Plato: Athenian philosopher and founder of the Academy
Plato (c. 427–347 BC) was an ancient Athenian thinker whose dialogues, theory of Forms, and the Academy shaped Western philosophy, political theory, and approaches to knowledge.
Plato was a central figure of classical Greek thought whose work established many of the questions and methods that define Western philosophy. Born into an aristocratic Athenian family around 427/428 BC and dying c. 347/347 BC, he wrote philosophical dialogues in which characters—often his teacher Socrates—explore ethics, politics, metaphysics, and knowledge. Plato is commonly grouped with other classical Greek philosophers as a foundational voice for later traditions.
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Works and style
Rather than treatises, Plato left a corpus of dramatic dialogues. Major examples include the Republic, Symposium, Phaedo, Timaeus, Meno and Laws. In these pieces he mixes literary form, argument, and pedagogical exchange. Much of what historians know of Socratic thought comes through Plato’s portrayals. Plato’s dialogues also develop technical ideas in logic and deductive reasoning, and they often move from conversational inquiry to systematic theory.
Key ideas and institutions
Two of Plato’s most influential contributions are the theory of Forms (or Ideas)—the view that abstract, eternal realities ground the features of sensory objects—and the political proposal of the philosopher-king in the Republic. He is also remembered for the allegory of the cave, a vivid image about perception and knowledge. Around 387 BC he founded an educational institution known in antiquity as the Academy, a center for study that emphasized mathematics, dialectic, and long-term scholarly training.
- Major themes: metaphysics (Forms), epistemology, ethics, political philosophy.
- Method: dialectical dialogue, questioning assumptions, moving toward definitions.
- Institutional legacy: the Academy as a model for sustained research and teaching.
Plato came from a background that afforded him resources to pursue learning and to support an institution; in classical Athens, wealth and household labor (including slave ownership) were common social facts that shaped many lives, including those of intellectuals. His school attracted students from across the Greek world and produced thinkers such as Aristotle, who studied at the Academy before founding his own school, the Lyceum.
Plato’s influence is broad: his work affected later metaphysics, theology, scientific method, mathematics, and political thought. His emphasis on rigorous argument and ideal forms set patterns followed and contested for millennia. As one modern commentator, Alfred North Whitehead, famously remarked, much of the Western philosophical tradition can be read as responses to Plato’s questions.
Complete editions and translations
Plato's works are still cited today according to the page and section numbers of the edition by Henricus Stephanus (Geneva 1578), the so-called Stephanus pagination.
Total editions without translation
- John Burnet (ed.): Platonis opera. 5 vols. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1900-1907 (critical edition; reprinted several times).
- Platonis opera. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1995 ff. (authoritative critical edition; replaces Burnet's edition, but so far only volume 1 has appeared).
- Volume 1, ed. by Elizabeth A. Duke et al, 1995, ISBN 0-19-814569-1.
Translations (German)
Friedrich Schleiermacher's translation, which appeared in Berlin between 1804 and 1828 (3rd edition 1855), is still widely used in German-speaking countries today and is reprinted - sometimes in a somewhat altered form.
- Otto Apelt (ed.): Plato: Sämtliche Dialoge. 7 vols., Meiner, Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-7873-1156-4 (without Greek texts; reprint of the Leipzig 1922-1923 edition).
- Gunther Eigler (ed.): Plato: Works in Eight Volumes. 6th, unchanged edition. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2010 (1st edition 1970-1983), ISBN 978-3-534-24059-3 (critical edition of the Greek texts; slightly edited translations by Schleiermacher).
- Plato: Jubiläumsausgabe sämtlicher Werke, introduced by Olof Gigon, transferred by Rudolf Rufener, 8 volumes, Artemis, Zurich/Munich 1974, ISBN 3-7608-3640-2 (without Greek texts).
- Ernst Heitsch, Carl Werner Müller, Kurt Sier (eds.): Plato: Werke. Translation and Commentary. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen from 1993 (without Greek texts; various translators; 22 volumes published so far).
- Helmut von den Steinen: Platonica I. Cleitophon, Theages. An introduction to Socrates. Edited by Torsten Israel. Queich-Verlag, Germersheim 2012, ISBN 978-3-939207-12-2 (metrically formed, scenically designed artistic transmission; further volumes not yet published).
Translations (Latin, medieval)
- Plato Latinus, ed. Raymond Klibansky, 4 vols. London 1940-1962 (vol. 1: Meno, interprete Henrico Aristippo; vol. 2: Phaedo, interprete Henrico Aristippo; vol. 3: Parmenides ... nec non Procli commentarium in Parmenidem, interprete Guillelmo de Moerbeka; vol. 4: Timaeus a Calcidio translatus commentarioque instructus).
Questions and answers
Q: Who was Plato?
A: Plato was one of the most important classical Greek philosophers who lived from 427 BC to 348 BC.
Q: How wealthy was Plato?
A: Plato was a wealthy man, owning at least 50 slaves.
Q: What did Plato create?
A: Plato created the first university school, called "The Academy".
Q: Who was Socrates and what is his relation to Plato?
A: Socrates was a student of Plato (who did not write) and the teacher of Aristotle.
Q: What did Alfred North Whitehead say about philosophy since Plato?
A: Alfred North Whitehead said that all philosophy since Plato has just been comments on his works.
Q: What ideas in philosophy did Plato write about? A: Plato wrote about many ideas in philosophy such as deductive reasoning which are still talked about today.
Q: What university did Aristotle found? A: Aristotle founded another university known as the Lyceum.
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