ABSTRACT
Alfred North Whitehead once referred to philosophy as "footnotes to Plato". Perhaps he was being a little facetious, but only a little. The tradition of Western philosophy is heavily indebted to the Athenian for its tone, topics and aspirations of worldly importance. And perhaps most impressively, Plato seemed to do away with so much froth and chatter; his was a single-minded, uncluttered vision of the cosmos. After so many centuries, Plato remains the touchstone of Western intellectual endeavour, people are either for or against him, indifference is almost unphilosophical. In many ways, he exemplified distraction. His chief vice was that he was, after all, a man. His grand metaphysical gambit was understandably human; it was both common and intelligible. Regardless of age, gender or station in life, we can all live as if death were unreal, as if the better part of ourselves were immortal and unlimited.
