Plato (427-347 BC)

Bio

Plato was an immensely influential classical Greek philosopher, student
of Socrates, teacher of Aristotle, and founder of the Academy in Athens.

Plato was born in Athens, into a moderately well-to-do aristocratic family.
His father was named Ariston and his mother Perictione. An ancestor,
Glaucon, was one of the best-known members of the Athenian nobility.
Plato became a pupil of Socrates in his youth, and -- at least according to
his personal account -- attended his master's trial, though not his
execution. Unlike Socrates, Plato wrote down his philosophical views and
left a considerable number of manuscripts (see below). He was deeply
affected by the city's treatment of Socrates: much of his early work
enshrines his memories of his teacher, and it is suggested that much of
his ethical writing is in pursuit of a society where similar injustices could
not occur.

Plato wrote mainly in the form of dialogues in which several characters
discuss a topic by asking questions of one another. The early ones,
where Socrates figures prominently and a lively, more disorganized form
of elenchos/dialectic is perceived are called the Socratic Dialogues. But
the qualities of the dialogues changed a great deal over the course of
Plato's life.

It is generally agreed that Plato's earlier works, such as the Apology and
the Crito, are more closely based on Socrates' thought, whereas his later
writing increasingly breaks away with the views of his former teacher. In
the middle dialogues, Socrates becomes a mouthpiece for Plato's own
philosophy, and the question-and-answer style is more pro forma. The
later dialogues read more like treatises, and Socrates is often absent or
quiet.

Plato's Republic, arguably his most famous work, is from his middle
period, and the philosophy is mostly Platonic. Plato describes his idea of
virtue, or 'The Form of the Good,' in an essentially Socratic way: it is the
ideal or perfect nature of goodness, and so an absolute measure of
justice.

But the theory of justice presented in the Republic differs markedly from
the notions of fairness so readily on display in the Apology. Plato explains
his theory of justice in relation to his conception of the ideal state, both of
which necessitate rule of the rational mind; in other words, philosopher
kings, who can grasp the Form of the Good.

The form of government derived from Plato’s philosophy turns out to be
one of a rigidly fixed hierarchy of hereditary classes, in which the arts are
mostly suppressed for the good of the state (he advocates strict
censorship), the size of the city and its social classes is determined by
mathematical formula, and eugenic measures are applied secretly by
rigging the lotteries in which the right to reproduce is allocated. The
tightness of connection of such government to the lofty and original
philosophy in the book has been debated."

Plato's philosophy of justice, especially as presented in Book IV of the
Republic, amounts to the idea that we all must do our share--and keep in
our place--in order to help the state, which is supposedly designed by the
philosopher king for the benefit of all. While some of Plato's philosophy
might support certain aspects of social and cultural rights, he was
strongly against civil rights and civil liberties as we know them, believing
that they would lead to the ultimate degeneration of the state.


(Adapted from the Wikipedia article on Plato. Click here for complete article.)

Works


The Republic

The Laws