ABSTRACT
The term means both the doctrines found in Plato’s writings, and a tradition extending from pagan antiquity through the Christian centuries beyond the Renaissance. While Plato’s dialogues do not offer a single coherent system, they have stimulated many philosophers and poets to build worlds of their own around ideas attributed to Plato. Our subject was known to Spenser as a profusion of opinions, not an ‘ism.’ Principles derived from Plato and the Platonic tradition were fundamental but mostly implicit and unexamined in his world view; he lacked our detachment from the tradition and our desire to distinguish between authentic Platonism and adaptations. In the sixteenth century, Platonic thought, like Christianity, was a protean phenomenon, known through many texts, interpretations, references to ‘the Platonists,’ and images available from many sources.
