Plato
From RationalWiki
Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher, primarily known for inventing the plate.[1]
Plato was a student of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle. His books were largely written in a dialogue style whereby he presents the other sides of the argument and then shoots them down. Sometimes he presented these arguments in a strawman form, and the vanquished arguments were later used by other philosophers (as in Thrasymachus and Nietzsche,[2] Glaucon and social contract theory[3]).
In his most famous work, The Republic, Plato argued that the ideal model of government is a three tiered system, with the Philosopher Kings at the top, the military to the side, and the proletariat/workers on the other side which corresponds to his tri-aspected soul: reason, appetite, and spirit. Other ideas to come out of The Republic are the noble lie, the allegory of the cave, the world of forms (see existentialism), and the negative portrayal of democracy as mobocracy.
[edit] Plato's influence on Christianity
It has been argued that many aspects of Christian theology derive from Platonic philosophy. The Christian concept of God as infinite goodness, wisdom and ability is derived from the Platonic idea of the perfect form of all goodness. Thus, God was defined by Aquinas: "By 'God', however, we mean some infinite good".
