Plato's Philosophical Influence Plato's upbringing and instruction from Socrates further developed Plato's philosophy, which affected the thinking of today. Plato was born in the year of 348 in Athens. Plato was born in the month of Thargelion (May-June) 428-7 B.C. to Ariston and Perictione. He died at the age of eighty or eighty-one in 348-7 B.C. Plato's birth fell in the fourth year of the Archidamian war. His influence has stayed profound from early to modern times as he set ahead vital problems and concepts facing philosophy, psychology, logic, and politics. This Greek philosopher was one of the most important and original thinkers of the early world. Plato came from a wealthy family and was very profitable at the educational facilities wealthy families were able to afford in Athens. Plato met Socrates around the age of twenty and their teacher-pupil relationship lasted between eight and ten years. He had quite an interest in other philosophers, but only before he met Socrates. In Plato's early career he was commited to poetry. These interests were all apart of his search of wisdom, and whom under Socrates his devotion came deeper in. Socrates' death gave Plato the courage to travel to Egypt, Magna Graecia, and Sicily. These trips were to influence the Dionysius' in approval to his ideal system of government. He did not succeed in his efforts to influence the two rulers, causing him to be thrown into prison. However, a friend came to free him and he returned to his school, the Platonic Academy, in Athens. At his school there was more attention given to literary form and less use of the method of illustration that depicted the Socratic manner of display. Among his some of his works the more genuine include, "Phaedrus", "Protagoras", "Phaedo", "The Republic", "Minos", and the "Ion" (Taylor 12). In his writings he uses dialogue with a technique that no one has used before. He was able to form the Socratic method o...
