Plato (423 BC – 348 BC) was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy and science. Plato influenced a whole range of subjects from philosophy to maths, logic and ethics.
The early life of Plato is only partially recorded, but he was born in an aristocratic family in Athens. This enabled him to gain a good education, where he soon impressed those around him with his speed of learning and clarity of thought.