Plato
Nearly all of the fundamental aesthetic problems were broached, and some were deeply considered, by Plato. The questions he raised and the arguments he framed are astonishingly varied and deep. They are scattered throughout his dialogues, but the principal discussions are in (a) the Ion, Symposium, and Republic, belonging to Plato's early, pre-Academy period (roughly 399–387 BCE); (b) the Sophist and Laws, written at the end of his life (roughly 367–348/347 BCE); and (c) the Phaedrus, which lies between these periods. Though perhaps not Plato's, the Greater Hippias is very Platonic and may be drawn upon. (In this entry, no distinction will be attempted between Plato's views and those of Socrates.)
Art and Craft
When today we speak of Plato's aesthetics, we mean his philosophical views about those fine arts that he discusses: visual arts (painting, sculpture, architecture), literary arts (epic, lyric, and dramatic poetry), and mixed musical arts (dance and song).
