About This Book

Although Plato never sought political office for himself, he was influential as a teacher and philosopher in the political life of his world. The Academy he founded in order to promote serious adult thought and discourse was the forerunner of the best institutions of higher learning today. His students and disciples (of whom Aristotle was one) refined the study of logic and ethics and developed the study of mathematics including solid geometry and the study of conic solids. They also wrote and worked in the fields of natural history and biology, and developed a series of "ideal" principles for personal and political behavior and for government. Plato's extensive writings describe these studies — most especially the last.

About Plato

(circa 428 B.C. - circa 348 B.C) The philosopher Plato was arguably the foremost writer and teacher of ancient Greece, and his influence on thought has been apparent for over 2,400 years!

Deeply affected by the teaching of Socrates, Plato's early writings recorded Socrates' philosophy and his death, and much of his life's work bears the stamp of Socrates' philosophy.