Plato is, by any reckoning, one of the most dazzling writers in the Western literary tradition and one of the most penetrating, wide-ranging, and influential authors in the history of philosophy.
An Athenian citizen of high status, he displays in his works his absorption in the political events and intellectual movements of his time, and readers of all the time are influenced by him .
EARLY LIFE ;
Due to a lack of surviving accounts, little is known about Plato's early life and education. Plato belonged to an Aristocratic and influential family.
The exact time and place of Plato's birth are unknown. Based on ancient sources, 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.
His father's name was Aristione and mother's name was peristione.
Besides Plato himself, Ariston and Perictione had three other children; two sons, Adeimantus and Glaucon and a daughter Potone.The brothers Adeimantus and Glaucon are mentioned in the Republic as sons of Ariston,and presumably brothers of Plato, though some have argued they were uncles. In a scenario in the Memorabilia, Xenophon confused the issue by presenting a Glaucon much younger than Plato.
Ariston appears to have died in Plato's childhood, although the precise dating of his death is difficult. Perictione then married Pyrilampes, her mother's brother, who had served many times as an ambassador to the Persian court and was a friend of Pericles, the leader of the democratic faction in Athens.
Education
Ancient sources describe him as a bright though modest boy who excelled in his studies. Apulius informs us that Speusippus praised Plato's quickness of mind and modesty as a boy, and the "first fruits of his youth infused with hard work and love of study". He also excelled in grammer, music and gymnastics .
Plato and mathematics
Plato may have studied under the mathematician "Theodorus of Cyrene" and has a dialogue named for and whose central character is the mathematician Theatetus. While not a mathematician, Plato was considered an accomplished teacher of mathematics.
Plato and Socrates ;
Plato was one of the devoted young followers of Socrates. The precise relationship between Plato and Socrates remains an area of contention among scholars.
Plato never speaks in his own voice in his dialogues, and speaks as Socrates in all but the Laws. In the Second letter, it says, "no writing of Plato exists or ever will exist, but those now said to be his are those of a Socrates become beautiful and new"; if the Letter is Plato's, the final qualification seems to call into question the dialogues' historical fidelity.
Plato's philosophy ;
METAPHYSICS -
These include religion and science, human nature, love, and sexuality. More than one dialogue contrasts perception and reality,nature and custom, and body and soul.
THE FORMS -
According to this theory of Forms there are at least two worlds: the apparent world of concrete objects, grasped by the senses, which constantly changes, and an unchanging and unseen world of Forms or abstract objects, grasped by pure reason which ground what is apparent.
THE SOUL -
Plato advocates a belief in the immortality of the soul, and several dialogues end with long speeches imagining the afterlife.
EPISTEMOLOGY -
Plato's epistemology involves Socrates arguing that knowledge is not empirical, and that it comes from divine insight. The Forms are also responsible for both knowledge or certainty, and are grasped by pure reason.
Recollection
In several of Plato's dialogues, Socrates promulgates the idea that knowledge is a matter of recollection of the state before one is born, and not of observation or study.
JUSTIFIED TRUE BELIEFS-
POLITICS -
The dialogues also discuss politics. Some of Plato's most famous doctrines are contained in the Republic as well as in the Laws and the Statesman. Because these doctrines are not spoken directly by Plato and vary between dialogues, they cannot be straightforwardly assumed as representing Plato's own views.
The appetite/spirit/reason are analogous to the castes of society.
- Productive (Workers) – the laborers, carpenters, plumbers, masons, merchants, farmers, ranchers, etc. These correspond to the "appetite" part of the soul.
- Protective (Warriors or Guardians) – those who are adventurous, strong and brave; in the armed forces. These correspond to the "spirit" part of the soul.
- Governing (Rulers or Philosopher Kings) – those who are intelligent, rational, self-controlled, in love with wisdom, well suited to make decisions for the community.
According to this model, the principles of Athenian democracy (as it existed in his day) are rejected as only a few are fit to rule.
- Timaeus
- Symposium
- Gorgias
- Theatetus
- Crito
- Apology. Plato’s Academy, founded in the 380s, was the ultimate ancestor of the modern university ., (hence the English term academic); an influential centre of research and learning, it attracted many men of outstanding ability. Although Plato was not a research mathematician, he was aware of the results of those who were, and he made use of them in his own work. For 20 years Aristotle was also a member of the Academy. He started his own school, the Lyceum, only after Plato’s death, when he was passed over as Plato’s successor at the Academy, probably because of his connections to the court of Macedonia.
The term "ἄγραφα δόγματα" literally means unwritten doctrines and it stands for the most fundamental metaphysical teaching of Plato, which he disclosed only orally, and some say only to his most trusted fellows, and which he may have kept secret from the public. The importance of the unwritten doctrines does not seem to have been seriously questioned before the 19th century.
A reason for not revealing it to everyone is partially discussed in Phaedrus where Plato criticizes the written transmission of knowledge as faulty, favoring instead the spoken logos "he who has knowledge of the just and the good and beautiful ... will not, when in earnest, write them in ink, sowing them through a pen with words, which cannot defend themselves by argument and cannot teach the truth effectually."
CRITICISM -
Despite Plato's prominence as a philosopher, he is not without criticism. The most famous criticism of Platonism is the Third man argument.Plato actually considered this objection with "large" rather than man in the Parmenides dialogue.
Many recent philosophers have diverged from what some would describe as the ontological models and moral ideals characteristic of traditional Platonism. A number of these postmodern philosophers have thus appeared to disparage Platonism from more or less informed perspectives.
LATER LIFE AND DEATH -
Throughout his later life, Plato became entangled with the politics of the city of Syracuse. According to Diogenes Laërtius, Plato initially visited Syracuse while it was under the rule of Diyonisius.During this first trip Dionysius's brother-in-law, Diyon of syracuse, became one of Plato's disciples, but the tyrant himself turned against Plato. Plato almost faced death, but he was sold into slavery. Then Anniceris bought Plato's freedom for twenty minas, and sent him home. After Dionysius's death, according to Plato's Seventh Letter, Dion requested Plato return to Syracuse to tutor Diyonisius II and guide him to become a philosopher king. Dionysius II seemed to accept Plato's teachings, but he became suspicious of Dion, his uncle. Dionysius expelled Dion and kept Plato against his will. Eventually Plato left Syracuse. Dion would return to overthrow Dionysius and ruled Syracuse for a short time before being usurped by cyracuse, a fellow disciple of Plato.
A variety of sources have given accounts of his death. One story, based on a mutilated manuscript, suggests Plato died in his bed, whilst a young Thracian girl played the flute to him. Another tradition suggests Plato died at a wedding feast. The account is based on Diogenes Laërtius's reference to an account by Hermippus, a third-century Alexandrian.According to Tertullian, Plato simply died in his sleep.
At last but not the least I would like to end my article with one of gem quotes of Plato -
"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."
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