Plato

Most of what we know about Socrates comes from Plato, his most famous student. Plato called Socrates "the best of all men I have ever known." When his mentor was executed, Plato left Greece for more than a decade. He returned to start the Academy, a school that would operate for more than 900 years.

Plato described his idea of an ideal society in his most famous book, the Republic. Plato did not believe in democracy. He argued in favor of an "aristocracy of merit," rule by the best and the wisest people.

Plato believed a small group of people intelligent and educated men and women should govern society. This small group would select the best and the brightest students to join them. Plato believed the government should rear all children so that everyone would have equal opportunities. Schools would test students on a regular basis. Those who did poorly would be sent to work, while those who did well would continue their studies. At the age of thirty-five, those persons who mastered their education would be sent to the workplace to apply their learning to the real world. After fifteen years, if the student succeeded, they would be admitted to the guardian class.

Plato taught that the ideals of truth or justice cannot exist in the material world. Today we describe a "platonic" relationship as one in which people have mental and spiritual exchanges but refrain from physical intimacy.