PHILOSOPHER

Plato

427 BC - 347 BC

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Plato ( PLAY-toe; Greek: Πλάτων, Plátōn; born c. 428–423 BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms. He influenced all the major areas of theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy, and was the founder of the Platonic Academy, a philosophical school in Athens where Plato taught the doctrines that would later become known as Platonism. Plato's most famous contribution is the theory of forms (or ideas), which aims to solve what is now known as the problem of universals. He was influenced by the pre-Socratic thinkers Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and Parmenides, although much of what is known about them is derived from Plato himself. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Plato is the 3rd most popular philosopher (down from 2nd in 2019), the 2nd most popular biography from Greece and the 2nd most popular Greek Philosopher.

Plato is most famous for his theory of Forms. Plato believed that the world we see is only a reflection of the true world of Forms.

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Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Plato ranks 3 out of 1,267Before him are Gautama Buddha, and Aristotle. After him are Socrates, Confucius, Pythagoras, Immanuel Kant, René Descartes, Avicenna, Laozi, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Baruch Spinoza.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 427 BC, Plato ranks 1After him is Emperor Kōan. Among people deceased in 347 BC, Plato ranks 1After him is Archytas.

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In Greece

Among people born in Greece, Plato ranks 2 out of 1,024Before him are Aristotle (-384). After him are Alexander the Great (-356), Homer (-800), Socrates (-470), Pythagoras (-570), Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881), Hippocrates (-460), Sophocles (-497), Democritus (-460), Epicurus (-341), and Solon (-638).

Among PHILOSOPHERS In Greece

Among philosophers born in Greece, Plato ranks 2Before him are Aristotle (-384). After him are Socrates (-470), Pythagoras (-570), Democritus (-460), Epicurus (-341), Plutarch (46), Protagoras (-486), Gorgias (-483), Theophrastus (-371), Apollodorus of Athens (-180), and Antisthenes (-445).