20852 INTRODUCTION
andicapi
PLATO has exerted a greater influence over human
thought than any other individual with the possible ex-
ception of Aristotle; this is due both to the intrinsic
vitality of his ideas and to the fact that he appears at
a comparatively early stage in Western culture. His
ideas affect the intellectual climate of our day in two
important ways: first, by entering into our Christian
theology and contributing especially to its doctrine of
the opposition between the spirit and the flesh; sec-
ondly, by entering into our scientific mentality. The
fundamental assumption of modern science is the im-
portance of the mathematical method in the understand-
ing of things, and this was Plato's cherished doctrine.
Moreover, from amongst the works of the ancient Greek
writers, those of Plato alone have survived in their
totality. Undoubtedly, the leading factor in the re-
markable preservation of the Platonic writings was the
existence of the Platonic Academy, founded in 387 B. C.
and enjoying a life of about eight centuries up to 529
A. D., when its funds were embezzled by Justinian.
A philosopher in our day is considered a specialist in a field of knowledge distinct from that of science. Plato was a philosopher in a totally different sense. For him, philosophy was insight into the whole of truth, the study of reality in all its aspects; he was unaware of any barriers between this or that field of inquiry such as we erect today. Common sense ran into physics, physics into mathematics, mathematics into metaphysics; metaphysics, in its turn, led into ethics, politics, and religion. In reading the dialogues of Plato, we find abstruse discussions of ultimate principles joined to