Plato

Athens

Born around 428 BC into a distinguished Athenian family.

💡 Did you know? Plato lived in 4th-century BC Athens: the golden age of Greek philosophy after the death of his teacher Socrates.

Socrates

Socrates' execution in 399 BC shaped Plato's distrust of the politics of his day.

💡 Did you know? The execution of his teacher Socrates shook Plato profoundly and made him a philosopher.

theory of Forms

The visible world is only an imperfect copy of the eternal Forms, such as 'the Beautiful' or 'the Just'.

💡 Did you know? Behind perishable things lies, for Plato, a world of eternal, perfect „Forms“; a chair is only a copy of the one „Form of the chair“.

allegory of the cave

Prisoners take shadows on the cave wall for reality: until one frees himself and sees the sun.

💡 Did you know? In the allegory of the cave, prisoners take shadows for reality: until one breaks free and sees the true world in sunlight.

The Republic

It contains the allegory of the cave and the design of a state governed by philosophers.

💡 Did you know? The „Republic“ sketches an ideal state ruled by philosophers: „philosopher-kings“.

philosopher kings

He travelled to Syracuse three times to turn a ruler into a philosopher: every attempt failed.

💡 Did you know? On the first attempt he was reportedly even sold into slavery and had to be ransomed.

the Academy

Founded around 387 BC in a grove of the hero Academus: it lasted some 900 years.

💡 Did you know? Plato's „Academy“ lasted almost 900 years: the word „academy“ still derives from it.

Aristotle

He studied at the Academy for 20 years and later contradicted his teacher on much.

💡 Did you know? His greatest pupil, Aristotle, disagreed with him on much: „Plato is dear to me, but dearer still is truth“.

dialogues

The main character is almost always Socrates: around 30 dialogues survive complete.

💡 Did you know? Plato wrote almost everything as dialogue: usually with Socrates as chief speaker, so it stays unclear where Socrates ends and Plato begins.

the broad one

Supposedly for his sturdy wrestler's build; his birth name is said to have been Aristocles.

💡 Did you know? He is said to have competed as a wrestler at the Isthmian Games.

Atlantis

Intended as a philosophical parable: fodder for legends and expeditions to this day.

💡 Did you know? The famous legend of sunken Atlantis was invented by Plato: probably as a parable, not a historical account.

footnotes to Plato

A compliment to his influence: hardly a fundamental question that Plato had not already asked.

💡 Did you know? The philosopher Whitehead called all European philosophy „a series of footnotes to Plato“: such is his influence.

Plato

Plato was a Greek philosopher, Socrates's pupil and Aristotle's teacher: his theory of Forms and the allegory of the cave still shape thought today.

💡 Did you know? The philosopher Whitehead called all European philosophy „a series of footnotes to Plato“.