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 604: PLATO PLATON LEVSHIN Slavery Plato would tolerate, but only tlie en- slaving of barbarians, not that of Greeks by Greeks. A tendency to a trinity of doctrines runs through the philosophy of Plato. In psy- chology we have the trinity of reason, pas- sion, and appetite ; in ethics, of wisdom, cour- age, and temperance; in ontology, of being, becoming, and not being; in knowledge, of science, opinion, and sensation; in cosmogo- ny, of God, the soul of the world, and mat- ter ; in the state, of magistrates, warriors, and laborers. The list might be prolonged still further. Plato, of all authors, is the one to whom the least justice can be done by any formal analysis. In the spirit which pervades his writings, in their untiring freshness, in their purity, love of truth and of virtue, their per- petual aspiring to the loftiest height of knowl- edge and of excellence, much more than in their positive doctrines, lies the secret of their charm and of their unfailing power. Plato is often styled an idealist. But this is true of the spirit rather than of the form of his doc- trine ; for strictly he is an intense realist, and differs from his great pupil, Aristotle, far less in his mere philosophical method than in his lofty moral and religious aspirations, which were perpetually winging his spirit toward the beautiful and the good. His formal errors are abundant ; but even in his errors, the truth is often deeper than the error; and when that has been discredited, the language adjusts itself to the deeper truth of which it was rather an inadequate expression than a direct contradic- tion. Among the translations of Plato, the most distinguished is the Latin version of Mar- silius Ficinus, in which the printed works of Plato were first given to the world (Florence, 1483). A German translation by Schleier- maclier, never completed, is admirable, and is accompanied by learned introductions which have been translated into English. The latest and best German translation is by Steinhart and Miiller. Plato has been translated into French by Victor Cousin, and there is an Italian version by Dardi Bembo. In English, the translation by Thomas Taylor (5 vols. 4to, 1804) is marred by its author's very im- perfect acquaintance with Greek. The earlier and much better version of Floyer Sydenham (1767-'80), of which Taylor's is a continuation, embraced but nine dialogues; and the transla- tion in Bonn's " Classical Library " (6 vols., 1848-'54), by different hands, is very unequal and of no special value. Recently an admira- ble translation of Plato's entire works has been made by Prof. Jowett, master of Balliol college, Oxford (4 vols. 8vo, 1871), with elab- orate analyses and introductions to the several dialogues, leaving almost nothing to be desired for the understanding and application of the original. Among the translations of the sepa- rate works may be mentioned that of the " Re- public " by Davies and Vaughan, that of the " Philebus " by Edward Poste, and that of the " Gorgias " by E. M. Cope. Editions of the entire or separate works are very abundant. The first edition (Venice, 1513) was arranged in tetralogies, according to the division of Thrasyllus. In that of Henry Stephens (3 vols., 1578) much pains was bestowed on the correction of the text. This was reprinted in the Bipont edition (11 vols., 1781-' 6), with the Latin version of Marsilius Ficinus. Immanuel Bekker first brought the text into a satisfac- tory condition (Berlin, 1816-'18), which text was reprinted by Priestley in a variorum edi- tion (11 vols., London, 1826), the last two vol- umes containing the Latin version of Ficinus, and was still further corrected by Ast (9 vols., Leipsic, 1819-'27). Since then many able Ger- man scholars have devoted time and labor to the editing and elucidation of Plato, among whom may be named Baiter, Orelli, Winckel- mann, Hermann, Hirschig, and Stallbauin. Stallbaum's edition, in Jacob and Rost's BiUi- otheca Grceca, with special introductions and full Latin notes, is by far the best annotated working edition of Plato. Among the useful subsidiary works for the study of Plato are Zeller's PlatoniscJie Studien (1839) and So- Icrates und die Solcratische ScTiule (1868) ; T. H. Martin's Etudes sur le Timee (1841) ; Van Heusde's Initia Philosophic Platonicce (2d ed., 1842); Bonitz's Platonische Studien (2 vols., 1858-'60) ; Whewell's " The Platonic Dialogues for English Readers" (3 vols., 1859-'61); and Grote's "Plato and the other Companions of Socrates" (3 vols. 8vo, 1865). PLATOFF, Matvci Ivanovitdi, count, a Russian general, of Greek origin, born about 1760, died in 1818. He was brought up among the Cos- sacks of the Don, and after many years' service in the Russian army became their hetman in 1801, and subsequently was made general of cavalry. He acquired great celebrity in 1812, when, after being defeated by the French at Grodno, and having retired into the interior, he returned with 20 regiments of Cossacks, terribly harassing the retreat of the invaders, and capturing many French soldiers and all their Moscow booty. He was equally formi- dable to the French in some of their subse- quent disasters, especially at Leipsic. In 1814, while protecting the passage of the allied army through the valleys of the Marne and Seine, he committed fearful depredations. After the occupation of Paris, he went with Bliicher to London to receive a silver sword from the corporation of that city. The Russian govern- ment made him a count. He spent the rest of his life in retirement. In 1853 the emperor Nicholas placed a monument over his grave. PLATON LEYSfflN, a Russian prelate and his- torian, born near Moscow in July, 1737, died there, Nov. 23, 1812. He was rector of a seminary, and wrote a manual of the dogma of the eastern orthodox church (St. Peters- burg, 1765), which has been translated into foreign languages. In 1775 he was made arch- bishop of Moscow, and in 1787 received the title of metropolitan. He was an eloquent