Full Name: Plato
Birth and Death: 427-348BC
Biographical Sketch: Plato's father died when he was a boy. His mother remarried and he was raised in the home of his stepfather. Plato and his brothers were close to Socrates while growing up. After the death of Socrates in 399BC Plato most likely traveled a great deal through Greece. Eventually he returned to Athens and founded the Academy which remained the center of education in Greece for a long time after his death.
List of Major Works: Most of Plato's works are dialogues with Socrates as the main speaker. Of those dialogues the two most famous are The Republic and The Apology. In The Republic Socrates has a conversation with some young men about the nature of justice and how it can be found in the world. The Apology is Socrates defense of himself during his trial by the city of Athens. It didn't work he was condemned and made to drink hemlock. It is not certain how accurate his view of Socrates is or if he might have added some of his own ideas into Socrates words.
Key Ideas, Philosophical Contribution: Plato's two major contributions were writing down Socrates style of debate, dialectic, and starting the first school to use the Socratic Method. Also Plato may have been the source of the ideas like the Divided Line. He was a major influence on the early Christian writers.
