A conversation set in the year 399 B.C.E. Although the precise date is unknown, some sources believe it was written shortly after the year in which it is set. Its author is known as "the poet" (poetes) because he wrote only verses in Ionic Greek. The poem is considered a classic in its own time and has been influential ever since.
It is a dramatic monologue that describes how Socrates confronts his former friends with the evidence that they are corrupting the youth of Athens. He argues that they are doing this by trying to make them wise beyond their years by asking questions about what they know already through experience or learning. This makes them seem more important than they are and gives them an excuse to harass the young people by making them look down on them because they are not as smart as their parents or teachers.
The speech was probably spoken by Socrates himself but may also have been written by someone else who wanted to show how much he/she admired him.
In 399 B.C.E., just before he died, Socrates was found guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens specifically by asking questions. Because of this, he was sentenced to death by drinking the hemlock poison.
BCE = 380 BCE
Plato wrote The Allegory of the Cave in about 375 BCE.
It is one of his most famous works and has had a considerable influence on Western philosophy, especially on Aristotle and Augustine.
Plato used the story to explain how humans come to know anything real.
In fact, the story can be found in several of his other books including Critias, Cratylus, and Theaetetus.
It is also mentioned by name in Letters from Athens by Plutarch who discussed it in detail along with many other Greek philosophers.
This means that The Allegory of the Cave was already well-known when Augustine wrote about it in Book XI of The City of God in 400 CE.
Augustine used the story to argue that only knowledge derived from faith in Christ can lead us to true happiness.
This shows that Plato was not the first writer to use the story; he simply gave it new life by applying it to reality instead of just imagining it.
375 B.C.
Plato's Republic is one of the most important and influential books in history, and it is still read today across the world. It was written in Greek, and although it has been translated into many other languages, it is still considered one of the greatest works in English as well.
Plato invented modern philosophy as we know it today with its focus on ethics, logic, and politics. He was a student of Socrates who lived in Athens during the fifth century B.C. As a young man, he traveled to Syracuse where he taught for several years before returning to Athens where he wrote his great book in 375 B.C.
In addition to being famous for revolutionizing philosophical thinking, Plato was also one of the first writers to attempt to organize knowledge by subject matter. Thus, he was responsible for laying out the principles behind what would become known as "science." His ideas on mathematics, geometry, biology, and physics have always been regarded as landmark contributions to our understanding of these fields.
Plato's Phaedo; manuscript fragment from the third century bce. Each of Plato's conversations has been preserved largely in the form in which he left it. The exceptions are the Apology and the Crito, which were probably written as speeches for public use. The former was used by Plato as a defense against charges of impiety brought against him by the authorities of Athens, while the latter was written to secure his release from prison on bail while he awaited trial for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government.
Statesmanship is the art or science of governing a state or kingdom according to justice. It is different from leadership, which is the ability to lead others, statesmanship aims at achieving the greatest good for the most people. It requires knowledge of politics combined with wisdom and virtue.
In modern usage, the term "statesman" is generally applied to persons who have done great things for their countries either by their actions or through their efforts along with those of other people. The word comes from the Greek states meaning "one who holds an office," and -skein meaning "to do." A statesman is therefore one who holds political office.
However, before the 19th century, the term had another meaning. It was used to describe someone who manages the affairs of a state or kingdom wisely or effectively.