PLATO WRITER PHILOSOPHER WRHPHILOSOPHERS.BLOGSPOT.CO.ID
Synopsis
Born circa 428 B.C.E.,ancient Greek philosopher Plato was a student of Socrates and a teacher ofAristotle.
His writings explored justice, beauty and equality, and alsocontained discussions in aesthetics, political philosophy, theology, cosmology,epistemology and the philosophy of language.
Plato founded the Academy inAthens, one of the first institutions of higher learning in the Western world.he died in Athens circa 348 B.C.E.
His writings explored justice, beauty and equality, and alsocontained discussions in aesthetics, political philosophy, theology, cosmology,epistemology and the philosophy of language.
Plato founded the Academy inAthens, one of the first institutions of higher learning in the Western world.he died in Athens circa 348 B.C.E.
Plato short biography
Whereas other thinkers—and Plato himself in certain passages—used the term without any precise technical force, Plato in the course of his career came to devote specialized attention to these entities.As he conceived them, they were accessible not to the senses but to the mind alone, and they were the most important constituents of reality, underlying the existence of the sensible world and giving it what intelligibility it has.
Background
Plato's life has beenconstructed by scholars through his writings and the writings of contemporariesand classical historians.
Traditional history estimates Plato's birth wasaround 428 B.C.E., but more terkini scholars, tracing later events in his life,believe he was born between 424 and 423 B.C.E. Both of his parents came fromthe Greek aristocracy.
His father was Ariston (who may have traced his descent from Codrus, the last of the legendary kings of Athens); his mother was Perictione (who was descended from the famous Athenian lawmaker and poet Solon, and whose family also boasted prominent figures of the oligarchic regime of Athens known as the Thirty Tyrants).
He had two brothers, Adeimantus and Glaucon, and a sister, Potone. Plato later introduced several of his distinguished relatives into his dialogues, indicating considerable family pride.
Plato's father, Ariston, descended from the kings ofAthens and Messenia. His mother, Perictione, is said to be related to the 6thcentury B.C.E. Greek statesman Solon.
Traditional history estimates Plato's birth wasaround 428 B.C.E., but more terkini scholars, tracing later events in his life,believe he was born between 424 and 423 B.C.E. Both of his parents came fromthe Greek aristocracy.
His father was Ariston (who may have traced his descent from Codrus, the last of the legendary kings of Athens); his mother was Perictione (who was descended from the famous Athenian lawmaker and poet Solon, and whose family also boasted prominent figures of the oligarchic regime of Athens known as the Thirty Tyrants).
He had two brothers, Adeimantus and Glaucon, and a sister, Potone. Plato later introduced several of his distinguished relatives into his dialogues, indicating considerable family pride.
Plato's father, Ariston, descended from the kings ofAthens and Messenia. His mother, Perictione, is said to be related to the 6thcentury B.C.E. Greek statesman Solon.
As a young man, Platoexperienced two major events that set his course in life.
One was meeting thegreat Greek philosopher Socrates. Socrates's methods of dialogue and debateimpressed Plato so much that he soon became a associate of the noble characterof virtue and the formation of a noble character.
The other significant eventwas the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, in Plato served for abrief time between 409 and 404 B.C.E. The defeat of Athens ended its democracy,which the Spartans replaced with an oligarchy.
Two of Plato's relatives,Charmides and Critias, prominent figures in the new government, part of thenotorious Thirty Tyrants's Athenian citizens.
After the oligarchy wasoverthrown and democracy was restored, Plato briefly considered a career inpolitics, but the execution of Socrates in 399 B.C.E. Soured him on this ideaand he turned to a life of study and philosophy.
One was meeting thegreat Greek philosopher Socrates. Socrates's methods of dialogue and debateimpressed Plato so much that he soon became a associate of the noble characterof virtue and the formation of a noble character.
The other significant eventwas the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, in Plato served for abrief time between 409 and 404 B.C.E. The defeat of Athens ended its democracy,which the Spartans replaced with an oligarchy.
Two of Plato's relatives,Charmides and Critias, prominent figures in the new government, part of thenotorious Thirty Tyrants's Athenian citizens.
After the oligarchy wasoverthrown and democracy was restored, Plato briefly considered a career inpolitics, but the execution of Socrates in 399 B.C.E. Soured him on this ideaand he turned to a life of study and philosophy.
After Socrates's death,Plato traveled for 12 years throughout the Mediterranean region, studyingmathematics with the Pythagoreans in Italy, and geometry, geology, astronomyand religion in Egypt.
During this time, or soon after, he began his extensivewriting. There is some debate among scholars on the order of these writings,but most believe they fall into three distinct periods.
During this time, or soon after, he began his extensivewriting. There is some debate among scholars on the order of these writings,but most believe they fall into three distinct periods.
Early,Middle and Late Periods: An Overview
The first, or early, periodduring Plato's travels (399-387 B.C.E.). The Apology of Socrates seems to havewritten shortly after Socrates's death.
Following Socrates’ forced suicide, Plato spent 12 years traveling in southern Italy, Sicily and Egypt, studying with other philosophers including followers of the mystic mathematician Pythagoras. He began a lifelong relationship with the ruling family of Syracuse, who would later seek his advice on reforming their city’s politics.
Other texts in this time period includeProtagoras, Euthyphro, Hippias Major and Minor and Ion. In these dialogues,Plato attempts to convey Socrates's philosophy and teachings.
Following Socrates’ forced suicide, Plato spent 12 years traveling in southern Italy, Sicily and Egypt, studying with other philosophers including followers of the mystic mathematician Pythagoras. He began a lifelong relationship with the ruling family of Syracuse, who would later seek his advice on reforming their city’s politics.
Other texts in this time period includeProtagoras, Euthyphro, Hippias Major and Minor and Ion. In these dialogues,Plato attempts to convey Socrates's philosophy and teachings.
In the third, or late,period, Socrates is relating to his own early metaphysical ideas. He exploresthe role of art, including dance, music, drama and architecture, as well asethics and morality.
In his writings on the Theory of Forms, Plato suggeststhat the world of ideas is the only constant and that the perceived worldthrough our senses is deceptive and changeable.
In his writings on the Theory of Forms, Plato suggeststhat the world of ideas is the only constant and that the perceived worldthrough our senses is deceptive and changeable.
Foundingthe Academy
Sometime around 385 B.C.E.,Plato founded a school of learning, known as the Academy, which he presidedover until his death. It is believed the school was located at an enclosed parknamed for a legendary Athenian hero.
The Academy operated until 529 C.E , when it was closed by Roman Emperor Justinian I, who feared it was a source ofpaganism and a threat to Christianity. Over its years of operation, theAcademy's curriculum included astronomy, biology, mathematics, political theoryand philosophy.
Plato hoped the Academy will provide a place for future leadersto discover how to build a better government in the Greek city-states.
The Academy operated until 529 C.E , when it was closed by Roman Emperor Justinian I, who feared it was a source ofpaganism and a threat to Christianity. Over its years of operation, theAcademy's curriculum included astronomy, biology, mathematics, political theoryand philosophy.
Plato hoped the Academy will provide a place for future leadersto discover how to build a better government in the Greek city-states.
In 367 B.C.E., Plato wasinvited by Dion, a friend and disciple, to be the personal tutor of his nephew,Dionysius II, the new ruler of Syracuse (Sicily).
Dion believed that Dionysiusshowed promise as an ideal leader. Plato accepted, hoping the experience wouldproduce a philosopher king. But Dionysius fell far short of expectations andsuspected Dion, and later Plato, of conspiring against him.
He had Dion exiledand Plato placed under "house arrest." Eventually, Plato returned toAthens and his Academy. One of his more promising students there was Aristotle,who would take his mentor's teachings in new directions.
Platonic Love
In the Symposium, which is normally dated at the beginning of the middle period, and in the Phaedrus, which is dated at the end of the middle period or later yet, Plato introduces his theory of erôs (usually translated as "love").
Several passages and images from these dialogues continued to show up in Western culture—for example, the image of two lovers as being each other's "other half," which Plato assigns to Aristophanes in the Symposium.
Also in that dialogue, we are told of the "ladder of love," by which the lover can ascend to direct cognitive contact with (usually compared to a kind of vision of) Beauty Itself.
In the Phaedrus, love is revealed to be the great "divine madness" through which the wings of the lover's soul may sprout, allowing the lover to take flight to all of the highest aspirations and achievements possible for humankind. In both of these dialogues, Plato clearly regards actual physical or sexual contact between lovers as degraded and wasteful forms of erotic expression.
Because the true goal of erôs is real beauty and real beauty is the Form of Beauty, what Plato calls Beauty Itself, erôs finds its fulfillment only in Platonic philosophy.
Unless it channels its power of love into "higher pursuits," which culminate in the knowledge of the Form of Beauty, erôs is doomed to frustration.
For this reason, Plato thinks that most people sadly squander the real power of love by limiting themselves to the mere pleasures of physical beauty.
Dion believed that Dionysiusshowed promise as an ideal leader. Plato accepted, hoping the experience wouldproduce a philosopher king. But Dionysius fell far short of expectations andsuspected Dion, and later Plato, of conspiring against him.
He had Dion exiledand Plato placed under "house arrest." Eventually, Plato returned toAthens and his Academy. One of his more promising students there was Aristotle,who would take his mentor's teachings in new directions.
Platonic Love
In the Symposium, which is normally dated at the beginning of the middle period, and in the Phaedrus, which is dated at the end of the middle period or later yet, Plato introduces his theory of erôs (usually translated as "love").
Several passages and images from these dialogues continued to show up in Western culture—for example, the image of two lovers as being each other's "other half," which Plato assigns to Aristophanes in the Symposium.
Also in that dialogue, we are told of the "ladder of love," by which the lover can ascend to direct cognitive contact with (usually compared to a kind of vision of) Beauty Itself.
In the Phaedrus, love is revealed to be the great "divine madness" through which the wings of the lover's soul may sprout, allowing the lover to take flight to all of the highest aspirations and achievements possible for humankind. In both of these dialogues, Plato clearly regards actual physical or sexual contact between lovers as degraded and wasteful forms of erotic expression.
Because the true goal of erôs is real beauty and real beauty is the Form of Beauty, what Plato calls Beauty Itself, erôs finds its fulfillment only in Platonic philosophy.
Unless it channels its power of love into "higher pursuits," which culminate in the knowledge of the Form of Beauty, erôs is doomed to frustration.
For this reason, Plato thinks that most people sadly squander the real power of love by limiting themselves to the mere pleasures of physical beauty.
FinalYears
Plato's final years werespent at the Academy and with his writing. The circumstances surrounding hisdeath are clouded, though it is fairly certain that he died in Athens around348 B.C.E., when he was in his early 80s. Some scholars suggest that he diedwhile attending a wedding, while others believe he died peacefully in hissleep.
Plato's impact on philosophyand the nature of humans has gone far beyond his homeland of Greece. His workcovered a broad spectrum of interests and ideas: mathematics, science andnature, morals and political theory.
His beliefs on the importance ofmathematics in education have proven to be essential for understanding theentire universe. His work on the use of reason to develop a foundation formodern democracy.
His beliefs on the importance ofmathematics in education have proven to be essential for understanding theentire universe. His work on the use of reason to develop a foundation formodern democracy.
Comments
Post a Comment