History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

HoP 018 - In Dialogue - The Life And Writings Of Plato

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Jan 31, 2011
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INSIGHT

Plato: Philosophy's Turning Point

  • Philosophy as a discipline came of age with Plato, who shaped many central philosophical issues.
  • Alfred North Whitehead famously called the history of philosophy "a series of footnotes to Plato."
INSIGHT

Plato's Elusive Authorial Voice

  • Plato wrote all his philosophy in dialogues and never appeared as a character himself.
  • This obscures which ideas in the dialogues represent his own philosophical views.
ANECDOTE

Plato's Failed Political Missions

  • Plato went on three trips to Syracuse to try to influence the tyrant Dionysius and his son with philosophy.
  • Despite his efforts, his idealistic missions to reform tyrants ended in failure and disappointment.
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