Which Philosopher are YOU?

PLATO

Plato is the classical Greek philosopher who laid the foundations for modern Western Culture. He was a great man that studied mathematics and wrote philosophical dialogs, he was even the founder of the academy of Athens which was, by the way, the very first institution of higher learning. He was quite a personality and his merits are significant. Plato was brilliant, astute, charming, amusing, profound, practical, sensible, logical, enquiring, seeking, exploring by considering the simple and obvious. He also had a good understanding of human nature and our tendency for tribal belief in customs. Both Socrates and Plato knew that a good society must be founded on wisdom derived from truth and reality.

Plato was born in Athens, Greece, the son of Ariston and Perictione, both of Athenian noble backgrounds. He lived his whole life in Athens, although he traveled to Sicily and southern Italy on several occasions. One story says he traveled to Egypt. Little is known of his early years, but he was given the finest education Athens had to offer noble families, and he devoted his considerable talents to politics and the writing of tragedy (works that end with death and sadness) and other forms of poetry. His acquaintance with Socrates (c. 469–c. 399 B.C.E. ) altered the course of his life. The power that Socrates's methods and arguments had over the minds of the youth of Athens gripped Plato as firmly as it did many others, and he became a close associate of Socrates.

Plato is best known for his dialogs, but the one event that brings all of his many dialogs together is the trial of Socrates. Socrates is accused of not believing in the gods and of corrupting the youth so he defends himself saying that slander will be the cause of his demise and that it was the oracle at Delphi that sent him on a quest. It was Socrates on this quest attempting to solve the riddle that put him at odds with his fellow man, Socrates went on to say that the legal charges were false. Plato used his dialog to teach people and to let the world know what his views were and I think that everybody can say that he did succeed in that respect. He lived in a difficult time that had a lot of things about it that were false and a lot of things that were believed that were simply pagan. In one way or another, we are all products of the time that we live in, society molds us and tries to turn us into something that is not always good or right.

Sources:

http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Philosophy-Plato-Philosopher.htm

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/plato.html

http://www.notablebiographies.com/Pe-Pu/Plato.html