Abstract
George Gemistos Plethon was a significant philosopher during the last years of Byzantium (c. 1360–1454). His adopted surname Plethon was deliberately chosen as an allusion to Plato. Born in Constantinople, Plethon later moved to Mystras in Peloponnese and took part in the Byzantine delegation to the council of Ferrara-Florence in 1438–1439, where the issue of the Church union was discussed. Plethon was a Platonist, inspired in his interpretation of Plato by several ancient Platonists including Neoplatonists. His most comprehensive philosophical work is the Book of Laws, modeled on Plato’s homonymous work, which was condemned posthumously by the Orthodox Church on allegations of the paganism of its author. His most famous treatise On the Differences Between Plato and Aristotle launched a long debate among Byzantines and Italian Humanists regarding the merits of the two classical philosophers.
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Karamanolis, G. (2020). Plethon, George Gemistos. In: Lagerlund, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1665-7_183
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