Strictly speaking, there can be no biography of Plato — only what Carol Atack calls a “biographical tradition.” Exactly when he was born, exactly where he traveled, and to what extent his famous ...

In my roughly 10 years of philosophical education — four in college, one in a master’s program and five as a PhD candidate — it never occurred to me that Plato was a person. Of course, I read and ...

Sometimes, even the newest ideas have ancient roots. Take, for example, neoconservatism, the radical philosophy that supposedly guided the Bush administration’s ill-fated foreign policy decisions. Who ...

Plato takes on Bill O’Reilly! The great philosopher, dead for 2,400 years, argues with Amy Chua! And Daniel Dennett! And Google! This is philosopher-novelist Rebecca Newberger Goldstein’s hook in her ...

Plato wasn't just criticizing Homer. He was competing with him, offering Greece a new mythology with new heroes.

Since Donald J. Trump first came onto the political scene, I have thought a lot about the philosopher-kings of Plato’s Republic. In a climate of norm-breaking politicians, increasing polarization and ...