Origins of Western Thought

Plato was born in Athens, Greece in about 427 B.C. He was a student of and heavily influenced by Socrates. Plato wrote about many topics, but is best-known for his work The Republic, which includes the Allegory of the Cave. Plato was Aristotle's teacher. Plato died of unknown causes in 347 B.C.

References

Collinson, D. & Plant, K. (2006). Fifty major philosophers. (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

The life and death of Socrates - through the eyes of Plato (selections):

• Apology
• Crito
• Phaedo
• Meno

The Allegory of the Cave - defining justice:

• Book VII of The Republic

The readings links above lead to MIT's Internet Classics Archive. If you experience difficulties accessing these selections, visit their home page at: http://classics.mit.edu/ and search for the reading there.