Plato's Genetic Theory

Journal Article PLATO'S GENETIC THEORY ROBERT S. BRUMBAUGH ROBERT S. BRUMBAUGH Yale University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar *The author has summarized, in three earlier discussions in the JOURNAL OF HEREDITY, some of the relevant stages in early Greek genetic speculation (the pre-Platonic theories of the Pythagorean school from 529 B.C., and of Empedocles fl. 440 B.C., and a development in the Hippocratic school roughly contemporary with Plato). I wish to thank Mr. Henry M. Butzel, Jr., of Indiana University for his expert advice on terminology and matrices, and Professor Tracy Sonneborn, Indiana University, for his explanations of current genetic theories. Their suggestions have been indispensable to me in my attempts to trace and present the devel opment of genetic theory in the early Greek period, although responsibility for any errors remains my own. Author Notes Journal of Heredity, Volume 45, Issue 4, July 1954, Pages 191–196, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a106472 Published: 01 July 1954