Philosophy 190: Plato Fall, 2014

Prof. Peter Hadreas

Course website:
http://www.sjsu.edu/people/
peter.hadreas/courses/Plato
 Some Very
Fundamental Aspects
of Plato’s Life and
Times
“[Plato] was a post-war figure writing in an
Athens of a different intellectual temper.
When he put on to his stage the giants of the
Sophistic era, he was recalling them from the
dead.”1

1. W. K. C. Guthrie, A History of Greek Philosophy, V ill. 4 (Cambridge,

1975), p. 6.
The trial, judgment and execution of Socrates in 399 B.
C. E. had an effect on Plato’s thought and writings that
did not cease throughout the whole of his life. Socrates
is not only the spokesperson for the early and middle
dialogues. He is the spokesperson in the late dialogue,
Philebus. And, the late period dialogue, Theatetus, ends
with Socrates going to answer to the indictment of
Meletus – one of Socrates’ three accusers who filed
capital crime charges against him.
The influence of Socrates not only launches the style of
philosophical inquiry in the early dialogues, and likely
their dialogic form in general, it is a catalyst for Plato’s
life-long pursuit of the conflict between philosophy and
politics.
At the age of roughly 40, Plato travels to Sicily and
southern Italy. His intent – in all likelihood – was to make
contact with the Pythagorean philosophers in southern
Italy. Second only to Socrates is the influence of Plato’s
confrontation with Pythagoreanism. As Schofield puts it:

“What was the outcome of this meeting of the minds?

Here is a way of telling the story – which construes the
encounter as a decisive moment with extraordinary
impact of the future of Plato’s thought.”
[Schofield quote continued from previous slide]:

“To put it in a nutshell, Plato converted to

Pythagoreanism: to belief in the immortality of the soul;
to a fascination with eschatology and myths of a last
judgment; to a conviction that mathematics held the key
to an understanding of reality; to the idea that politics
might might, after all, be reshaped by philosophy and
philosophers;
[continued from previous slide] “to the resolve to
create in Athens his own community of friends
dedicated to the pursuit of philosophy. From the
conversation flowed much of the energy and vision
that fueled the writing of dialogues such as Gorgias,
Meno, Phaedo, and Republic. Its most practical
consequence was to be the founding of the
Academy.”1

1. Schofield, Malcolm, “Plato in His Time and Place,” in The Oxford

Handbook of Plato, edited by Gail Fine, (Oxford/NY: Oxford University Press,
2011), p. 44.
Touching upon the most principal influences on Plato
intellectual development one must point third figure,
the Eleatic philosopher, Parmenides (date of birth
uncertain, approximately 540 BCE – death approx.
460 BCE).

Parmenides influence becomes profound in Plato

later dialogues. This is obvious in the dialogue titled
Parmenides, where the Eleatic philosopher
crushingly criticizes Plato’s Theory of Forms. Also, in
the Sophist and Statesman, the figure leading the
discussion is referred to as ‘an Eleatic Stranger.’ He
is surely to be associated with if not an incarnation of
Parmenides.
Parmenides: Fragment #3:
"For thinking and being are the same.”
This enigmatic statement – so often cited by Martin
Heidegger – would invite the interpretation that thought –
not perception, imagination nor feeling -- is the mode by
which reality is apprehended. The logical rigor that we
find in what remains of Parmenides writings and the
profound division between what may be discerned by
mind – as opposed to perception – is endorsed fully by
Plato, especially so in his later works. Also, an
acceptance of Parmenides arguments would provide a
understanding for why Plato, unlike the Pythagorean
school, separates was is most real from the perceptual
world.
Compelling question about the style of Plato’s dialogues:

Why do you think Plato is never a spokesperson1 in any of

his dialogues?

1. In the Phaedo, he is mentioned as absent during Socrates’ last

hours because he is ill. He attends Socrates trial. From indirect report
we read Plato offers to supply a sum of money to waylay the jury’s
verdict. But those are the only two mentions we have of Plato in the
dialogues.
There are thirteen letters attributed to Plato. But all of them, with the
possible exception of the Seventh Letter, are thought to be
inauthentic. It should be added, however, that it is generally agreed by
current scholars that even if the Seventh Letter was not written by
Plato, it was written as a ‘public letter’ by someone in the Academy
extremely familiar with Plato’s voyages to Italy and very likely with his
approval. The exacting agreement of dates would suggest is was
written during his lifetime and we have no indication that Plato
discredited it.