More than one eminent scholar claims that the entire course of Western philosophy has been a development of efforts to understand Plato and it is certainly not possible to measure the profound significance of Platonism for the subsequent history of thought. This prolific and multifaceted influence informed the work of Aristotle, the Greek and Roman Sceptics and Stoics, the Middle Platonists (first century BCE to the second century CE), the Neo-Platonists, certain medieval philosophers, and the thinkers and poets of the Italian Renaissance.
Plato is traditionally held to have been born in 428 or 427 BCE, probably in Athens. His family was both wealthy and politically active; his relatives included infamous oligarchs and …
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Citation: Wood, Kelsey. "Platonism, Neo-Platonism, Neoplatonism". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 December 2004 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=867, accessed 21 November 2024.]
