Plato's Philosophy: Historical Context and the Athenian Crisis

Plato's Intellectual Framework: Historical Setting

The Decline of Athens and the Crisis of the Polis

The intellectual work of Plato developed during the first half of the fourth century BC. The previous century, the Fifth Century BC, was the period of Athenian greatness, known as the "Age of Pericles," marked by victory in the Persian Wars (or Median Wars) against the Persians.

However, by the end of that century (431–404 BC), Athens had suffered a heavy defeat against Sparta in the Peloponnesian War and subsequently endured a year under the government imposed by the enemy, known as the "Thirty Tyrants." This marked a period of decline that the restoration of democracy in 403 BC could not fully overcome. Ultimately, Athens would be dominated, shortly after Plato's death, by the Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great.

We are therefore in a turbulent era characterized by crises and the collapse of the Greek ideal of the polis, the basic form of political organization. Plato takes this crisis to maximum significance in the Trial of Socrates: How is it possible that the better man, wiser, and more just—in Plato's words—is sentenced to death by the city?

Cultural Shifts: From Classical Art to Hellenism

This crisis of the Athenian world is represented in all spheres of culture with the transition from Classical Art, which governed the ideals of order, serenity, and rationality, to Hellenism, characterized by violent movements that express human suffering.

Architecturally, the three architectural orders (Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian) became increasingly sophisticated.

In drama, tragedy evolved:

• From the heroes of Aeschylus and Sophocles, who were heroic in adversity,
• To the later works of Euripides, whose characters were more humanized and complex.

Philosophical Transition: Presocratics, Sophists, and Socrates

In philosophy, the characteristic cosmological question of the Arche (origin) of the Presocratic period shifted to the question of human reality (knowledge, morality, and politics). This new focus was addressed primarily by the Sophists and Socrates.

The Sophists: Relativism and Skepticism

The Sophists defended relativism and skepticism, asserting that objective knowledge of reality and truth is impossible. Consequently, in the moral sphere, they postulated the conventionality of human law, suggesting that law is merely a matter of agreement or the imposition of the strongest. This necessitated the use of rhetoric as a crucial tool to convince the Assembly.

Socrates: Objective Knowledge and Universal Concepts

Socrates, Plato's teacher, defended the possibility of objective knowledge and truth. This had a particular impact in the sphere of morality, where he sought to establish universal concepts that express the essence of virtue, justice, goodness, and so on.

Plato's Synthesis and Practical Purpose

Plato later joined the cosmological question of the Presocratics to the anthropological focus of Socrates, creating a complete philosophical system intended to explain Reality, Truth, and Goodness. He sought to apply that knowledge to Greek society to end the crisis it faced. Thus, Platonic philosophy is a study for man; his speculative effort has a practical purpose: to construct a perfect, and therefore just, society.