Perennial Lives | Stoics, Saints, and Sages
The Perennial Lives series explores the life and philosophy of 12 figures (one per week), from Socrates (470—399 BC) to St. Thomas Aquinas (1225—1274). To assist us in our journey, we’ll turn to resources like Lives of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius, along with more recent works like Examined Lives by James Miller, Socrates’ Children by Peter Kreeft, Lives of the Stoics by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman, and others works.
Who is Plato?
Plato’s importance as a philosopher is universally acknowledged. In his new book Plato of Athens, the philosopher and translator Robin Waterfield put it this way, “He was the first Western thinker systematically to address issues that still exercise philosophers today in fields such as metaphysics, epistemology, political theory, ethics, science, religion, …, friendship, and love.”
Similarly, the English philosopher Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947), who wrote in Process and Reality, published in 1929: “The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.” In effect, Plato invented philosophy, and he did so at a time when there was little vocabulary or framework for doing so—no words for “universal,” “attribute,” “abstract,” and so on.
Moreover, Plato founded a school, the Academy, which was dedicated not just to philosophy but to scientific research and practical politics. “The Academy taught philosophy and encouraged research for almost a thousand years,” writes Waterfield, “a span still unsurpassed by any other educational establishment in the West.” Plato’s work has generated discussion and responses throughout antiquity and in every generation since.
How to Search for the Good
Plato was an idealist in that he believed that perfection, or at least a far better state of affairs, is achievable in every area of human life, starting with personal reformation. Waterfield writes,
Should we not similarly devote our energies to improving ourselves and the world around us, so that each generation bequeaths to the next conditions that are healthier and more sustainable than what went before?
In his series Socrates’ Children, modern-day philosopher Peter Kreeft explains that Plato’s whole work is a kind of Apology (“defense”) of Socrates; it is the construction of a theoretical (metaphysical and epistemological) foundation under Socrates’ practical (ethical and anthropological) philosophy.
Kreeft put it this way,
The ultimate question of practical philosophy is: What is the good? What is the good life? What is a good person? The ultimate question of theoretical philosophy is: What is Being? What is true reality? For Plato, these two quests must coincide; the answer to both must be the same. The ultimate reality, for Plato, is ‘the Good,’ or Goodness Itself, or ‘the ‘Form’ (essence) of the Good.’ This is Plato’s Big Idea.
Unlike Socrates, who focused only on issues of individual morality, Plato was interested also in politics. His two longest dialogues, Republic and Laws, are both about the just state.
Plato vs. Machiavelli on Political Philosophy by Peter Kreeft:
Final Thoughts
“It is an amazing coincidence that Socrates,” observes Kreeft, “the first and greatest of philosophers, who wrote nothing himself, should have as his student history’s greatest philosophical writer and poet to write his dialogues. There has never been another Socrates, and there has never been another Plato.”
As the American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson put it simply, “Plato is philosophy, and philosophy is Plato.” But as with all of our meditations in this series — we have merely scratched the surface of the life and philosophy of Plato. My hope is that these short introductions have inspired you to search for ancient lessons on the art of living.
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Thank you for reading; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
P.S. Feel free to comment, ask questions, or make suggestions! You can read previous meditations in the series below:
Today’s meditation was Part XI of the Perennial Lives series — The Art of Living: From Socrates to Aquinas. Previously, we discussed The Art of Living: From Socrates to Aquinas (Part I), How to Live — Like Socrates (Part II), The Life and Philosophy of Confucius (Part III), The Wisdom of Jesus (Part IV), and The Teachings of the Buddha (Part V), How to Live — Like Lao Tzu (Part VI), The Way of Aristotle (Part VII), The Life and Wisdom of Epictetus (Part VIII), How to Search for Wisdom — Like St. Augustine (Part IX), and How to Connect — Like Marcus Aurelius (Part X).
I definitely think we should discuss a book on Plato in Reading and the Good Life! I believe you suggested the Waterfield book.