Plato was born to a distinguished family in Athens in 427 B.C. His real name was Aristocles.Solon, a great lawmaker
was a relative.Her mother was Perictione.His father Ariston died when he was a child.His uncle Pyrilampes, a supporter and friend of Pericles ,became his stepfather.
In 404 B.C., his relatives, Critias and Charmides joined the group that
established dictatorship in Athens.He refused to join them because he found them unethical.They were overthrown in 403 B.C.Athenians established democracy.Plato left Athens when Socrates was brought to trial and was sentenced to death.He returned in 387 B.C. He established the Academy which was a school of science and Philosophy. Aristotle was his popular pupil.
Plato wrote in Dialogues which was a drama of philosophical conflicts.Socrates was usually the main character of these. He used Socrates as the one who questioned the knowledge of people and later he showed that they actually do not know what they claim to know.In other dialogues, Socrates criticized the views of other people and then he presented complex theories.Example of this dialogues is
the Republic and The Sophist.
Plato believed that the real nature of individual depends on the form in which it participates.Example, a triangle participates in its triangularity.The forms differ greatly from the ordinary things we see.Ordinary things change but not their forms.Forms exist neither in space nor time.They can only be known by intellect,not by senses.Thus, true knowledge is the knowledge of forms.These central doctrines of Plato’s philosophy are called theory of ideas.
Plato based his ethical theory on the premise that all desires happiness which is a natural consequence of a healthy state of the soul.If a person knows that moral virtue leads to it, he will naturally acts virtuously.He argued further that it is worse to commit injustice than to suffer one because immoral behaviour is a symptom of a diseased soul.It is also worse to remain unpunished if one commits injustice because punishment help cure this most serious diseases.
Plato described ideal society in the Republic.The state composed of three parts.The philosopher kings represent the intellect. The guardians keep order and defend society.The ordinary citizen, craftsmen, merchants and craftworkers provide the needs of the society.