Professor Edith Hall

So they say, OK, we got money. What's the best university in the world? Oh, we know. It's Plato's Academy in Athens. Send him off at 17.

Theophrastus. Yeah.

Theophrastus. Yeah.

Well, they became buddies. I think Aristotle was his star pupil. There's some very interesting bits, though, in Plato's Republic. He actually throws down this challenge. He says, right, I'm going to ban all poets and artists and theatre people from my republic. But anybody out there who thinks that they ought to be in there, why don't you write a prose treatise?

Well, they became buddies. I think Aristotle was his star pupil. There's some very interesting bits, though, in Plato's Republic. He actually throws down this challenge. He says, right, I'm going to ban all poets and artists and theatre people from my republic. But anybody out there who thinks that they ought to be in there, why don't you write a prose treatise?

And because Aristotle later wrote the Poetics, which is a prose treatise defending the art, you actually can quite often almost hear him talking to the brightest boy. You know, the little boy who's stretching his arm up really, really high. I know the answer. I know the answer. Sir, sir, sir, I know, I know. Exactly. So you do quite often get that sense that Plato's talking directly to him.

And because Aristotle later wrote the Poetics, which is a prose treatise defending the art, you actually can quite often almost hear him talking to the brightest boy. You know, the little boy who's stretching his arm up really, really high. I know the answer. I know the answer. Sir, sir, sir, I know, I know. Exactly. So you do quite often get that sense that Plato's talking directly to him.

Would he have been young?

Would he have been young?

Yes, he would have been young to go there at 17.

Yes, he would have been young to go there at 17.

Just The Brain. Where's The Brain today? It's awfully quiet. He stayed on and became a teacher. You know, because he stayed there for 20 whole years before Plato died. I think he was perfectly happy there with, you know, the old boy. He got the old boy there, but he gradually became more and more important.

Just The Brain. Where's The Brain today? It's awfully quiet. He stayed on and became a teacher. You know, because he stayed there for 20 whole years before Plato died. I think he was perfectly happy there with, you know, the old boy. He got the old boy there, but he gradually became more and more important.

Well, he studies lots of things that Plato really wouldn't have approved of. I mean, I think that's the really important thing. So Plato's academy did not study natural science. at all. Oh, really? No, no, no. I think Aristotle's out there sort of picking up mushrooms and stones and sort of measuring plants and trees and doing all kinds of things which Plato wouldn't particularly have approved of.

Well, he studies lots of things that Plato really wouldn't have approved of. I mean, I think that's the really important thing. So Plato's academy did not study natural science. at all. Oh, really? No, no, no. I think Aristotle's out there sort of picking up mushrooms and stones and sort of measuring plants and trees and doing all kinds of things which Plato wouldn't particularly have approved of.

Because Plato's just hardcore theory. Well, it's the three great branches of philosophy as they were then, which are ethics, how should I live? Epistemology, how do I know things? And ontology, what is existence, right? So it's hardcore philosophy. He liked maths, yeah, all theoretical. But things like natural science, Socrates had played around with in his youth, but had given up.

Because Plato's just hardcore theory. Well, it's the three great branches of philosophy as they were then, which are ethics, how should I live? Epistemology, how do I know things? And ontology, what is existence, right? So it's hardcore philosophy. He liked maths, yeah, all theoretical. But things like natural science, Socrates had played around with in his youth, but had given up.

And there is no sign that Plato was interested in it at all. How interesting. Yeah. So I think Aristotle's this sort of sneaky. He's basically country boy. You know, he's from northern Greece. He's like, I don't know, coming down from the highlands of Scotland to London. And he really needs to go out and sniff some heather and shoot some grouse or something.

And there is no sign that Plato was interested in it at all. How interesting. Yeah. So I think Aristotle's this sort of sneaky. He's basically country boy. You know, he's from northern Greece. He's like, I don't know, coming down from the highlands of Scotland to London. And he really needs to go out and sniff some heather and shoot some grouse or something.

No, he didn't think it had souls. He didn't think it had souls. That's much more Pythagorean, actually. Okay, right. But he did think it was life. And actually, a lot of his really, really important thinking about what is it to be human, what is an anthropos, a human, is that I share this with plant life, but they don't share consciousness and language.