CHAPTER 6
Plato and Aristotle:
Idealism and Realism
Plato (427-347 B.C.)
From the time of Plato’s death to the early Middle Ages, his
thought dominated the Western world. He was the first Greek
philosopher who sought to elevate the idea of knowledge, from
means to ends, to a valuable end in itself. Plato’s idealism is the
philosophy which became the cornerstone of the temple of
western thought.
Plato was born in Athens in 427 B.C., one year after the death
of Pericles. His father, Ariston, who died when Plato was a child,
belonged to a prominent family of the Periclean Age that could
be traced to the last king of Athens. Perictione, Plato’s mother,
was descended from Dropides, a relative of Solon, the great
Athenian lawmaker. After her husband’s death, she married her
uncle Pyrilampes, an intimate friend and supporter of Pericles.
Wealth and position in high Athenian society enabled Plato to
obtain the best education offered at that time. He was brought up
in a household committed to the traditions of public service and
imbued with ideas of Periclean democracy.
Although Plato’s home life was secure and stable, he was bom
into and lived through a period of moral degeneration and
political turmoil. From his seventh letter (epistle), the chief
source of biographical information we have about Plato, we
learn that he was always interested in political affairs. He reveals
his ambition to have a political career, but also tells of many
youthful disappointments with politics, perhaps the most pro
found of which was his witness of the fall of Athens.
At the age of twenty Plato met Socrates, who was to become
his teacher and good friend. This relationship intensified Plato’s
interest in politics. However, the new revolutionary government
horrified him, yet with the return of democracy came the
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