A student of Socrates, Plato founded the Academy in Athens, one of the first institutions of higher learning in the West. He wrote dialogues on justice, love, knowledge and politics that are still read around the world. His theory of Forms shaped philosophy and theology for more than two thousand years.
Core ideas
Beyond the sensible world lies the world of Forms, eternal and perfect
To know is to recall truths the soul contemplated before birth
The just city must be ruled by philosophers, who know the Good
The tradition: Idealist
Idealist, here, means someone who considers ideas or forms more real than the material things we see. Plato is the founder of this view with his theory of Forms.
