Plato's Academy Digital Museum

In Athens, you can visit the site of Plato's Academy. A few steps away, you find a Digital Museum of Plato's Philosophy. In this post, Lisa Bortolotti talks about her visit to the Museum and how the curators have made Plato's philosophy fun and relevant.

Plato founded his Academy in 388 BCE. Some people call this the very first university, as it was a place where people studied what we now consider to be the foundations of Western science and philosophy. Now there is not much left of the Academy, it is a small archaeological site in Athens, in a quiet park where people walk their dogs.

Plato!

Not far from the Academy, there is a wonderful philosophy museum dedicated to Plato's life and philosophy. The museum was opened twelve years ago, and admission is free. The project was funded by the National Strategic Reference Framework (The Citizen and Society) and is supported by the Onassis Foundation, Athens University, the Municipality of Athens, and the Foundation of the Hellenic World. The design of the museum building symbolises the route to light described in Plato's Allegory of the Cave: it has the shape of an elongated structure with windows at the entrance bringing light in.

Dialogues

In the museum, visitors can engage with Plato's ideas. In the projection room, there are some really good animated videos summarising the debates in Plato's dialogues. I was there with my kids, and we watched the video of the Symposium and that of the Republic. They are in Greek with English subtitles. They introduce the debates, and different perspectives, and leave room for further reflection.

The Allegory of the Cave

In a separate room across the corridor, we enjoyed an installation reproducing the experience in the Allegory of the Cave. Panels provide more information about Plato's Cave and support a deeper engagement with it. Many interactive displays are available to play with, and visitors can be tested on their knowledge of Plato's life and work. One test involves logical reasoning and requires visitors to identify which syllogisms are correct.

Discussion of the three parts of the soul

The simple style of the exhibition brings a sense of calm that enables visitors to engage with the available resources, using their capacity for reflection and imagination. Highly recommended!

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Imperfect Cognitions

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