Publisher's Synopsis
Plato (Greek: Pláton, "wide, broad-shouldered") (428/427 BC - 348/347BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher, the second of the great trio of ancientGreeks -Socrates, Plato, originally named Aristocles, and Aristotle- whobetween them laid the philosophical foundations of Western culture. Platowas also a mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder ofthe Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the westernworld. Plato is widely believed to have been a student of Socrates and to havebeen deeply influenced by his teacher's unjust death. Plato's brilliance as awriter and thinker can be witnessed by reading his Socratic dialogues. Someof the dialogues, letters, and other works that are ascribed to him areconsidered spurious. Plato is thought to have lectured at the Academy, although the pedagogical function of his dialogues, if any, is not known withcertainty. They have historically been used to teach philosophy, logic, rhetoric, mathematics, and other subjects about which he wrote.
