Plato, schrijver

by Plato

285 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Plato (Greek: Πλάτων), born Aristocles (c. 427 – 348 BC), was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms. He raised problems for what became all the major areas of both theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy, and was the founder of the Platonic Academy, a philosophical school in Athens where Plato taught the doctrines that would later become known as Platonism.
Plato's most famous contribution is the theory of forms (or ideas), which has been interpreted as advancing a solution to what is now known as the problem of universals. He was decisively influenced by the pre-Socratic thinkers Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and Parmenides, although much of what is known about them is derived from Plato himself.
Along with his teacher Socrates, and Aristotle, his student, Plato is a central figure in the history of philosophy. Plato's entire body of work is believed to have survived intact for over 2,400 years—unlike that of nearly all of his contemporaries. Although their popularity has fluctuated, they have consistently been read and studied through the ages. Through Neoplatonism, he also greatly influenced both Christian and Islamic philosophy. In modern times, Alfred North Whitehead famously said: "the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato."

Reviews

[Slmm · Rating 1 out of 5]

not a philosophy buff at all so guess this is just an impression. plato, big name. the several pieces chosen for this book however left me quite unimpressed, nothing struck me as significant at all. actually, several texts kinda left me shocked at how bad this actually was. the dialectic dialogue form in which socrates always wins the verbal battle and submits his opponent by his own arguments were quite a stretch like it's as if arguments have been created out of thin air, and the opponent just goes with it. its like plato just wrote theater in which his boy socrates just destroys everyone verbally without actually convincing anyone very lackluster... the gay relationship being the purest form of the soul symbolized as a chariot with two horses capable of flying to the gods was quite amusing but just one of the excerpt to show how trash this is, i just didnt get it i guess

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vond Plato's Socrates altijd een betweterig mannetje met flauwe discussietrucs, maar deze selectie en vertaling maken hem toch te genieten. Het summiere maar trefzekere commentaar van Koolschijn versterkt dat nog. En eenmaal voorbij de ergernis laten deze teksten een fascinerende vreemde wereld zien. Bijvoorbeeld de discussie achter de schermen na het volkstribunaal, waarbij vrienden de veroordeelde Socrates voorhouden: laat ons je alsjeblieft vrijkopen, anders denkt iedereen dat we daar het geld niet voor hadden...