My Name is Plato

As was the case with all the posts so far in the series 10 People Who Would Have Been Great Bloggers, based on research, I attempted to get into the head of these great thinkers and project what I thought they would say. But this time, for Plato, I decided to stick to the research. I like Plato because he loved to ask good questions, and I am quite fascinated by his notion of Atlantis.  Though, I did not try to write in his voice, Plato would have been an excellent educational blogger, and he would ask us the tough questions forcing us to think. Here is a short 7-minute video about Plato and his life.

Plato – Encyclopedia channel

Mentor: Socrates

Protege: Aristotle

Written Works: The Apology (of Socrates), Crito, Laches, Lysis, Charmides, Euthyphro, Hippias Minor and Major, Meno, Euthydemus, Menexenus, Cratylus, Repuglic, Phaedrus, Syposium, Phaedo, Republic, Parmenides, Theatetus, Sophist,Statesmas,Timaeus,Critias,Philebus, and Laws

Platonics

1. Plato's birth name was Aristocles and was given the nickname Platon because of his broad shoulders
2. Founder of the the philosophical school, Academy in Athens in 387 B.C – named after a legendary Greek called Academus – the first institution of higher learning in the Western world
3. The way in which Plato operated the Academy, his ideas on what constitutes an educated “man” greatly influenced educational theory
4. Plato served as tutor to the new king Dionysius II
5. Studied the doctrines of Cratylus, and the work of Pythagoras and Parmenides before he met Socrates
6. Writings mostly take the form of question and answer dialogues
7. Mastered the art of asking good questions
8. Well traveled, had a career in the military and politic,s and studied music and poetry when he was young
9. During his 12-year travel after Socrates' death, Plato studied with the Pythagoreans in Italy, and then studied the philosophy of his contemporaries, geometry, geology, astronomy and religion

Plato was a diligent learner, and loved to dialogue, though he was shy. What can you learn from him? Would he make an ideal Invisible Mentor?

Further Reading

Plato Biography

Plato

Video Credit: Encyclopedia channel

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• Plato's dialogues, part 1: Why Plato? (guardian.co.uk)