like a . I I before the sun, whose darkness i- deepened
by the fringe of radiance on iis borders.
Ii i- not merely from this cause that Plato frequently
lapses into obscurities and awkwardnesses, lie is SOme-
times more concerned about Ms expression than about his thought lie dealt in reflections still vague to him- self, and in mysteries not clear in Ids own mind. There was constant dim. mi id for the services of a Delian diver. The subjects which he handled were not only deep, hut unfathomed by him: not only dark, but undefined. Their imperfect apprehension by himself was reflected by the indistinctness of his utterances. There was also a misguiding star by which In- was often led astray. and tempted into pathless intricacies. The imagination of Plato was the commanding faculty of his intellect, ami he followed its beams too far. lie was a poet by congenita] propensit}'. Aristotle has said that the phi- losopher is a devotee of fable ((piXopvSog 6 ^iXorr/xpof,' -<.V fini1, Metaph. i. ii. p. i>S-_>>. Plato furnished the example and confirmed the dictum. He insisted upon the employment of philosophical fiction as the best mean- nl popular education ; and proposed to substitute it for i he great poets Homer, Pindar, .-11111 the Trage- dians whom he condemned and excluded from his com- monwealth, lie was constantly indulging his poetic appetencies, inventing fables for the illustration of Ins positions, and converting his fables into philosophical verities. Were the Platonic Ideas at first anything more than fantastic dreams — "tenues sine corpore vi- tas?" This tendency, which grew with years, event- uated in mysticism; and mysticism is at best a lumi- nous el.. nil. unsubstantial, impalpable, inapprehensible, however bright ii may be,
V. Philosophy. From what ha- already In in ob- served, it will he evident that we could not ascribe to Plato a definite, distinct, coherent, and complete body of doctrine. But philosophy, in its original application, and peculiarly in the Socratic school, imported the love and pursuit of truth and wisdom, without assuming their actual attainment. In the philosophy of every seci. the method of inquiry and the germs or fundami n- tal principles constitute it- distinctive characteristics and . . , llencea, and determine its ulterior develop- ments, whether wrought out by the founder of the 01 by hi- -nee— ..I-. Thus, though we may deii\ 1,, Plato the lull creation of a philosophic system, we must admit that he laid the corner-stone and some of the foundations of a system ; that he opened out new paths hi inquiry ami broadened old one-, thai he stim- ulated investigation by characteristic modes, ami com- rounicatcd a potent impulse in a particular direction. and that he furnished new and pregnant germs of thought I'll" cherished into ample growth and produc- tion by those w ho should come after him. 'I b(
are seatiere.1 through hi- writings without reciprocal connection; but thej maj he discovered, Jiarmonized, and combined. Though their meaning ma) appear di-
verse to different minds, their combinations he variously established, and their development- he Btrangely divi r- gent, yet a general accordance in the constitution o| all 1 in 1 xpositions will maintain the family likeness, and attest the presence of a distinctive and fruitful though undisclosed body of tin ughl in the original founder of It i- 1 hi- hody of thought, indicated, hut unequally and imperfectly revealed, in the Platonic treatises extracted from them, ami co-ordinated by a succession of acolytes, who professed to find it in the authentic texts— which constitutes the philosophy of Plato. Tartly in consequence of the length of this no- tice, partly in consequence of the impossibility of r< fer- ring the connected scheme in ii- connected form to Plato, it will he presented in brief outline under the head of Platonic Philosophy.
VI. Services <//«/ Influence. A few remarks may he added here on the character and tendency of the Pla- tonic teachings, as no appropriate place will he found lor them in the proposed examination of the l'latonic doctrine. The aim of Plato was t.. bring his pi ople to a knowledge of their intellectual sins, ami to a confes-
si( f ignorance and guilt in their pretensions and
practices, in order that a foundation for truth might he discovered, and the rules of correct action and upright conduct might he established and observed. His main object was in confute intellectual chicanery, to dispel delusion, and to lead men in an eager desire for justice, righteousness, ami w isdom. For his greater pupil. Aris- totle, was reserved the task of building on the ground which hi- cleared from wreck and ruin and poisonous weeds. But the vast and magnificent structures ol the Stagirite are the best proof of the valuable service which Plato rendered. The domination of sophistry was ended by the can er of Socrates and the institution
>4' l'lato's Academy. In various modes, earnest men addressed themselves to the search for truth, and ceased to wander after "sounding brass and tinkling cymbals." Healthy thought, eager purpose, ami honest resolution were reawakened throughout the realm of Hellenic in- tellect; and. though devious paths were pursued, and dis-imilar resting-places accepted as the goal, all prose- cuted their investigations with a single eye to truth, and not as the means of fraudulently gaining personal advantage. As the Knights of the Round Table sepa- rated in the quest of the Holy Graal, which only .me achieved, so the philosophers of Greece, after Socrates