Plato's Academy was a complex composed of buildings, a park, and a gymnasium. Aristotle's Lyceum, which came later, was composed of a similar campus, but there were key differences. Aristotle frequently taught and discussed with his students outside of the building, as they walked along the grove; Plato, on the other hand, seemed to have conducted his classes and discussions within the walls of the building at the Academy. This is representative of the fact that Aristotle was much more open to the public than Plato was, he even held lectures that were open to the public while Plato did nothing of the sort.
The Academy was founded in 387 BCE, when Plato was about 41 years old. Plato was the leader of the Academy until he died in about 424 BCE. After Plato's death, the Academy continued on under various leadership, each of whom was elected for the lifelong position by a vote of the members. Eventually, the Academy closed in 529 CE when the emperor Justinian had it closed down. Having run for 900 years, the Academy outlived the Lyceum by far.
The Academy is thought to have focused on a few core topics: mathematics, dialectics, natural science, and preparations for statesmanship. The fact that mathematics is the first of these should come as no surprise given the alleged inscription "Let no one ignorant of geometry enter here" that is said to have been at the Academy. I find the idea that preparation for statesmanship is one of the core subjects to be interesting as well. This reminds me of Socrates, who was known as a statesman himself and for engaging with up and coming citizens. I consider Simon's house, the shoe shop on the outskirts of the Athenian Agora, to be Socrates', admittedly less organized, own version of an Academy since he discussed many similar subjects as though discussed within the walls of Plato's Academy.
Stages of Thought
Plato's Academy is said to have undergone three stages, which are loosely classified as follows:
1. the Old Academy:
Led by: Plato and his close successors
Philosophical thought: moral, speculative, dogmatic
2. the Middle Academy
Led by: Arcesilaus
Philosophical thought: nondogmatic skepticism
3. the New Academy
Led by: Carneades
Philosophical thought: returned to dogmatic
We've talked about how when the archaeological field was first beginning, archaeologists' findings, or lack thereof, were often dogmatic. An example of this is when the French archaeologists found no evidence of fault lines at Delphi, so they inferred that the faults did not exist. It wasn't until later that the field became more nondogmatic and skeptical, which is what we see in modern archaeology. Today, if an archaeologist were to be excavating Delphi searching for evidence of fault lines with no result, they would say "we found no evidence of fault lines," rather than "there are no fault lines." So, I am not surprised that the philosophical field began the same way, with dogmatic thoughts. However, what is interesting to me is that the views taught at Plato's Academy briefly switched from dogmatic to nondogmatic, this more modern way of thinking, and then back to dogmatic again. While a switch to skeptical, nondogmatic thinking would have seemed like a step forward to me, I also see the argument that the philosophers may have wanted to preserve the Academy's views as Plato had originated them.
While Plato and Aristotle were the first to erect schools studying philosophy, I will always think of Socrates when I think of the Academy and Lyceum. His outstretched right hand and clenched left hand lead me to believe that this represents Socrates in his natural state, debating and questioning with others. This full figure of Socrates allows me to imagine what he may have looked like speaking about intricate topics (perhaps in Simon's house), inspiring Plato, thus inspiring the Academy, thus inspiring the Lyceum! I see Socrates as marking the true beginning of philosophy, though the subject has come a long way since him.
Sources
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Academy.”Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 15 Dec. 2017, www.britannica.com/topic/Academy-ancient-academy-Athens-Greece.
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