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'''Plato''', Greek: Πλάτων, 428/427 or 424/423 BC[a] – 348/347 BC) was a [[philosopher]], as well as mathematician, in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Greece Classical Greece] and an influential figure in philosophy, central in Western philosophy. He was [[Socrates]]' student, and founded the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_Academy Academy] in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the [[Western world]]. Along with Socrates and his most-famous student, [[Aristotle]], Plato helped to lay the [[foundations]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_philosophy Western philosophy] and science. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_North_Whitehead Alfred North Whitehead] once noted: "the safest general characterization of the European philosophical [[tradition]] is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato."

'''Plato''', Greek: Πλάτων, 428/427 or 424/423 BC[a] – 348/347 BC) was a [[philosopher]], as well as mathematician, in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Greece Classical Greece] and an influential figure in philosophy, central in Western philosophy. He was [[Socrates]]' student, and founded the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_Academy Academy] in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the [[Western world]]. Along with Socrates and his most-famous student, [[Aristotle]], Plato helped to lay the [[foundations]] of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_philosophy Western philosophy] and science. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_North_Whitehead Alfred North Whitehead] once noted: "the safest general characterization of the European philosophical [[tradition]] is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato."

Plato's philosophical [[ability]] is evident in his [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_dialogues Socratic dialogues]; thirty-six dialogues and thirteen letters have been ascribed to him, although 15–18 of are contested. Plato's dialogues have been used to teach a range of subjects, including philosophy, [[logic]], [[ethics]], [[rhetoric]], [[religion]] and [[mathematics]]. His other notable and influential work is the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Forms Theory of Forms] which began a unique perspective on [[abstract]] objects, and lead to a school of thought called [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonism Platonism]. 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 philosophical [[ability]] is evident in his [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_dialogues Socratic dialogues]; thirty-six dialogues and thirteen letters have been ascribed to him, although 15–18 of are contested. Plato's dialogues have been used to teach a range of subjects, including philosophy, [[logic]], [[ethics]], [[rhetoric]], [[religion]] and [[mathematics]]. His other notable and influential work is the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Forms Theory of Forms] which began a unique perspective on [[abstract]] objects, and lead to a school of thought called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonism Platonism]. Plato's writings have been published in several fashions; this has led to several conventions regarding the naming and referencing of Plato's texts.

The precise [[relationship]] between Plato and [[Socrates]] remains an area of contention among scholars. Plato makes it clear in his ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apology_(Plato) Apology of Socrates]'', that he was a devoted young follower of Socrates. In that [[dialogue]], Socrates is presented as mentioning Plato by name as one of those youths close enough to him to have been corrupted, if he were in fact [[guilty]] of corrupting the youth, and questioning why their fathers and brothers did not step forward to testify against him if he was indeed guilty of such a [[crime]] (33d-34a). Later, Plato is mentioned along with Crito, Critobolus, and Apollodorus as offering to pay a fine of 30 minas on Socrates' behalf, in lieu of the death penalty proposed by Meletus (38b). In the ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaedo Phaedo]'', the title character lists those who were in attendance at the prison on Socrates' last day, explaining Plato's absence by saying, "Plato was ill." (Phaedo 59b)

The precise [[relationship]] between Plato and [[Socrates]] remains an area of contention among scholars. Plato makes it clear in his ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apology_(Plato) Apology of Socrates]'', that he was a devoted young follower of Socrates. In that [[dialogue]], Socrates is presented as mentioning Plato by name as one of those youths close enough to him to have been corrupted, if he were in fact [[guilty]] of corrupting the youth, and questioning why their fathers and brothers did not step forward to testify against him if he was indeed guilty of such a [[crime]] (33d-34a). Later, Plato is mentioned along with Crito, Critobolus, and Apollodorus as offering to pay a fine of 30 minas on Socrates' behalf, in lieu of the death penalty proposed by Meletus (38b). In the ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaedo Phaedo]'', the title character lists those who were in attendance at the prison on Socrates' last day, explaining Plato's absence by saying, "Plato was ill." (Phaedo 59b)

Plato never speaks in his own voice in his [[dialogues]]. In the Second Letter, it says, "no writing of Plato exists or ever will exist, but those now said to be his are those of a Socrates become beautiful and new" (341c); if the Letter is Plato's, the final qualification seems to call into question the dialogues' historical [[fidelity]]. In any case, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophon Xenophon] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes Aristophanes] seem to present a somewhat different portrait of Socrates from the one Plato paints. Some have called [[attention]] to the problem of taking Plato's Socrates to be his mouthpiece, given Socrates' [[reputation]] for [[irony]] and the dramatic nature of the dialogue form.

Plato never speaks in his own voice in his [[dialogues]]. In the Second Letter, it says, "no writing of Plato exists or ever will exist, but those now said to be his are those of a Socrates become beautiful and new" (341c); if the Letter is Plato's, the final qualification seems to call into question the dialogues' historical [[fidelity]]. In any case, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophon Xenophon] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes Aristophanes] seem to present a somewhat different portrait of Socrates from the one Plato paints. Some have called [[attention]] to the problem of taking Plato's Socrates to be his mouthpiece, given Socrates' [[reputation]] for [[irony]] and the dramatic nature of the dialogue form.

[[Aristotle]] attributes a different doctrine with respect to the ideas to Plato and Socrates (Metaphysics 987b1–11). Putting it in a nutshell, Aristotle merely suggests that Socrates' idea of forms can be [[discovered]] through investigation of the natural world, unlike Plato's Forms that exist beyond and outside the ordinary range of human [[understanding]].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato#Plato_and_Socrates]

[[Aristotle]] attributes a different doctrine with respect to the ideas to Plato and Socrates (Metaphysics 987b1–11). Putting it in a nutshell, Aristotle merely suggests that Socrates' idea of forms can be [[discovered]] through investigation of the natural world, unlike Plato's Forms that exist beyond and outside the ordinary range of human [[understanding]].[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato#Plato_and_Socrates]

[[Category: Philosophy]]

[[Category: Philosophy]]