About the Book
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 61. Chapters: Academic skepticism, Allegory of the Cave, Analogy of the divided line, Anamnesis (philosophy), Ancient Greek flood myths, Cardinal virtues, Chariot Allegory, Commentaries on Plato, Cultural influence of Plato's Republic, Dianoia, Eikasia, Emanationism, Form of the Good, Hyperuranion, Khora, List of speakers in Plato's dialogues, Longinus (literature), Metaphor of the sun, Metaxy, Middle Platonism, Mimesis, Myth of Er, Orthotes, Peritrope, Philosopher king, Plastic Principle, Plato's five regimes, Plato's tripartite theory of soul, Platonia (philosophy), Platonic epistemology, Platonic idealism, Platonic realism, Platonism in the Renaissance, Poiesis, Remigius of Auxerre, Ring of Gyges, Sage (Sophos), Scholarch, Ship of state, Socratic dialogue, Sophos kagathos, Stephanus pagination, Substantial form, Theia mania, Theory of Forms, Third man argument, Thumos, Topus Uranus. Excerpt: Plato (; Greek: , Plat n, "broad"; 428/427 BC - 348/347 BC) was a philosopher in Classical Greece. He was also a mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy and science. In the words of A. N. Whitehead: The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato. I do not mean the systematic scheme of thought which scholars have doubtfully extracted from his writings. I allude to the wealth of general ideas scattered through them. Plato's sophistication as a writer is evident in his Socratic dialogues; thirty-six dialogues and thirteen letters have been ascribed to him. Plato's writings have been published in several fashions; this has led to several conventions regarding the naming and referencing of Plato's texts. Plato's dialogues have been used to teach a range of subjects, including philosophy, logic, ethics, rhetoric, and mathematics. Plato is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy. The exact time and place of Plato's birth are not known, but it is certain that he belonged to an aristocratic and influential family. Based on ancient sources, most modern scholars believe that he was born in Athens or Aegina between 429 and 423 BC. His father was Ariston. According to a disputed tradition, reported by Diogenes Laertius, Ariston traced his descent from the king of Athens, Codrus, and the king of Messenia, Melanthus. Plato's mother was Perictione, whose family boasted of a relationship with the famous Athenian lawmaker and lyric poet Solon. Perictione was sister of Charmides and niece of Critias, both prominent figures of the Thirty Tyrants, the brief oligarchic regime, which followed on the collapse of Athens at the end of the"
