A man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the chance of living or dying; he ought only to consider whether in doing anything he is doing right or wrong – acting the part of a good man or of a bad.
platoquotes
c. 423 – 348 BC
The Athenian philosopher, Plato (c. 423–348 BC), student to Socrates and teacher to Aristotle, left a legacy that stretches through the entire history of Western thought. With justice, beauty and equality being the main philosophized forms he wrote and taught about, Plato also paved the way for modern universities with the establishment of his Academy in Athens, which was known for its mathematic and scientific pursuits. His academy was sustained for three centuries after his death, until it was finally dismantled by Roman Emperor Justinian I, as it posed a threat to Christianity.
Finding that live debates offered more wisdom than written works due to their fluidity, Plato was still a literary artist when it came to capturing his dialogues in writing. Some of the deep questions asked and explored are: Can virtue be taught or is wisdom gained through recollection (Menos)? What are the parallels between the soul of a nation and the soul of an individual and how can we build a better government ruled by reasoning philosopher-kings (The Republic)?
Similar to his teacher, Socrates, Plato taught that the realm of ideas was more truthful and therefore superior to the deceptive world of the senses (Theory of Forms). Plato gave us an account of Socrates’ defense at his trial, which is one of the most important works of Western philosophy. Modern democracy has his ideas on human equality to thank, and scientific progress his adherence to mathematics as a basis for understanding the universe.
He’s garbage, he cares about nothing but the truth.
Eros guides us to Logos.
The physician of the soul is aware that his patient will receive no nourishment unless he has been cleaned out; and the soul of the Great King himself, if he has not undergone this purification, is unclean and impure.
The useful is the noble and the hurtful is the base.
It is only the dead who have seen the end of war.
No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth.
Tell us what complaint you have to make against us which justifies you in attempting to destroy us and the State? In the first place did we not bring you into existence? Since you were brought into the world and nurtured and educated by us, can you deny in the first place that you are our child and slave, as your fathers were before you?
Every king springs from a race of slaves, and every slave had kings among his ancestors.
The difficulty, my friends, is not to avoid death, but to avoid unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death.