Plato - Greek Philosopher

Birth of Plato:

c. 428 B.C. Athens

Death:

348 or 347 B.C. Athens

Early Influences:

• Both parents from important Athenian families
• Stepfather active in the political and cultural life of Periclean Athens
• Execution of Socrates in 399 B.C. greatly affected his life

Education:

• Student of Socrates

Major Accomplishments:

• Founder of the Academy in Athens c. 387 B.C.
• Wrote 26 dialogues
• Wrote The Republic, his most important dialogue

Significance:

• Recorded Socrates ideas for posterity
• Foundation of most of western thought in the areas of logic, philosophy, psychology, and politics
• Came up with the idea of 'forms' which was arguably one of the most influential ideas in western philosophy
• Taught Aristotle

Contemporaries:

• Socrates - Greek Philosopher
• Hippocrates - Greek Physician
• Aristophanes - Greek Dramatist