Plato

Plato

Introduction

Plato was born into an established and wealthy Athenian household, which gave him a political background, as well as many political connections. Because of these connections, he was given the opportunity and privilege to see numerous people, places, and situations. Such circumstances gave Plato wisdom and experience, which he reflected upon and shared with others from his society. It is believed that Plato, student of Socrates, was one of the greatest contributors of philosophy. Proof of Plato's prominence in the world of philosophy can be clearly seen with his Academy, his renowned scholar Aristotle, and his Dialogues.

Plato: Greatest Contributor to Philosophy

Plato made a huge contribution to philosophy when he founded the Academy. The philosopher loved science although he was never especially accurate. Given that many of his theories about science have been proven extraordinarily wrong (Nardo 17), he had to do something else to make historians take notice of his genius. And what better to do than create what could possibly be the first university? He named his house of scholars the Academy, and it became a workshop for future statesmen. Up until his death, Plato himself taught mathematics and philosophy ("Plato" 1 of 3). In a matter of time, this university developed into the center of philosophical studies and served as the model for institutions of higher learning until the Emperor Justinian in 529 CE closed it, almost a thousand years later (Beavers 2).

Secondly, proof of a truly great philosopher can be shown by his or her students. As mentioned before, Plato's Academy was a breeder of philosophers. One of the most prominent philosophers to come from the Academy was Aristotle. Plato himself took Aristotle under his wing and taught him the ways of understanding and contemplating the world around him (Moulton 29). Aristotle went on to become not only a celebrated philosopher, but also the teacher of Alexander the Great, a wise and strong leader. Aristotle and his student Alexander the Great went on to make enormous impacts on the history of the world, which wouldn't have been made possible if Plato hadn't first taken the initiative to found Academy and teach Aristotle the ways of philosophy. Therefore, it is safe to say that teaching Aristotle made Plato an even greater contributor to philosophy.

Finally, Plato proved himself to be an impressive philosopher when he began writing down his Dialogues. Socrates never wrote down his conversations with others, which is why there is no actual proof that Socrates even existed, so Plato took it upon himself to record his own conversations. Plato was a superb writer, and his works are part of the world's great literature ("Plato" 2 of 3). Because most of his written philosophies were discussions, they were called Dialogues. Plato's Dialogues were split into three groups. The first set, in which the dialogues were divided into chronological order, was Socratic. His most famous conversation with Socrates was The Republic (Forsyth 51) that he wrote in his middle group. This Dialogue portrays Plato's ideal society filled with common ...