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Admin moved page What was Plato's academy and why did it influence Western thought? to What was Plato's academy and why did it influence Western thought
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[[File:Plato_Silanion_Musei_Capitolini_MC1377.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|Plato made be Silanion in 370 BC for Academy of Athens]]
====The Establishment of the Academy====
Plato founded the Academy sometime between 390-380 BCE in Athens. Fundamentally, the school served as a place where Plato's philosophies would be taught.<ref>For more on the founding of the Academy, see: Press, Gerald A. 2007. Plato: A Guide for the Perplexed. Guides for the Perplexed. London ; New York: Continuum.</ref> The Academy was initially located in an area that was a grove or garden of olive trees that included statues and nearby buildings. The term academy derives from Academus or Hecademus, a mythical hero the garden was dedicated to. This term becomes both the term for Plato's school but also our word for academy and academic.
The Academy's idea was to have an institution where dedicated scholars would meet, discuss, and lecture about the nature of the universe.<ref>For a history on the Academy, see: Reale, Giovanni, John R. Catan, and Giovanni Reale. 1990. Plato and Aristotle. A History of Ancient Philosophy, Giovanni Reale ; 2. Albany, NY: State Univ. of New York Press.</ref> Plato believed that knowledge was not attained by only contemplation but through discussion, teaching, and research.
====Continuity of the Academy====
[[File:Plato Academy MAN Napoli Inv124545.jpg|thumbnail|250px|left|The Academy as depicted in a mosaic.]]
In around 266 BCE, Arcesilaus became the Scholarch or head of the Academy.<ref>For more on Arcesilaus, see: Algra, Keimpe, ed. 2005. The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy. 1st pbk. ed. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press, pg. 324. </ref> He developed what became known as the Skeptical school of Platonism. This period saw influences by the Skeptics and Stoics on many philosophical ideas, although the Platonist skeptics criticized both. Skepticism saw that the universe was unknowable, and it was folly to pursue it.
====Destruction and Reconstitution====
[[File:Athens_Plato_Academy_Archaeological_Site_3.jpg|thumbnail|350px250px|left|Archaeological Remains of Plato's Academy in Athens]]
In 86 BCE, the school itself was destroyed in a fire that likely occurred during Athens' siege. The Academy proved impossible to reconstruct; however, teaching resumed in Athens by 84 BCE in Ptolemy's gymnasium. The teachings continued to thrive in the Roman Era, as its teaching even influenced Roman officials and others. By the 5th century CE, there was now a movement to re-establish the Academy itself. Ass they were called, the Neoplatonists established the new Academy by 400-410 CE.<ref>For more on the Neoplatonists, see: Gregory, John. 1999. The Neoplatonists: A Reader. 2nd ed. London ; New York: Routledge.</ref>
