About Plato
Athenian philosopher (c. 428–348 BCE), student of Socrates and founder of the Academy. Plato treats politics as inseparable from ethics and metaphysics: justice in the city mirrors justice in the soul. His political philosophy is simultaneously the most influential and most contested in the Western tradition, providing foundations for both authoritarian and liberal thought.
Books by Plato
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Apology
The original defence of free inquiry and individual conscience against the state. Plato's account of Socrates on trial for 'corrupting the youth' and 'impiety' is the West's founding image of the thinker who will not st…
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Republic
A foundational text for questions about justice, order, education, virtue, and the relationship between the soul and the city.
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