57 The Life of Plato w/ Robin Waterfield

Ancient Greece Declassified

Even after thousands of years of supposed progress in philosophy, there are still some who maintain that the entire history of western philosophy consists of footnotes to Plato. But who was Plato the man? If there is anyone who can answer that question, it's our guest in this episode. Robin Waterfield is a renowned scholar of antiquity who has written the first ever full biography of the ancient philosopher in English. Check out the book here.

Contents of the episode, with timestamps:

[04:10] Plato's early life

[06:46] Relationship to Socrates

[12:27] Philosophical method

[14:53] Theory of Forms

[18:27] How Plato became famous

[23:42] Sophists VS Philosophers

[31:55] Founding the Academy

[35:25] Relationship to Aristotle

[47:07] Political intrigues in Sicily

[48:51] Disilusionment and later works

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