PLATO. 
fcarcely perfuade themfelves that To eminent a philofo- 
pher would condefcend to converfe in fuch a familiar 
manner with ftrangers. Being told one day that his ene¬ 
mies were bufily employed in circulating reports to his 
difadvantage, he faid, “ I will live fo that none fliall 
believe them.” A friend of his, remarking that he feemed 
as defirous to learn himfelf as to teach others, alked him 
how long he intended to be a fcholar ? “So long,” faid 
he, “ as I am not afliamed to grow wifer and better.” 
The writings of Plato confift of thirty-five Dialogues, 
and twelve Epiftles. In his ftyle we fliall find, that he 
always retained a ftrong tincture of that poetical fpirit 
which he difcovered in his firlt productions. To this 
circumftance are we principally to attribute the lofty en¬ 
comiums which have been palled upon his language, 
both by ancient and modern critics ; and particularly the 
high efteem in which it was held by Cicero, who faid, 
that “ if Jupiter were to fpeak in the Greek tongue, he 
would borrow the ftyle of Plato.” Ariftotle accurately 
defcribes it, as “a middle fpecies of diCtion, between 
verfe and profe.” “ Some of his Dialogues,” fays Enfield, 
“are elevated by fuch fublime and glowing conceptions, 
are enriched with fuch copious and fplendid diction, and 
flow in fo harmonious a rythmus, that they may truly be 
pronounced highly poetical. Mod of them are juftly ad¬ 
mired for their literary merit: the introductions are per¬ 
tinent and amufing ; the courfe of the debate or conver- 
fation is clearly marked; the characters are accurately 
fupported j every fpeaker has his proper place, language, 
and manners; the Icenery of the conference is painted in 
lively colouring; and the whole is, with admirable art, 
adorned and enlivened by thofe minute embellifhments, 
which render the colloquial mode of writing fo peculiarly 
pleafing. Even upon abltraCt fubjeCts, whether moral, 
metaphyfical, or mathematical, the language of Plato is 
often clear as the running ftream, and in limplicity and 
fweetnefs vies with the humble violet which perfumes 
the vale. In thefe beautiful parts of his works, it has 
been conjeCtured, not without probability, that Socrates 
and Lyfias were his models. At other times, however, 
we find him fwelling into the turgid ftyle, a tinfture of 
which he feems to have, retained from his juvenile 
ftudies, and involving himfelf in obfcurities, which were 
the offspring of a lofty fancy, or were borrowed from the 
Italic fchool. Several ancient critics have noticed thefe 
blemilhes in the writings of Plato. Dionyfius Halicar- 
naflenfis particular !) 7 cenl'ures Plato for theharflinefs of his 
metaphors, and his bold innovations in the ufe of terms, 
and quotes from his Phsdrus examples of the bombaftic, 
the puerile, and the frigid, ftyle.” 
From Brucker's Critical Hiftory of Philofophy, as 
abridged by the author juft quoted, we fliall prefent our 
readers with a fketch of Plato’s philofophical fyftem, after 
briefly adverting to the obfervations therein ftated rela¬ 
tive to the caufes why fuch a fubjeCt is neceffarily invol¬ 
ved in great obfcurity. One ground of the difficulties 
which occur in our attempts to difcover the true charac¬ 
ters of the Platonic doclrine, arifes from Plato’s having 
difdained the fober method of reafoning introduced by 
Socrates, and left his firft matter in fearch of other precep¬ 
tors. His natural propenfity towards exceffive refine¬ 
ment in fpeculation, and the celebrity of the Italic fchool, 
which abounded in fubtleties, induced him, as we have 
feen, to attach himfelf to the Pythagorean philofophy. 
Afterwards he ftudied under the Egyptian priefts, who, 
doubtlefs, feduced him yet further from the plain path 
of common fenfe, which had hitherto been followed in 
the Socratic fchool. One circumftance it is peculiarly 
neceflary to remark; that, among other things which 
Plato received from foreign philofophy, he was careful 
to borrow the art of concealing his real opinions. He 
did not, indeed, after the example of Pythagoras, fhut 
up the door of the Academy, or demand an oath of 
fecrecy from his difciples, but he purpofely threw a veil 
of obfcurity over his public inftru&ions, which was only 
631 
removed for the benefit of thofe who were thought worthy 
of being admitted to his more private and confidential 
leisures. The colloquial form of inftruftion he found 
peculiarly convenient for his purpofe; and his fuccefs in 
the application of this expedient appears in almoft every 
dialogue which he has written. The main queftion of 
the dialogue is fo long kept in fufpenfe by the minute 
detail of indu&ion, and the bufinefs of the piece meets 
with fuch frequent colloquial interruptions, that it is not 
without great difficulty that the reader can follow the 
thread of argument, or perceive the general conclufion. 
Further difficulties arife from the language in which 
Plato exprefles his conceptions; fometimes dazzling the 
reader by the fplendour of his poetical didfion ; at other 
times perplexing him by ftudied ambiguities; and fre¬ 
quently increafing the obfcurity, by mixing the ideas 
and language of mathematics with thofe of metaphyfics. 
But the principal caufe of a want of perfpicuity in his 
writings, is the extreme fubtlety of his (peculations upon 
abftraft and fublime topics. Raifing man above his con¬ 
dition and nature, he unites him to certain imaginary 
divine principles; leads him through various orders of 
emanation, and forms of intelligence, to the Supreme 
Being, and reprefents thefe fictions of fancy as the firft 
principles of wifdom. In fuch a wondrous maze of 
words does Plato involve his notions, that none of his 
difciples, not even the fagacious Stagyrite, could unfold 
them. The followers of Plato, far from difperfing the 
clouds which, from the firft, hung over his fyftem, appear 
to have entered into a general combination to increafe 
its obfcurity. The fucceffive changes which took place 
in the Academy after the death of its founder, by intro¬ 
ducing a fucceffion of new opinions, continually increafed 
the difficulty of arriving at the true fenfe of Plato. And 
when, in a fubfequent period, the Platonic philofophy 
was profefled at Alexandria, it was ftill further adulte¬ 
rated by an injudicious and abfurd attempt to mould 
into one fyftem the dodlrines of Plato, the traditionary 
tenets of Egypt and the Eaftern nations, and the facred 
creeds of the Jews and Chriftians; a coalition which 
proved exceedingly injurious both to philofophy and re¬ 
ligion. 
Such being the caufes which render it no eafy tafk to 
delineate an accurate fketch of the Platonic philofophy, 
we proceed to lay before our readers our author’s exhi¬ 
bition of it, as drawn from Plato’s own works, and the 
reprefentations of thofe ancient writers who were free 
from the fpirit of confufion which poflefled the fchools of 
the later Platonifts. Among the pureft fources of fe- 
condary information upon this fubjedft, are the philofo¬ 
phical writings of Cicero, and the methodical arrange¬ 
ments of Apuleius and Alcinous. “ The philofophy of 
Plato, as he himfelf fuggefts, and his interpreters unani- 
moufly allow, may be divided into three branches : the 
firft of which treats of the art of reafoning, or dialed ics; 
the fecond of theoretical queftions concerning nature, or 
phyjics; the third, of practical fubjefts relpecting life 
and manners, or ethics. Before we enter upon the diltindfc 
examination of each of thefe branches, it will be neceflary 
to premife a few words concerning the Platonic notion 
of philofophy in general. Wifdom, in the ftri£l Platonic 
fenfe of the term, is the knowledge of thofe things which 
truly exift, and are comprehended by the inteilebf, parti- 
cuiaily thofe which reipeff God and the human foul as 
diftindl from the body. Philofophy is the defire of divine 
fcience, or the liberation of the mind from the body, and 
its diredlion towards thofe real eflences which are per¬ 
ceptible only by the underftanding. A philofopher muft 
poflefs a mind naturally turned towards contemplation, 
an ardent love of truth, a penetrating judgment, and a 
retentive memory. He muft, withal, be inured to the 
exercife of temperance and fortitude, that nothing cor¬ 
poreal may divert him from the purfuit of wifdom. . Phi¬ 
lofophy, as it is employed in the contemplation of truth, 
is termed theoretical; as it is converfant in the regulation 
of 
