Plato (c. 427 - 347 BCE) was an ancient Greek philosopher, a student of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle. He founded the Academy in Athens and, through dialogues such as the Republic, became one of the central figures in the history of Western philosophy. [1]
Life
Plato was born around 427 BCE into an aristocratic Athenian family. As a young man he became a follower of the philosopher Socrates, whose trial and execution in 399 BCE deeply affected him and shaped his thought. [1]
Socrates and the Academy
After Socrates' death Plato travelled widely before returning to Athens, where around 387 BCE he founded the Academy, often described as one of the first institutions of higher learning in the Western world. Among its students was the young Aristotle. [1][2]
The dialogues
Plato wrote in the form of dialogues, in most of which Socrates is the leading speaker. Works such as the Republic, the Symposium and the Phaedo explore justice, love, knowledge, the soul and the ideal state, and set out his theory of Forms, the view that abstract ideals are more real than the physical world. [2][3]
Influence
Plato died in Athens around 347 BCE. His writings have survived largely intact and have influenced philosophy, theology, science and politics ever since; the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead famously described the European philosophical tradition as a series of footnotes to Plato. [1]
