Plato, philosophy summary

What is plato known for
Plato, philosophy summary pdf
Where did plato live

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Quick Info

Born

427 BC
Athens, Greece

Died

347 BC
Athens, Greece

Summary

Plato is one of the most important Greek philosophers. He founded the Academy in Athens. His works on philosophy, politics and mathematics were very influential and laid the foundations for Euclid's systematic approach to mathematics.

Biography

Before giving details of Plato's life we will take a few moments to discuss how definite the details are which we give below. The details are mostly given by Plato himself in letters which seem, on the face of it, to make them certain. However, it is disputed whether Plato did indeed write the letters so there are three possible interpretations. Firstly that Plato wrote the letters and therefore the details are accurate. Secondly that although not written by Plato, the letters were written by someone who knew him or at least had access to accurate information on his life. The third possibility, which unfortunately cannot be ruled out, is that they were written by someone as pure fiction.

Next we should comment on the name 'Plato'. In [13] Ro

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Plato

(428-348)

Who Was Plato?

Ancient Greek philosopher Plato was a student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle. His writings explored justice, beauty and equality, and also contained discussions in aesthetics, political philosophy, theology, cosmology, epistemology and the philosophy of language. Plato founded the Academy in Athens, one of the first institutions of higher learning in the Western world.

Early Life

Due to a lack of primary sources from the time period, much of Plato's life has been constructed by scholars through his writings and the writings of contemporaries and classical historians. Traditional history estimates Plato's birth was around 428 B.C.E., but more modern scholars, tracing later events in his life, believe he was born between 424 and 423 B.C.E. Both of his parents came from the Greek aristocracy. Plato's father, Ariston, descended from the kings of Athens and Messenia. His mother, Perictione, is said to be related to the 6th century B.C.E. Greek statesman Solon.

Some scholars believe that Plato was named for his grandfather, Aristocles, f

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Plato

Greek philosopher (c. 427 – 348 BC)

For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation) and Platon (disambiguation).

Plato (PLAY-toe;Greek: Πλάτων, Plátōn; born c. 428–423 BC, died 348 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms. He influenced all the major areas of theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy, and was the founder of the Platonic Academy, a philosophical school in Athens where Plato taught the doctrines that would later become known as Platonism.

Plato's most famous contribution is the theory of forms (or ideas), which aims to solve what is now known as the problem of universals. He was influenced by the pre-Socratic thinkers Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and Parmenides, although much of what is known about them is derived from Plato himself.^[a]

Along with his teacher Socrates, and his student Aristotle, Plato is a central figure in the history of Western philosophy.^[b] Plato's comp