The Life of Plato: A Look at the Philosopher’s Key Works

Plato was a classical Athenian philosopher in ancient Greece. Scholars widely consider him one of the most important figures in Western philosophy and human history. He is best known for his theories of Forms, known as Platonism. In this philosophy, Plato rejected the materialism common to ancient philosophy in favor of metaphysics. He believed in the existence of an immaterial world of perfect objects and Forms (ideas). His theory of Forms suggests that all objects and ideas in the material world (the real world) are a copy of their perfect counterparts from the immaterial world.

Plato learned from and influenced many Greek philosophers, including Socrates (his teacher) and Aristotle (his most famous student), and the pre-Socratic scholars Pythagoras, Parmenides, Heraclitus, and Cratylus.

The records of Plato’s life are incomplete, and scholars disagree about the exact details of his childhood, education, and later life. Here’s a general biography that many scholars agree on:

• Early life: Plato was born to wealthy parents Ariston and Perictione, likely in Athens or Aegina between 429 and 423 BCE (amid the Peloponnesian War). His birth name may have been Aristocles, and he may have had several siblings, including Adeimantus, Glaucon, and Potone. His uncle, Pyrilampes, was possibly connected to Pericles, the leader of Athens’s democratic faction.
• Education: Scholars believe that Plato had a good education, learning traditional ancient Greek subjects like grammar, music, and gym. Many ancient accounts say that Plato was also an accomplished wrestler. Plato was also a student of Socrates, a famous Greek philosopher. Nearly all of Plato’s philosophy and writings feature Socrates (rather than Plato) as the central character.
• Middle life: During his middle life, Plato wrote an impressive body of writing on political philosophy, including The Republic. He also became involved in the political landscape of ancient Syracuse, then under rule by a tyrant named Dionysius and his uncle, Dion.
• Founding the Academy: Around the age of forty, possibly after a trip to Egypt or Sicily, Italy, Plato founded what became known as the Academy, the earliest recorded institution of higher learning. It was at the Academy that Plato tutored his most famous student, Aristotle.
• Death and legacy: Scholars believe that Plato died in his eighties, though accounts disagree on the reason—some say he died in his sleep, while others claim he passed away at a wedding feast. Regardless, his body of work is one of the best-preserved of all ancient Greek philosophy, and scholars consider him one of the biggest influences on Western thought.

Plato used a format known as a “Socratic dialogue” or “dialectic” to record most of his philosophy—in which two or more characters discuss theory in a back-and-forth conversation. Scholars count thirty-five dialogues in Plato’s complete works—the largest body of work still intact from ancient Greek philosophers. Here are some notable works from Plato:

• Charmides: This dialogue features Socrates discussing self-control with two other characters: a young man named Charmides and his mentor, Critias.
• Crito: Most of Plato’s dialogues deal with the trial, conviction, or death of Socrates. In Crito, Plato writes about the time after Socrates’s conviction.
• Euthyphro: In this piece, Plato describes the Euthyphro dilemma: whether something is holy because the gods condone it, or the gods condone it because it is holy.
• Gorgias: This work features a dialogue between Socrates and many sophists—teachers of philosophy in ancient Greece—at dinner while they debate the true definition of rhetoric (the ability to persuade by debate).
• Hippias Major and Minor: Plato writes about beauty and attempts to define it—without success—in these two dialogues.
• Ion: In one of Plato’s shortest dialogues, he discusses poetry and whether poetic ability comes from skill or the gods.
• Lysis: Plato writes about friendship in this notable work that offers a rare instance of Socrates as a character speaking in the first person.
• Phaedo: In this early dialogue, Plato’s character Socrates discusses ethics with interlocutors. This dialogue takes place after Socrates’s trial and conviction where he tried to defend against charges that he disbelieved in the gods and corrupting others.
• Phaedrus: Phaedrus is an eclectic dialogue that discusses erotic love, platonic love, rhetoric, and metempsychosis.
• Philebus: In Philebus, Plato defines the concepts of physical pleasure, or hedonism, and higher pleasures.
• Protagoras: Plato discusses virtue in these writings, arguing that it is innate in every human being and therefore, cannot be taught or learned.
• Meno: In this notable work, Plato discusses geometry. He uses a more dramatic form than in many of his other dialogues, with no narrator.
• The Republic: Arguably the most influential of Plato’s dialogues, The Republic of Plato analyzes the idea of justice, asking whether a just person lives a happier life than an unjust one. Plato also discusses different forms of rule, from oligarchy to democracy, eventually proposing a utopian city-state under rule by a philosopher-king. Plato’s Republic contains many allegories, including “Atlantis” and the “Myth of Er”—his most famous allegory, called “The Allegory of the Cave,” illustrates the role of education in a person’s understanding of the physical world.
• Symposium: Plato sets this dialogue at a banquet during a contest of speeches between several characters, including Socrates.
• Theaetetus: In this work, Plato criticizes the materialist philosophers of his day, arguing that many real things aren’t tangible.
• Timaeus: A late dialogue, Plato outlines the parts of the soul and where they exist in the body—appetite in the torso, the spirit in the chest, and reason in the head.

Plato has made extensive contributions to world philosophy, and the teachings of Plato are still a major part of philosophy curriculum throughout the world. Here are a few of his key contributions:

• Academy model: During his lifetime, Plato founded the Hekademia, which eventually became known as the Akademia or Academy—an institution of higher education that was free and open to the public. While it didn’t have a formal system of teachers and students, scholars consider it the foundation of modern education.
• Theory of forms: Plato’s most famous philosophy was on the idea of the material world. Scholars before his time generally adopted a view of materialism, in which they believed in the importance and permanence of material objects. Plato’s writing rejected these ideas and proposed a new theory of metaphysics—arguing that the material world is simply a copy of true reality, composed of concrete and abstract objects. Scholars refer to this as Plato’s theory of Forms.
• Ethical belief: Plato’s works argued for moral intellectualism—the idea that no human being consciously chooses to do bad. In Plato’s view, the only way to stop bad behavior is through epistemology, or knowledge of the good.

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