this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2023
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My read is basically the quote "the only thing I know is that I know nothing"
Wasn't that Socrates though, not Plato? Socrates is the one who had that those kinds of words of wisdom. His other good one was "like sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives."
There's not really any 'Plato.'
It's all allegedly Socrates in his dialogues.
But a lot of that content is credited to Plato instead, and in many cases it probably is his own stuff being put into the mouth of his more famous teacher at the time.
(In particular, I tend to get the sense the parts that end up as long monologues that are unequivocally being agreed with by the other person tend to be Plato's own stuff, as Socrates seemed to like nothing better than disagreement and in the genuine strong parts will even be his own devil's advocate if no one else stepped up.)
Unless it was actually really all Plato. And Socrates was just made up.
Then Xenophon, who also wrote Socratic dialogues including an account of his trial and execution, had to be in on it too.
Those Greeks were devious, I wouldn't be surprised.
So-crates!
We know Socrates from Plato's writings, as he himself prefered to just talk to people. The way I understand it early works of Plato are Socrates, late works are Plato's own philosophies, and there's a mix in between. But we don't know for sure where Socrates ends and Plato begins.
You are correct, although Plato wasn't the only source on Socrates. Another student named Xenophon also featured Socrates in a few of his works. That dude had quite a different style than Plato. Instead of going all in on philosophy, he commanded a few armies.
No, I'm pretty sure that's from a TV show my mom used to watch. /s
Wisdom comes in many different forms, across many different media.
I got this one from this old history documentary
Pretty middle of the road opinion, to be fair.