Plato was born around 427 BCE in Athens, Greece, into a wealthy and influential family with political connections.¹⁾

Plato was born into an aristocratic family in Athens, around 427-428 BCE.²⁾

Plato was a devoted student of Socrates, whose teachings deeply influenced his philosophy.³⁾

Plato was critical of Athenian democracy, which he believed led to the execution of Socrates.⁴⁾

Plato founded the Academy in Athens around 387 BCE, one of the first institutions of higher learning in the Western world.⁵⁾

His most famous work, “The Republic,” outlines his vision of an ideal society governed by philosopher-kings.⁶⁾

Plato is known for his Theory of Forms, which posits that the material world is a shadow of a higher, unchanging reality.⁷⁾

Plato emphasized mathematics in his teachings, believing it led to philosophical truth. The Academy’s entrance supposedly bore the inscription: “Let no one ignorant of geometry enter here.”⁸⁾

Plato wrote his philosophical ideas in dialogue form, often featuring Socrates as a character.⁹⁾

This famous metaphor, found in “The Republic,” illustrates Plato's view on human perception and the journey toward knowledge.¹⁰⁾

Plato is often considered the founder of idealism in philosophy, which asserts that reality is fundamentally mental or immaterial.¹¹⁾

He proposed a dualistic view of reality, dividing existence into the physical world and the world of Forms.¹²⁾

Plato is the earliest known source of the Atlantis myth, which he mentioned in his dialogues “Timaeus” and “Critias.”¹³⁾

Plato’s ideas, especially his concept of an eternal soul, significantly influenced early Christian thought.¹⁴⁾

In “The Republic,” Plato describes the Myth of Er, a story about the afterlife that discusses justice and the fate of the soul.¹⁵⁾

Plato believed the soul had three parts: the rational, the spirited, and the appetitive.¹⁶⁾

In the dialogue “Euthyphro,” Plato presents a dilemma about whether something is good because the gods will it or whether the gods will it because it is good.¹⁷⁾

Plato’s ideal rulers, philosopher-kings, are those who possess wisdom and love knowledge above all else.¹⁸⁾

In “The Symposium,” Plato explores the nature of love through a series of speeches given by different characters.¹⁹⁾

Another of Plato’s dialogues, “Phaedrus,” discusses the nature of the soul and the concept of divine madness.²⁰⁾