-It could be argued that philosophy "comes of age" with Plato (AKA Plátōn) (c. 427-347 BC).
-However, he was kind of an elusive character because he only wrote in dialogues, and never appeared himself in them!
-Born and raised in Athens.
-Encountered Socrates when he was a young man; heavily influenced by him.
-Spent time in southern Italy after Socrates' death; possibly encountered Pythagorean philosophy there.
-Well-versed in most Pre-Socratic philosophy, especially Parmenides and Heraclitus.
-Plato eventually returned to Athens and opened a philosophical school- "The Academia" named after Akademos (AKA Academus), a famous Athenian hero.
-Practiced not just philosophy but also speech, argument, math, and other subjects.
-Famously stated at the entrance- "Let no man enter here who has not studied geometry."
-Famous members at the time included Archytas of Tarentum (mathematician and Pythagorean scientist), Isocrates (influential orator and rhetorician), and, of course, Aristotle (AKA Aristotélēs).
-We know a lot about Plato (and other Pre-Socratic/contemporary philosophers) due to Diogenes Laërtius, a biographer and writer of "The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers".
-Diogenes says that "Plato" is actually a nickname and comes from the Greek word for "broad" or "wide", either due to to his wide array of knowledge, his powerful physique, or both!
-It's also possible maybe because he just had a wide forehead (haha).
-His real name was Aristocles.
-We also know some stories about Plato from this document.
-For example, one time he went to Syracuse (in Sicily) and was critical of the way the tyrant Dionysus (the Elder) was running the city. Of course, this pissed off Dionysus, so he arrested Plato and had him sold into slavery. Luckily, Plato was somehow ransomed and was able to return to Athens a free man. However, he later returned to Syracuse to meet with Dionysus (the Younger; AKA Dionysus II) who had taken over the city after the death of his father. He tried to get Dionysus II to rule well, but this failed and the tyrant sent Plato (accompanied by his friend, the Sicilian philosopher Dion who had also been critical of the regime) back to Greece. Plato then returned a third time, this time to get Dionysus II to reconcile with Dion, who wished to serve as adviser. This failed and Dionysus II kicked them out again, so Dion raised an army (!) and started a revolt in Sicily, deposed of Dionysus II and became tyrant himself!
-What's the point of this story?
-It's a good example of philosophers actually trying to have an influence on real-life policies and challenges the stereotype of them just sitting around and having endless heady debates and doing math and shit.
-Plato had truly believed that Dionysus II could have been a powerful philosopher-king.
-Plato wrote in dialogues because it simulated reality more accurately.
-A simple list of doctrines can't defend themselves when critiqued, but a dialogue can do a better job of this.
-Platonic dialogues are also perhaps written frustratingly on purpose.
-They are meant to be imperfect in order arouse curiosity and critical thinking from the reader.
-It's also meant to be read as both philosophy AND literature.
-How many dialogues are there?
-We don't know, but we think only between 25-30, and there are others which we aren't sure of in terms of legitimacy (or some which experts are almost positive are fake).
-Dialogues divided into "early", "middle", and "late" (rough estimates).
-Early dialogues were probably written right after the death of Socrates, and usually end in a stalemate.
-Middle dialogues- more ambitious, longer, and had less typical Socratic encounters.
-Main work during this time was "The Republic".
-Late dialogues- more technical, less dramatic, more new main characters.
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