Plato
ASIN: B018LVV5T4
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Pages: 39
To say Socrates was an influence on Plato would be a vast understatement; historians today still struggle to distinguish Socrates’ philosophical beliefs from Plato’s, because much of Plato’s writings consisted of “Socratic dialogues,” in which the main character, Socrates, discusses the topic of the writing with his followers. Yet for all of the influence of Socrates’ life on Plato, it was Socrates’ death around 399 B.C. that truly shaped him. Plato was so embittered by Socrates’ trial in Athens that he completely soured on Athenian democracy, and he began to travel around the Mediterranean, studying topics like mathematics, honing his approach to philosophical thinking, and continuing to refine his philosophical beliefs. About a decade later, Plato returned to Athens and founded his famous Platonic Academy around 387 B.C., which he oversaw for 40 years until his death. One of ...