Page 8 - DPOL201_WESTERN_POLITICAL_THOUGHT_ENGLISH

Western Political Thought

Notes Plato is philosophy and philosophy is Plato for out of Plato comes all things that are
still written and debated among men of thought ... . Burn the libraries for their value
in this book.
Plato has been credited for laying the foundations of Greek political theory, as he explored,
analyzed and covered a wide range of philosophical perspectives and issues, on which the Western
political tradition rests. Aristotle, a critic of Platonic ideas in the Republic, rejected many of them,
but extends Plato’s formulation in the Laws. It is for this reason that Whitehead, paying the most
fitting tribute to Plato stated that the entire European philosophical tradition is nothing but a set
of footnotes to Plato.
While Plato’s admirers have been numerous, he has had his share of critics too, beginning with
Aristotle. Most of his recent critics have been in the twentieth century within the liberal tradition.
They assailed Plato for his hostility towards progressive, humanitarian and democratic ideals,
and regarded him as the philosophical forerunner of modern day totalitarianism, which itself is a
twentieth century phenomenon. Paradoxically, the liberals in the nineteenth century were more
appreciative of Plato, claiming him to be a liberal of that period.

1.1 Life Sketch

Plato was born in May-June 428/27 BC in Athens in a distinguished, aristocratic, though not
affluent, family. His father, Ariston, traced his ancestry to the early kings of Athens, even to
Poseidon, the God of the Sea. His mother, Perictione, was a descendant of Solon (640-559 BC), the
famous lawgiver of Athens. Perictione’s brother Charmides and uncle Critias were among the 30
tyrants who ruled Athens after its defeat in the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC). Plato had one
sister (Potone), two brothers (Adeimantus and Glaucon), and one half-brother (Antiphon).
He was known for his good looks and charming disposition. He excelled in the study of music,
mathematics, poetry and rhetoric. He fought in three wars and won an award for bravery. He
never married.
It was natural that the trial and execution of Socrates in 399 BC proved to be a turning point in
Plato’s life. The last discussion that Socrates held was immortalized in Crito. Plato could not attend
the discussion on account of illness. It should be noted that Socrates was not the only one to be
executed. There were others too. Both Anaxagoras (500-432 BC) and Protagoras (481-411 BC) were
banished from Athens, and subsequently Aristotle too would have met a similar fate had he not
gone into exile.

Plato met Socrates in 407 BC at the age of 20 and since then was under his “hypnotic
spell”. So decisive and persuasive was the influence that he abandoned the idea of
becoming a poet.

In 404 BC Athens witnessed an oligarchic revolution led by Plato’s relatives. At this time Plato
took an active part in politics, from which he withdrew later following the restoration of democracy,
the death of Critias and Charmides, and the execution of Socrates. He left Athens and fled to
Megara, where he took refuge with Euclid (300-260 BC), the renowned geometrician. From Megara
he went to Egypt to study mathematics and the historical traditions of the priests. He returned to
Athens in 395 BC and for the next few years fought for the city of Corinth. In 387 BC he visited the
Pythagorean philosopher, mathematician and political leader Archytas at Taras in the south of Italy.

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