What is plato known for

Plato, philosophy summary
Plato real name
Plato birth and death

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Plato Biography

Plato was a Greek philosopher and mathematician who helped form the foundation of Western philosophy and founded the Academy in Athens.

Plato was born in 427 BC in Athens during the Classical Period. He came from a wealthy family and studied with the best Greek teachers.

Much of Plato's youth was influenced by the Peloponnesian War. He may have served in the Athenian army, which no doubt influenced his life and his philosophy. After Athens lost the Peloponnesian War to Sparta, Plato was offered the chance to serve as one of the "Thirty Tyrants" that ruled over Athens, but he declined.

Plato later became interested in academics and philosophy as a student of the famous philosopher Socrates, who held conversations with his students about theories of politics and life. Socrates’ teachings and learning style became the cornerstone of Plato's writings. Plato was also influenced by the mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras.

In 399 BCE, after Socrates was executed, Plato left Athens to travel around the Mediterranean region for the next twelve years. He v

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Plato is one of the most brilliant and far-reaching writers to have ever lived. Our very conception of philosophy—of rigorous thinking concerning the true situation of man, the nature of the whole, and the perplexity of being—owes a great debt to his work. No area of inquiry seems foreign to him: his writings investigate ethics, politics, mathematics, metaphysics, logic, aesthetics, and epistemology in tremendous depth and breadth. In the words of Alfred North Whitehead, “The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.”

There are few contemporary sources for the life of Plato. According to Diogenes Laertius, who lived many centuries later than the philosophers about whom he was writing, Plato was born to Ariston, an Athenian aristocrat who traced his lineage to Codrus, the king of Athens, and to Melanthus, the king of Messina. The family of his mother, Perictione, boasted a relationship with the great Athenian legislator Solon. Diogenes Laertius also reports that the philosopher’s name was Aristocl

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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.

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