Reference
- PlatoIn Greek, Platon means “wide”, suggesting it is perhaps a nickname.Plato was one of the most influential thinkers in world history. He founded the Western world's first important institution of higher learning, the Academy, which helped shape the course of philosophy for the next 1,000 years. Among Plato's teachings, his theory of Forms provided a revolutionary concept of reality—a concept that he tied into corresponding theories of ethics and human knowledge, in a way that seemed to explain the universe...
- The RepublicDescribed by the 20th-century British writer Aldous Huxley as “a noble philosophical romance,” the 10 books of Plato's The Republic cover education, ethics, politics, religion, and sociology, among other subjects. Plato himself thought of his book as a serious but nonetheless playful fable about justice. In that context, the work provides a model for thinking about political systems rather than, as has sometimes been proposed, a blueprint for an ideal state. While Plato seriously examines the subjects that The Republic covers, and while careful readers can derive much intellectual profit as well as pleasure from its pages, those readers must always bear in mind that they have before them a work of sometimes playful and satirical fiction. The date ascribed above gives that which is sometimes proposed for the fictive conversations that occur in The Republic. The actual date of composition is uncertain...
- PlatoArguably the preeminently influential philosopher of the Western world, Plato was born to a prominent but politically divided Athenian family. Various members of that family had urged opposing political points of view during the years of the Peloponnesian War, which had proved so disastrous for Athens. Some think that as a youth, Plato considered becoming a poet. Certainly the literary quality of his works suggests that he could have stood in the first rank. If his early ambitions were in fact poetic, however, he soon abandoned them when he met the Athenian thinker and teacher Socrates, who became Plato's mentor and model...
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Credo Reference is an easy-to-use tool for starting research. Gather background information on your topic from hundreds of full-text encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, quotations, and subject-specific titles, as well as 500,000+ images and audio files and over 1,000 videos.
Plato
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The dialogues of Plato are analyzed in this program by world-renowned author and professor Bryan Magee and Cambridge philosophy professor Myles Burnyeat. Seeing Plato’s ideas initially as extensions of those of his teacher, Socrates, Burnyeat explains the development and content of Plato’s original doctrines of knowledge as virtue, the immortality and tripartite division of the soul, and the theory of forms (ideas). Plato’s political philosophy is discussed within the context of the notion of the ideal state—a political utopia ruled by philosopher-kings. A BBC Production. Part of the series Great Philosophers. (46 minutes)
Online Resources
- Plato: BritannicaPlato, (born 428/427 BCE, Athens, Greece—died 348/347, Athens), ancient Greek philosopher, student of Socrates (c. 470–399 BCE), teacher of Aristotle (384–322 BCE), and founder of the Academy, best known as the author of philosophical works of unparalleled influence...
- Plato: Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyPlato (429?–347 B.C.E.) 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, but the questions he raises are so profound and the strategies he uses for tackling them so richly suggestive and provocative that educated readers of nearly every period have in some way been influenced by him, and in practically every age there have been philosophers who count themselves Platonists in some important respects...
Perspectives
Symposium and Phaedrus
Two important dialogues offer crucial insights into mystical and aesthetic aspects of Platonic doctrine. Symposium attempts to find the ultimate manifestation of the love that controls the world, leading to mystic union with eternal and supercosmic beauty. Phaedrus discusses the psychology of love, resulting in the concept of the familiar Platonic "forms" as objects of transcendental emotion.
Plato's "Republic"
Bringing between two covers the most influential and accessible articles on Plato's Republic, this collection illuminates what is widely held to be the most important work of Western philosophy and political theory. It will be valuable not only to philosophers, but to political theorists, historians, classicists, literary scholars, and interested general readers. Visit our website for sample chapters!
A Companion to Plato's Republic
A step by step, passage by passage analysis of the complete Republic. White shows how the argument of the book is articulated, the important interconnections among its elements, and the coherent and carefully developed train of though which motivates its complex philosophical reasoning. In his extensive introduction, White describes Plato's aims, introduces the argument, and discusses the major philosophical and ethical theories embodied in the Republic. He then summarizes each of its ten books and provides substantial explanatory and interpretive notes.
Plato
This is a completely new translation of one of the great works of Western political thought. In addition to Tom Griffith's vivid, dignified and accurate rendition of Plato's text, this edition is suitable for students at all levels. It contains an introduction that assesses the cultural background to the Republic, its place within political philosophy, and its general argument; succinct notes in the text; an analytical summary of content; a full glossary of proper names; a chronology of important events; and a guide to further reading.
Plato and Metaphysics
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowIn Plato's metaphysics, there exists two worlds: that of physical objects and the world of ideas. The Theory of Ideas is the cornerstone of Plato's metaphysical system.