Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher who was one of the most important and influential figures in Western philosophy. His writings—particularly his dialogues — are the earliest surviving examples of a literary form known as the Socratic dialogue, which depicts Socrates as a leading figure in a discussion that explores philosophical ideas. Plato is also well-known for his Theory of Forms, which holds that all objects or phenomena are merely shadows of more fundamental ideal forms, and that these forms represent the most real things that exist.
Philosopher’s views on ethics, politics, metaphysics, epistemology and language have been enormously influential on Western philosophy, and they continue to be studied today. His contributions to logic (see logicism), mathematics (see Platonic solids) and philosophy of language continue to be studied today. However, some modern commentators question whether Plato himself deserves ‘genius’ status due to his lack of rigor in mathematics (e.g., in the case of irrational numbers), his failure to provide any sort of adequate explanation for how ideas can have causal power (as opposed to just being “imitations”), or his apparent failure to realize that many of his arguments rely on self-referential premises that lead to infinite regressions or circular reasoning.
Actually, Plato was tutored by Socrates, and later became a student of the great philosopher Pythagoras. Plato himself had many students and created the Academy, which was an institution dedicated to the study of science and philosophy.
Plato’s most famous work is The Republic, which discusses justice and morality in society. Plato also wrote on mathematics, cosmology and metaphysics — subjects that remain relevant even today.
