Plato
Plato (c. 428–347 BCE), born into an aristocratic Athenian family, turned the trauma of Socrates’ execution into a new civic form: the Academy (c. 387 BCE). He fused mathematics and dialectic, making number and argument the twin rails of philosophical training, and used his Republic as a pedagogical core. Across dialogues from the Apology to the Laws, he staged inquiry as drama and institution, aiming to protect philosophy from the city’s tempers without abandoning the city. In this timeline he is the first builder—transforming a street practice into a school sturdy enough to teach not only what to think, but how to live.
Biography
Plato was born in Athens around 428/427 BCE to Ariston and Perictione, a family connected by tradition to Solon. He grew up in the wake of the Peloponnesian War, watching fragile democracies lurch between demagogues and oligarchs. As a young man he wrote poetry and considered politics, but meeting Socrates redirected his ambition from office to philosophy. Socrates’ method, fearless and public, taught Plato that wisdom required training in argument and character. In 399 BCE, Socrates’ trial seared him: he and others offered to guarantee their teacher’s fine, but the city chose hemlock. Plato left Athens for a time, traveling to Megara, Cyrene, and Sicily, where the dream of a philosopher-king would haunt and harden his thinking.
Plato's Timeline
Key events involving Plato in chronological order
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