John Burnet was a famous Scottish Classicist. This notable person was born in Edinburg on 9th December 1863 and took his last breath in St. Andrews on 26th May 1928. He was the son of an advocate and he was the first among all the five kids of his father.
Education of John Burnet
His education was completed at Edinburgh’s Royal High School and the University of Edinburgh. Later, he joined Oxford (Balliol College) and took classes in Classical Moderations along with Literae Humaniores.
Life and Career of John Burnet
Ingram Bywater and Richard Nettleship greatly influenced John Burnet in his early years.
In 1887, he left Oxford and got the position of personal assistant to Lewis Campbell. It was the starting of association with St. Andrews University which lasted till his death.
Next, he succeeded at Campbell for the Greek chair. He was the interim professor from the duration of 1891 till 1892. Till 1926, he was at its position as in 1926 he got retired from the post. However, during this, he also had an opportunity to Join Harvard in 1909.
He married to Mary Farmer in 1894 who was the daughter of John Farmer.
John Brunet also marked its presence on Plato. Plato was the Athenian philosopher at the times of the Classical period in Great Ancient Greece. He was also the founder of the Platonist school of thought and the Academy. This was the first institution in the field of higher learning in the Western world.
His interest in Plato, as well as philosophy, increased when he served to Lewis Campbell as the assistant.
He also got the popularity for defending interpretations of the novel of Socrates and Plato. He also believed that there is some close connection between Socrates and Early Greek Philosophical Tradition. The Early Greek Philosophical Tradition is also popularly called as the Pre-Socratic philosophy. Brunet believed that Socrates was a member of the Anaxagorean tradition.
The philological work about Plato is a popular one and all the editions are considered as authoritative for around 100 years. Plato works and spuria is the Oxford Classical Texts in 5 volumes. In fact, he also made commentaries on the Plato’s Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito along with on the Phaedo is respected and widely used by scholars.
Notable Works of John Brunet
The popular works are mentioned below:
- The Socratic Doctrine of the Soul: It offers a proper understanding of the Soul doctrine to the Greco-Roman Philosophy. It also introduces Trinitarian Christianity. He showcased that the Soul is postulated as a development from the Orphic daemon by Socrates.
- Higher Education and the War
- Early Greek Philosophy
- Greek Philosophy: Thales to Plato