Plato brought philosophical dialogue to perfection

Our series continues with one of the founding fathers... as AN Whitehead remarked – the safest characterisation of western thought is that ‘it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato’

It is likely that Plato took military service during his life (Getty/iStock)

It is possible to argue about who is the finest Renaissance painter. It is possible to argue in this way about sculptors, writers, poets, more or less any sort of artist. However, if the question is who writes the best dialogues, then there is no room for controversy. Plato (428–347BC) has no peers.

While it is true that a handful of philosophers have had a stab at writing dialogues, and some such works are of serious philosophical interest, there really is no comparing them to Plato’s writings. Plato has the possibly singular distinction of simultaneously inventing and bringing to perfection a kind of art.

It is clear that things might have been different. Plato was probably destined for a career in politics or at least public life. His father, Ariston, was allegedly descended from the last king of Athens. Some sources report that his mother, Perictione, was a relative of the Athenian statesman Solon. When his father died, Plato’s mother married a friend of Pericles. Plato had an impressive pedigree, and his family was well connected and wealthy. It is sometimes said that the injustice surrounding the execution of Plato’s mentor, Socrates, led Plato to reject public life and pursue philosophy. We know that Plato and some of his relatives and associates were staunch anti-democrats, and following the fall of the 30 Tyrants, anti-democratic sentiments were not rewarded in Athens. So it is also possible that it was the lack of opportunity for people with his political leanings that kept Plato out of political life. We simply do not know.