Essay about Plato

"Unless," I said, "the philosophers rule as kings or those now called kings and chiefs genuinely and adequately philosophize, and political power and philosophy coincide in the same place, while the many natures now making their way to either apart from the other are by necessity excluded, there is no rest from ills for the cities, my dear Glaucon, nor I think for human kind, nor will the regime we have now described in speech ever come forth from nature, insofar as possible, and see the light of the sun."(THE REPUBLIC OF PLATO By Allan B- 473d - 473e)

The dialogue opens up with Meno asking what virtue is and whether it could be taught. Socrates asks Meno for a general definition of virtue, since as Socrates points out, we cannot figure out if virtue can be taught if we do not have a clear idea what it is. Socrates is looking for a general, or formal definition of virtue, not just examples or instances of it. Socrates wants to know what all the examples of virtue have in common. He wants to know the essence of virtue. Meno initially offers a list of virtues, but Socrates rejects this as a sufficient account. Meno also states that there are different virtues for everyone. The virtue of a man is to order a state and the virtue of a woman is to order a household. I believe that virtue can

Plato was a philosopher who was born in Athens (470-390 BCE), and was also a student of Socrates. He felt that intelligence and one’s perception belonged to completely independent realms or realities. He believed that general concepts of knowledge were predestined, or placed in the soul before birth even occurred in living things. Plato believed that the cosmos was intelligible, and the the universe was mathematically understandable. He believes that mathematical objects could be seen as perfect forms. Forms, a doctoral of Plato, can be understood as an everyday object or idea, which does not, exists in the everyday realm, but merely is existent in the hypothetical realm or reality.

Plato has a different sense of justice than what we ourselves would consider to be justice. Justice starts in the heart and goes outward. Justice is about being a person of good intent towards all people, doing what is believed to be right or moral. Plato believes that once a person has a true understanding of justice that they will want to be “just” for its own benefit regardless of good or bad consequence. Though being just is known to have good consequences also makes being “just” a positive trait. (Clark, 2003, 13) Living a “just” life is good and good is the “well being of well living, the best life is supreme good.” (Bao, 2011, 259) The cause of

George Boas’ article include many important dates and facts about Plato early life and how they all contributed to his literature works. According to Boas, Plato had a father name Ariston and his father was dead at the time of Socrates’s trial (440). Plato was born on the first year of 88th Olympiad, on the seventh day of Thargelion. Dated to be on May 22, 427 B.C. (442). His birth place was assumed to be in Aegina, Athens according to Boas only source of findings. Plato was first name Aristocles and later changed to Plato by his gymnastic teacher because of his

Plato was born in Athens, Greece around 427 B.C. He was always interested in politics, until he witnessed his mentor and teacher, Socrates, death. After learning of the callousness of politics, Plato changed his mind and eventually opened up The Academy, which is considered if not the first, one of the first Universities. Students at the Academy studied many different fields of science, including biological and astronomical. The students also studied many other fields, such as math. Plato developed many views that were mathematical in nature. He expressed these views through his writings. According to Dr. Calkins of Andrew University, "Timaeus is probably the most renowned of Plato's thirty-five dialogues. [In it] Plato expresses that he

Biographical information: Plato was one of the earliest ancient Greek philosophers who lived from 427 to 347 B.C. He was a student of Socrates, who was also a prominent Greek philosopher at that time. Socrates had a massive influence on Plato, who called him “the most upright man of that day” (The Seventh Letter). Plato adopted his philosophy and dedicated his studies to formation of a noble character. Born in Athens to a family of aristocrats, Plato attained an exceptional education, most likely taught by notable educators such as Pythagoras and Parmenides.

To many people, Plato was known as the first writer of philosophy. Plato was born in Athens in 429 BC (Plato-Biography, egs.edu). His birth name was Aristocles and gained the nickname Platon later on. He had two brothers named Adeimantus and Glaucon (Plato-Biography, egs.edu). When Plato met Socrates, he adopted his philosophy and discussed about virtue. From 409 BC to 404 BC, Plato was in military service during the Peloponnesian War, which was a war between Athens and Sparta (Plato-Biography, egs.edu).

Plato (428-7 B.C.E - 348-7 B.C.E) was a well-known ancient Greek philosopher, a student of Socartes, teacher of Aristotle, and founder of the Academy. Plato came from one of the wealthiest and most politically involved families in all of Athens. His mother is believed to be related to Solon, the Greek statesman in 6th century B.C.E. His father is related to the kings of Messenia and Athens. After the death of Socrates in 399 B.C.E, Plato began studying mathematics, geometry, geology, astronomy and religion in Egypt, which is where he began his writing. During his travelling period of 399-387 B.C.E he wrote the Apology of Socrates, Protagoras, Euthyphro, Hippias Major and Minor and Ion, in which he writes about Socartes’ teaching

     “The Unexamined Life is not Worth Living.” This is the famous quote proclaimed by Socrates, a controversial philosopher of ancient Athens. He believed that anyone could lead a significant and meaningful existence by examining his or her own life and ideas very thoroughly. (Soccio)

Plato is one of history’s most popular philosophers who had a lasting effect on the world around him. Plato is mostly known for his philosophical works and founding the Academy north of Athens. During his early life, he wanted to pursue a career in literature and politics, and in fact, began writing plays and short stories. Plato happened to stumble upon socrates speaking in a public market and was pulled in by what he was saying. He felt so strongly about philosophy after that resulting in him burning his early works and starting out fresh. He wanted to pursue a career in philosophy. It is believed that Plato was going to compete for a prize until he realized that he had a strong passion in philosophy. From

“the having and doing of one’s own and what belongs to one would be agreed to

     Plato describes a cave where people are chained up and can only see shadows cast on a wall. He parallels these shadows to the things that people see in the world around them, the materialistic reality that most people base their lives on. He parallels the chains to norms, customs, traditions, habits, etc. Plato believes that because people are so preoccupied with these shadows of the truth, they ignore the real truth. He parallels these shadows to the things that people see in the world around them, the materialistic reality that most people base their lives on. So, it makes sense that Plato wouldn’t want to discount the possibility of a philosopher king based on the fact that he has never seen one,

Plato was a philosopher and educator in ancient Greece. He was one of the most important thinkers and writers in the history of Western culture. Plato was born in Athens into a family that was one of the oldest and most distinguished in the city. His father Ariston died when Plato was only a child. The name Plato was a nickname meaning broad shoulders. Plato's real name was Aristocles. Plato had aspirations of becoming a politician, however these hopes were destroyed when his friend Socrates was sentenced to death in 299 B.C. Extremely hurt Plato left Athens and traveled for several years. In 387 B.C., Plato returned to Athens and founded a school of philosophy and science that became known as the Academy. Topics such as astronomy,

Plato was among the most important and creative thinkers of the ancient world. He was born in Athens in 428 BC to an aristocratic and well-off family. Even as a young child Plato was familiar with political life because his father, Ariston was the last king of Athens. Ariston died when Plato was a young boy. However, the excessive Athenian political life, which was under the oligarchical rule of the Thirty Tyrants and the restored democracy, seem to have forced him to give up any ambitions of political life. In 388 BC he journeyed to Italy and Sicily, where he became the friend of Dionysius the ruler of Syracuse, and his brother-in-law Dion. The following year he returned to Athens, where he devoted his