Plato

Plato is widely considered the pivotal figure in the history of Ancient Greek and Western philosophy. His most famous contribution is the theory of Forms known by pure reason. He is also the namesake of Platonic love and the Platonic solids. The exact time and place of Plato’s birth are unknown. Most modern scholars believe he was born in Athens or Aegina between 429 and 423 BC.

About Plato in brief

Summary Plato Plato is widely considered the pivotal figure in the history of Ancient Greek and Western philosophy. His most famous contribution is the theory of Forms known by pure reason. He is also the namesake of Platonic love and the Platonic solids. The exact time and place of Plato’s birth are unknown. Most modern scholars believe that he was born in Athens or Aegina between 429 and 423 BC, not long after the start of the Peloponnesian War. In his Seventh Letter, Plato notes that his coming of age coincided with the taking of power by the Thirty, remarking, ‘But a youth under the age of twenty made himself a stock if he entered the political arena’ He is considered the founder of Western religion and spirituality. The so-called Neoplatonism of philosophers like Plotinus and Porphyry greatly influenced Christianity through Church Fathers such as Augustine. He was also the innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms in philosophy. The traditional date of Plato’s birth during the 87th or 88th Olympiad, 428 or 427 BC, is based on a dubious interpretation of Diogenes Laërtius, who says, ‘When was gone, joined Cratylus the Heracleitean and Hermogenes, who philosophized in the manner of Parmenides.’ He was six years younger than Neanthesman, and therefore was born the same year as the prominent Athenian statesman Pericles died.

Jonathan Barnes regards the year of his birth as 428 BC as his grammarian Apollorus of Athens. Both the Suda Chronicles and Sir Thomas Browne also claimed that Plato was born during the 88th Olympics. Besides Ariston and Perictione, Plato had himself had a discourse about philosophy in which he would talk about sweetness of the sweetness of bees while he was sleeping. He also had a relationship with the famous Athenian lawmaker and lyric poet Solon, one of the seven sages, who repealed the laws of Draco. According to a disputed tradition, Plato’s father Ariston traced his descent from the king of Athens, Codrus, and theKing of Messenia, Melanthus. His mother was sister of Charmides and niece of Critias, both prominent figures of the Thirty Tyrants, the brief oligarchic regime which followed on the collapse of Athens at the end of the Peloponnean War. He had three sons: Ariston, Ariston II, and Ariston III, as well as a daughter, Perictiones. He died in 424423 BC, and is buried in the Acropolis of Athens in Athens. His son Ariston IV is said to have been the first person to write a book on the philosophy of Plato, which was written in the 4th century BC. Plato is also considered thefounder of Western political philosophy and is considered to be the father of the modern university system, the Academy of Athens.