoplatonism was revived. It started with a thinker named Plotinus and was later developed by philosophers like Al-Farabi and Avicenna. This philosophy connected Plato's ideas with Islamic thought, helping people understand both ancient wisdom and religious beliefs. Inspired by Plato's ideas, Al-Farabi imagined a perfect city led by wise rulers, called philosopher-kings. Plato's work was also discussed by the Jewish philosopher Maimonides in his book Guide for the Perplexed.

Many writings about Plato were translated from Arabic into Latin, influencing thinkers in Europe. During the Middle Ages, Aristotle's ideas were more famous than Plato's. The only work by Plato known in Western Europe was Timaeus, until more of his writings were translated in the 12th century. But Plato’s ideas stayed alive in places like the Byzantine Empire, the Caliphates during the Islamic Golden Age, and Spain during the Golden age of Jewish culture.

Modern

During the Renaissance, a scholar named Gemistos Plethon brought Plato's original writings to Florence from Constantinople. Many artists and scientists saw Plato’s ideas as a way to make new discoveries. In the 17th century, some thinkers called the Cambridge Platonists tried to fit Plato’s ideas with Christian beliefs. By the 19th century, Plato’s reputation grew stronger. His ideas have been very important in subjects like mathematics and science. Famous scientists like Albert Einstein admired Plato’s way of thinking. The British philosopher Alfred North Whitehead once said that much of European philosophy can be seen as a series of footnotes to Plato’s work. Ideas from Plato’s dialogue Theaetetus helped another philosopher, Edmund Gettier, question older ideas about knowledge.