Plato

Plato (Πλάτων).

Full name Plato (Πλάτων)

Born c. 428–427 BC in

Athens

Died c. 348–347 BC (age approx 80)

Athens

Era:Ancient philosophy

Region-Western philosophy

School:Platonism

Main interests- Rhetoric , art , literature , epistemology , justice , virtue , politics , education , family , militarism

Notable ideas-Platonic realism

Influenced by

Socrates , Homer , Hesiod , Aristophanes , Aesop , Protagoras , Parmenides , Pythagoras , Heraclitus , Orphism

Influenced

Most of subsequent western philosophy , including Aristotle , Augustine , Neoplatonism , Cicero , Plutarch , Stoicism , Anselm , Machiavelli , Descartes , Hobbes , Leibniz , Mill , Schopenhauer , Nietzsche , Heidegger , Arendt , Gadamer , Imam Khomeini , Russell and countless other philosophers and theologians

Part of a series on

Plato

Early life · Works · Platonism

Epistemology · Idealism / Realism · Demiurge

Theory of Forms

Form of the Good

Third man argument

Euthyphro dilemma · Five regimes

Philosopher king

Allegories and metaphors

Ring of Gyges · The cave

The divided line · The sun

Ship of state · Myth of Er

The chariot

Related articles

The Academy in Athens

Socratic problem

Commentaries on Plato

Middle Platonism · Neoplatonism

Neoplatonism and Christianity

Plato ( / ˈ p l eɪ t oʊ / ; Greek : Πλάτων , Plátōn ,was a Classical Greek philosopher , mathematician , student of Socrates , writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens , the first institution of higher learning in the Western world . Along with hismentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle , Plato helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy and science . In the words of A. N. Whitehead :

The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato. I do not mean the systematic scheme of thought which scholars have doubtfully extracted from his writings. I allude to the wealth of general ideas scattered through them. 

Plato's sophistication as a writer is evident in his Socratic dialogues ; thirty-six dialogues and thirteen letters have been ascribed to him. Plato's writings have been published in several fashions; this has led to several conventions regarding the namingand referencing of Plato's texts. Plato's dialogues have been used to teach a range of subjects, including philosophy , logic , ethics , rhetoric , and mathematics.