PHILOSOPHER

Plato

427 BC - 347 BC

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Plato ( PLAY-toe; Greek: Πλάτων), born Aristocles (Ἀριστοκλῆς; c. 427 – 348 BC), was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms. He raised problems for what became all the major areas of both theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy, and was the founder of the Platonic Academy, a philosophical school in Athens where Plato taught the doctrines that would later become known as Platonism. Plato's most famous contribution is the theory of forms (or ideas), which has been interpreted as advancing a solution to what is now known as the problem of universals. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Plato has received more than 18,612,334 page views. His biography is available in 210 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 200 in 2019). Plato is the 2nd most popular philosopher, the 2nd most popular biography from Greece and the 2nd most popular Greek Philosopher.

Plato is most famous for his theory of Forms. Plato believed that the world we see is only a reflection of the true world of Forms.

Memorability Metrics

  • 19M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 94.10

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 210

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 20.64

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.79

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Plato ranks 2 out of 1,267Before him are Aristotle. After him are Socrates, Gautama Buddha, Pythagoras, Confucius, René Descartes, Immanuel Kant, Avicenna, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Friedrich Nietzsche.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 427 BC, Plato ranks 1After him is Emperor Kōan. Among people deceased in 347 BC, Plato ranks 1After him is Archytas.

Others Born in 427 BC

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Others Deceased in 347 BC

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In Greece

Among people born in Greece, Plato ranks 2 out of 1,024Before him are Aristotle (-384). After him are Socrates (-470), Alexander the Great (-356), Pythagoras (-570), Homer (-800), Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881), Hippocrates (-460), Sophocles (-497), Pericles (-494), Democritus (-460), and Epicurus (-341).

Among PHILOSOPHERS In Greece

Among philosophers born in Greece, Plato ranks 2Before him are Aristotle (-384). After him are Socrates (-470), Pythagoras (-570), Democritus (-460), Epicurus (-341), Plutarch (46), Protagoras (-486), Gorgias (-483), Theophrastus (-371), Antisthenes (-445), and Pyrrho (-365).