Plato

Lore & Background

Plato was born into an aristocratic Athenian family; through his mother Perictione, he was a descendant of Solon. Diogenes Laertius asserts that Plato is a nickname alluding to his robust figure and that his birth name was Aristocles, but this is widely regarded as false by modern scholarship. He had two brothers, Glaucon and Adeimantus, both appearing in the Republic, and a sister, Potone, and a half brother, Antiphon. During his childhood, Athens was involved in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta. He received a traditional education in gymnastics and music, and according to ancient writers, he initially wrote poetry but abandoned it when he met Socrates and turned to philosophy. In his youth, Plato encountered Socrates, who became his teacher and greatest source of inspiration. Socrates investigated ethics and politics using a series of questioning called the Socratic method. Plato never speaks in his own voice in his dialogues; every dialogue except the Laws features Socrates. The precise relationship between Plato and Socrates remains an area of contention among scholars. After the death of Socrates, Plato studied with Cratylus (a follower of Heraclitus) and Hermogenes (an Eleatic in the tradition of Parmenides). He later studied mathematics with Archytas of Tarentum, Theaetetus, and others in the grove of Hecademus, where he would later found his Academy. He also traveled to southern Italy to study with Archytas and other Pythagoreans.

Reader's Guide

Plato's most famous contribution is his Theory of Forms (or Ideas), which aims to solve what is now known as the problem of universals. He was influenced by the pre-Socratic thinkers Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and Parmenides, although much of what is known about them is derived from Plato himself. Through Platonism's outgrowth Neoplatonism, he influenced Christian, Jewish, and Islamic philosophy. Although their popularity has fluctuated, they have consistently been read and studied through the ages. His dialogues, featuring Socrates as a central character, explore ethics, politics, metaphysics, and epistemology, and his founding of the Academy established a model for institutional philosophical education.

Did You Know?

• Plato's birth name is widely regarded by modern scholarship as not being Aristocles, despite Diogenes Laertius's assertion.
• Plato never speaks in his own voice in his dialogues; every dialogue except the Laws features Socrates.
• Plato's complete works are believed to have survived, unlike those of nearly all of his contemporaries.
• Alfred North Whitehead characterized the European philosophical tradition as 'a series of footnotes to Plato.'