Discover the Best Books Written by Plato

Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. In Athens, Plato founded the Academy, a philosophical school where he taught philosophical doctrines that would later become known as Platonism. Plato (or Platon) was a pen name derived from his nickname given to him by his wrestling coach – allegedly a reference to his physical broadness. 

According to Alexander of Miletus, quoted by Diogenes of Sinope, his actual name was Aristocles, son of Ariston, of the deme Collytus (Collytus being a district of Athens). Plato was an innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms in philosophy. He raised problems for what later became all the major areas of both theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy. His most famous contribution is the Theory of forms, where he presents a solution to the problem of universals. 

He is also the namesake of Platonic love and the Platonic solids. His own most decisive philosophical influences are usually thought to have been, along with Socrates, the pre-Socratics Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and Parmenides. However, few of his predecessors' works remain extant, and much of what we know about these figures today derives from Plato himself.

Along with his teacher, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato is a central figure in the history of philosophy. Unlike the work of nearly all of his contemporaries, Plato's entire body of work is believed to have survived intact for over 2,400 years. Although their popularity has fluctuated, Plato's works have consistently been read and studied. Through Neoplatonism, Plato also greatly influenced both Christian and Islamic philosophy. 

In modern times, Alfred North Whitehead famously said: "the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato." Little is known about Plato's early life and education. He belonged to an aristocratic and influential family. The exact time and place of Plato's birth are unknown. According to ancient sources, most modern scholars believe he was born in Athens or Aegina between 428 and 423 BC.

Plato gives little biographical information about himself in his works but often refers to some of his relatives with great precision, including his brothers Adeimantus and Glaucon, who debate with Socrates in the Republic. These and other references enable us to reconstruct Plato's family tree. Plato may have traveled in Italy, Sicily, Egypt, and Cyrene, but at the age of forty, Plato founded a school of philosophy in Athens, the Academy, on a plot of land in the Grove of Hecademus or Academus, named after Academus, an Attic hero in Greek mythology. 

The Academy operated until Lucius Cornelius Sulla destroyed it in 84 BC. Many philosophers studied at the Academy, the most prominent one being Aristotle. According to Diogenes Laërtius, throughout his later life, Plato became entangled with the politics of the city of Syracuse, where he attempted to replace the tyrant Dionysius with Dionysius's brother-in-law, Dion of Syracuse, who Plato had recruited as one of his followers, but the tyrant himself turned against Plato. 

After Dionysius's death, according to Plato's Seventh Letter, Dion requested Plato return to Syracuse to tutor Dionysius II, who seemed to accept Plato's teachings, but eventually became suspicious of their motives, expelling Dion and holding Plato against his will. Eventually, Plato left Syracuse. And Dion would return to overthrow Dionysius and rule Syracuse before being usurped by Calippus, a fellow disciple of Plato. 

A variety of sources have given accounts of Plato's death. One story, based on a mutilated manuscript, suggests Plato died in his bed whilst a young Thracian girl played the flute to him. Another tradition suggests Plato died at a wedding feast. The account is based on Diogenes Laërtius's reference to an account by Hermippus, a third-century Alexandrian. According to Tertullian, Plato simply died in his sleep.