Preview

Plato's life and contributions to society.. What is known about his past, and how he enhanced the world around him.

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1623 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Plato's life and contributions to society.. What is known about his past, and how he enhanced the world around him.
Plato is a man that has, in a way, been immortalized. Even though, he lived and died thousands of years ago, his thoughts and his ideas still live on today. In order to most accurately get a feel for who Plato was, there are many factors to be looked at. First, one should look at the times in which Plato lived. This includes, but is not limited to, the culture, the common thought, and any major historical happenings. Second, one should examine Plato's specific surroundings and environment. However, most of the specific biographical information about Plato is based upon assumptions and educated guesses, none of which can be proven. Third, one should examine one of the most significant people in Plato's life, his teacher Socrates. There is much information to begotten from Socrates, though most of it is found indirectly in Plato's writings, being that Socrates never wrote anything. Fourth, and most importantly, one should study all of Plato's writings and all of Plato's theories. This includes a great deal of information, as Plato wrote many things and had many theories. This is also harder than it may sound, because Plato had no specific writing that described his beliefs in definite terms, one can only try to deduce what Plato thought by reading his many dialogues.

Plato was born in Athens, Greece, in 427 B.C. and died in Athens, Greece, in 347 B.C. This time period was a couple hundred years after the beginning of the Olympic Games and the start of alphabetic writing, and a hundred or so years before the uprising of Alexander the Great, who would conquer the known world. The center of Western civilization during these times was Athens, a city-state and a democracy. This basically means Athens supported itself and the lands around it and had a somewhat organized government. The citizens of Athens governed the city, which is a big reason for its success. Also, Athenians were mostly intellectuals and preferred using their minds instead of their bodies. Whenever an

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    DBQ 2 Ancient Greece

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Plato was a student of Socrates; he believed that only the wisest people should govern. His first book was: “The Republic” that described an idea government, not a democracy. From what Plato see the future all citizen would fall into three groups, the first one is farmers, second is artisans, warriors and the ruling class. And the smartest and the most intelligent person from the ruling class would be chosen as philosopher – king. He established a school called the academy – taught philosophy, science and mathematics. And Plato was a teacher for another philosopher Aristotle.…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Plato believed the world we live in is only a world of appearances and that it wasn't actually that real. He believed that their was another world, this is called dualism. He believed this other world is where the true forms of everything existed and only left a mere imprint on our world. Plato argued this world was immutable (unchanging) and that it was only a world of ideas and concepts that made every object like what it is. For example there are lots of different types of cat. He believed in the world of the forms that what makes a cat a cat existed there and is imprinted onto our souls allowing us to identify all the different types of cat as cats.…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The young man who would eventually be called Plato, by his gymnasium classmates due to his muscular build, started off as a student of the gadfly of Athens, Socrates. Plato was deeply devoted to his master Socrates, even attending the event of his death, drinking the poison hemlock After his master’s death, Plato went on to build upon his masters teaching to the point, where both philosopher’s teaching is…

    • 1708 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Plato was a famous Greek philosopher and mathematician from Athens that is now well known throughout the world. He lived from 427 B.C.E. to 347 B.C.E. He’s famously known for being Socrates’ student and the teacher of Aristotle. He has many writings that explored justice, beauty, and equality as well as containing discussions in aesthetics, political philosophy, theology, cosmology, epistemology, and the philosophy of language. His writings were highly influenced by Socrates as he would convey and expand on the ideas and techniques of his teacher. Plato founded the Academy which was the first institution of higher learning in the Western World and offered subjects like astronomy, biology, mathematics, political theory, and philosophy. Plato…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    One of the most influential minds in western philosophy is of Plato. Plato lived from 422-347 B.C, was born into an aristocratic family in the city of Athens. He was a student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle. Plato followed the basic ideas of Socrates, in which no laws are to be broken despite their relevance. He makes clear why laws should be followed and why disobedience to the law is rarely justified. Plato is considered a very essential figure in the contribution of philosophy and an essential figure to western tradition. He was the prime founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning within the Western World. Plato has a range of teachings that have been used to instruct a wide spread of subjects. Some…

    • 1801 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Plato was one of Socrates’ greatest admirers, and our knowledge of Socrates stems mostly from Plato’s dialogues. Plato wrote his dialogues so that his students could read them out to each other and from a phrase discuss what it is about.…

    • 2304 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Clouds vs. The Apology

    • 1640 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Second, in terms of characterization, Plato paints a picture of Socrates, as a philosopher to the end, that is, a person who truly lives a life of the pursuit of truth. In addition, Plato's view of Socrates is filled with courage, a person who is unafraid of death. In the work, a number of citizens from Athens accuse him of corrupting the youth and not believing in the gods. Of course, Socrates disagrees. In fact, Socrates states that he is doing the city of Athens a great benefit by questioning things. In light of this, Plato portrays Socrates as one who is persecuted unjustly.…

    • 1640 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    the republic of plato

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Before I started reading Plato's the Republic, I was loathe to admit that reading those philosophy books were gonna really change how I view myself. It was totally a waste of time to read these vague and complicated books. As I went on reading the republic, I saw many similar things that still existed in our society. In the book, Plato prescribes severe dictates concerning the cultural life of the city. He rules out all poverty, with the exception of hymns to the gods and eulogies for the famous, and places restraints on painting and architecture. Does this look like "Cultural Revolution" that happened in China in late 60s in twentieth century? There are differences though, which is how the leaders see the results of the destruction of human civilization. Plato expresses regret at these aesthetic sacrifices, he feels they must be made for the sake of education, which transforms the unhealthy luxurious city into a pure and just city. However, our great leader didn't see any ruinous effects on our society until he reached the end of his life.…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Plato was born in 427 BC in Athens, Greece. He was born into a wealthy and aristocratic family with a political background. Plato's father claimed he was a descendent of Codrus, the last king of Athens; on his mother's side he was related to a Greek lawmaker by the name of Solon. Plato's father died when he was still young and the rest of his childhood was spent with his mother and her new husband Pyrilampes, an Athenian politician.…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Athens, Greece, 428; A young man, will mature and change the course of philosophy, politics, and ideals. Said man, commonly known as Plato, will influence the world in ways he could never imagine. He will not only pass on the ideals which his teacher, Socrates, expanded on, but he shall share and teach his own ideals about the world. Revolutionary ideas that will impact philosophy, for instance constant questioning, taught to him by Socrates. Political advancements like defining what exactly is “just” and “virtuous”. Lastly, the transformation of ideals like beauty and equality that he set into motion. However, in what way did he impact these subjects? By what means did he cause such a change in society, such a change that impacts the society…

    • 144 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    History Study Guide

    • 6498 Words
    • 26 Pages

    Ancient Greece – Athens as cradle of Democracy, which was vital for United States. Where Democracy began. Every educated person should be familiar with Plato.…

    • 6498 Words
    • 26 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Here, I will talk about some of his thoughts. Plato's view on education is to open your eyes because there is a lot to be learned. Plato believes that a wise man is a person using both sides of his brain. A person's willingness to reject true thinking and live in darkness means that it's always easier to do less but it pays off more in the end if you are willing to apply yourself because you tend to get more out of things. Basically, more effort will make you wiser in the…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Apology written by Plato’s is an excellent piece of philosophical literature that can teach us many things. Most importantly this fine literature gives us the utmost insight into the philosophy of Socrates’. As well it teaches us the idea of asking questions and probing for answers when we don’t understand so we can uncover the truth and learn rather than thinking we know and being ignorant. The intention here is to describe the philosophy of Socrates’ and use what I’ve learned from his ideas to present my own beliefs on what philosophy is and relate it to my personal life. The start of the essay will be devoted to deciphering the ethics and ideals of Socrates’ philosophy and describing the three key components being Socratic method, irony and ethos as well as how they are engrained with Socrates’ belief that, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” During the second portion of the essay I will discuss my belief that philosophy is the process of consistently asking questions to gain understanding and insight to life’s mysteries and challenges. Similar to Rauhut I would describe philosophy as open questions but I would conclude that definition to be incomplete. Philosophy needs constant discussion and revision, yes it does begin with a simple belief or question but the whole purpose is discussion and explanation to gain further comprehension and understanding of the subject in question.…

    • 1945 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Plato's Ideal Society

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages

    plato's utopia had several features, but he basically tried to make a perfectly just society. in the republic, he examines a few concepts of justice, including justice being telling the truth and repaying your debts, doing good to friends and harm to enemies, and justice being what is in the interest of the stronger. he rejects all these ideas eventually and says that justice is based on a society's natural division of labor. for example, workers perform optimally when they are specialized- a construction worker can't possibly have expertise in medicine, likewise a doctor cant possibly have expertise in trade. also, each person is naturally suited for a certain task. for example, if you're really smart, you're better off being a lawyer than a landscaper (of course, these aren't the examples he gives, i'm just trying to simplify). so, to plato, each person has their own area of expertise that they must focus on. this is a prerequisite for justice, and justice results when everybody does only their designated role and doesn't interfere with the designated roles of others. the way in which he hopes to establish this is through education.…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Plato and Aristotle

    • 1917 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Plato was a teacher to Aristotle and lived during the Peloponnesian War, which lead to the end of the Athenian democracy. He had eyewitness account of Socrates, his mentor, trial and execution. Unhappy with the political corruption that plagued the Athenian democratic government, he removed himself from politics. He strongly felt that neither a moral individual nor a state could be established in a democratic environment. Plato felt that the common man was not intelligent enough to deal with concepts that influence the state such as economics, policies and other relative matters. He thought of philosophers as being the most intelligent among men. He viewed political incumbents in the Athens government basically as bought individuals in office for the good of themselves and not society as a whole. Another danger was that extreme liberties given to the people in the democratic society could potentially lead an anarchy.…

    • 1917 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics