Cyberday #6 - Philosophers

Plato

Plato was born around 428 B.C. in Athens.  His birth name was Aristocles.  He gain his nickname, Platon, meaning broad because of his broad build. He studied music and poetry when he was young, and, according to Aristotle, developed the foundations of his metaphysics ("the branch of philosophy that is concerned with the fundamental nature of reality") and epistemology ("a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity") by studying the doctrines of Cratylus, and the works of Pythagoras and Parmenides.  From 409-404 B.C, he was in military service.  Plato joined the Athenian oligarchy of the Thirty Tyrants after the Peloponnesian War ended in 404 B.C, but the violence of this group quickly caused him to leave it.  When democracy was restored in Athens, he tried following his first goal of a political career.  In 399 BC, Socrates's death had a huge effect on Plato, so he left Athens with some of Socrates's friends and traveled for 12 years to places like Cyrene, Italy, and Egypt.  This is where Plato began to write a lot, but it is still debated whether he started writing before or after Socrates's death.  The order of his writing is also unknown.  Most scholars have divided Plato's work into three groups: Socratic Dialogues, which include texts such as Crito, Laches, Lysis, Charmides, Euthyphro, Hippias Minor and Major, and Apology.  The second group is called Plato's "middle" or "transitional" period.  He may have written the Meno, Euthydemus, Menexenus, Cratylus, Rebulgic, Phaedrus, Syposium, and Phaedo.  His final group is called the "Later" dialogues, which include the Parmenides,  Theatetus, Sophist, Statesmas, Timaeus, Critias, Philebus, and Laws.  Plato is still important to this day because he taught that every human soul has the impulse to reach for a higher, purer, and more spiritual truth that will light up our lives and change our world.

Citations:

• "Plato - Biography." Plato. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <http://www.egs.edu/library/plato/biography/>.
• "Epistemology." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2015. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epistemology>.
• "Metaphysics." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphysics>.
• "5 Reasons Why Plato and Aristotle Still Matter Today." PublishersWeekly.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015. <http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/60264-5-reasons-why-plato-and-aristotle-still-matter-today.html>.