Who was Plato? Learn more about him at this site.  http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/philosophy/index.htm

Plato was born in Athens in 427 B. C. to a very wealthy and aristocratic family. He became a student of Socrates when he was very young. Plato learned a lot from Socrates and was extremely upset by his death. Plato was 30 years old at this time. After Socrates's death, Plato began to write down the conversations he and Socrates had.

After a while Plato began to write down his own ideas about philosophy. One of his ideas was about how Athens could form a Republic. Plato thought there should be a few guardians to make the decisions for the population. These ideas didn't get much attention in Athens. Plato tried to spread his idea in Sicily, but the prince didn't listen either. Plato gave up the idea and went back to Athens. There he built an academy to teach his philosophy. The Academy was very successful.

Plato thought a lot about the natural world. He wanted men to understand the world better by trying to predict or understand the world without being able to see it.

He believed the soul was made up of three parts:  natural desires, will, and reason. Will allows people to resist their natural desires. Reason tells people when to resist their natural desires and when to obey. Plato believed these three parts of the soul must be balanced to live a successful life. He thought that if one of the three parts was off that this leads to badness.

One of Plato's students at the Academy was a man named Aristotle. Plato died at the age of 82. His students at the Academy preserved and copied all his writings.

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