柏拉圖生於一個富裕的貴族家庭,他的父親是阿里斯通 (Ariston of Athens),母親是培里克瓊(Perictione),他在家中排行第四。他的家庭據傳是古雅典國王的後裔,他也是當時雅典知名的政治家克里提亚斯的姪子。依據後來羅馬作家第歐根尼·拉爾修的說法,柏拉圖的原名為亞裡斯多克勒斯(Aristokles),後來因為他强壯的身軀而被稱為柏拉圖(在希臘語中,Platus一詞有“平坦、寬闊”的意思)。但第歐根尼也提起了其他的說法,柏拉圖這個名字也可能是來自他流暢寬廣(platutês)的口才、或因為他擁有寬廣的前額。由於柏拉圖出色的學習能力和其他才華,古希臘人還稱讚他為阿波羅之子,並稱在柏拉圖還是嬰兒的時候曾有蜜蜂停留在他的嘴唇上,才會使他口才如此甜蜜流暢。
在《理想國》的第一卷、第二卷和第七卷裡,柏拉圖舉出了幾個隐喻來解釋他的形而上學觀點:太陽的隱喻、以及知名的洞穴囚犯寓言、以及更直接的「線寓」。這些隱喻故事加起來便架構了一個複雜而艱深的理論:稱為「至善的形式」(The Form of the Good)或「至善的理想」(這也經常被解讀為柏拉圖心中的上帝),這種形式便是知识的終極目標,同時也是這種形式塑造了各種其他的形式(例如哲學的概念、抽象、以及屬性),所有形式也都是「源自」於這種至善的形式。至善的形式塑造其他形式的方式就如同太陽照亮或發亮其他物體一般,使得我們能夠在知覺的世界看到這些東西。柏拉图认为,自然界中有形的东西是流动的,但是构成这些有形物质的“形式”或“理念”却是永恒不变的。柏拉图指出,当我们说到“马”时,我们没有指任何一匹马,而是称任何一种马。而“马”的含义本身独立于各种马(“有形的”),它不存在于空间和时间中,因此是永恒的。但是某一匹特定的、有形的、存在于感官世界的马,却是“流动”的,会死亡,会腐烂。这可以作为柏拉图的“理念论”的一个初步的解说。
Brandwood, Leonard. The Chronology of Plato's Dialogues. Cambridge University Press. 1990.
Brickhouse, Thomas; Smith, Nicholas D. Fieser, James; Dowden, Bradley , 编. Plato. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. [3 April 2014]. (原始内容存档于2017-12-11).
Browne, Sir Thomas. XII. Pseudodoxia Epidemica IV 6th. 1672.
Brumbaugh, Robert S.; Wells, Rulon S. Completing Yale's Microfilm Project. The Yale University Library Gazette. October 1989, 64 (1/2): 73–75. JSTOR 40858970.
Burnet, John. Plato's Phaedo. Oxford University Press. 1911.
Burnet, John. Platonism. University of California Press. 1928b.
Cairns, Huntington. Hamilton, Edith; Cairns, Huntington , 编. The Collected Dialogues of Plato, Including the Letters. Princeton University Press. 1961.|entry=和|title=只需其一 (帮助)
Burrell, David. Craig, Edward , 编. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy 7. Routledge: 429–430. 1998.|entry=和|title=只需其一 (帮助)
Cooper, John M.; Hutchinson, D.S. (编). Plato: Complete Works. Hackett Publishing. 1997.
Einstein, Albert. Schilpp , 编. Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist. The Library of Living Philosophers 7. MJF Books: 663–688. 1949.|entry=和|title=只需其一 (帮助)
Gaiser, Konrad. Reale, Giovanni , 编. Testimonia Platonica: Le antiche testimonianze sulle dottrine non scritte di Platone. Milan: Vita e Pensiero. 1998. First published as "Testimonia Platonica. Quellentexte zur Schule und mündlichen Lehre Platons" as an appendix to Gaiser's Platons Ungeschriebene Lehre, Stuttgart, 1963.
Gomperz, H. Ryle, G. , 编. Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Philosophy. London: 426–431. 1931.|entry=和|title=只需其一 (帮助) Reprinted in Gomperz, H. (1953). Philosophical Studies. Boston: Christopher Publishing House 1953, pp. 119–124.
Grondin, Jean. Gill, Christopher; Renaud, François , 编. Hermeneutic Philosophy and Plato: Gadamer's Response to the Philebus. Academia Verlag: 139–156. 2010.|entry=和|title=只需其一 (帮助)
Guthrie, W.K.C. A History of Greek Philosophy: Volume 4, Plato: The Man and His Dialogues: Earlier Period. Cambridge University Press. 1986. ISBN 978-0-521-31101-4.
Hasse, Dag Nikolaus. Gersh; Hoenen , 编. The Platonic Tradition in the Middle Ages: A Doxographic Approach. De Gruyter: 33–66. 2002.|entry=和|title=只需其一 (帮助)
Irwin, T.H. Plato: Gorgias. Oxford University Press. 1979.
Irwin, T.H. Fine, G. , 编. The Oxford Handbook of Plato. Oxford University Press. 2011.|entry=和|title=只需其一 (帮助)
Kierkegaard, Søren. Plato. The Concept of Irony. Princeton University Press. 1992. ISBN 978-0-691-02072-3.
Krämer, Hans Joachim. Catan, John R. , 编. Plato and the Foundations of Metaphysics: A Work on the Theory of the Principles and Unwritten Doctrines of Plato with a Collection of the Fundamental Documents. State University of New York Press. 1990. ISBN 978-0-7914-0433-1.
Lee, M.-K. Fine, G. , 编. The Oxford Handbook of Plato. Oxford University Press: 411–436. 2011.|entry=和|title=只需其一 (帮助)
Kraut, Richard. Zalta, Edward N. , 编. Plato. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University. 11 September 2013 [3 April 2014]. (原始内容存档于2018-09-06).
Lackner, D. F. Allen; Rees , 编. Marsilio Ficino: His Theology, His Philosophy, His Legacy. Brill. 2001.|entry=和|title=只需其一 (帮助)
Meinwald, Constance Chu. Plato's Parmenides. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1991.
McDowell, J. Plato: Theaetetus. Oxford University Press. 1973.
Schofield, Malcolm. Craig, Edward , 编. Plato. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Routledge. 23 August 2002 [3 April 2014]. (原始内容存档于10 October 2008).
Sedley, David. Plato's Cratylus. Cambridge University Press. 2003.
Slings, S.R. Remarks on Some Recent Papyri of the Politeia. Mnemosyne. Fourth. 1987, 40 (1/2): 27–34. doi:10.1163/156852587x00030.
Slings, S.R. Platonis Rempublicam. Oxford University Press. 2003.
Smith, William. Plato. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 1870 [2022-08-21]. (原始内容存档于2015-01-24).
Strauss, Leo. The City and the Man. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1964.
Suzanne, Bernard. The Stephanus edition. Plato and his dialogues. 8 March 2009 [3 April 2014]. (原始内容存档于2022-10-24).
Whitehead, Alfred North. Process and Reality. New York: The Free Press. 1978. 含有內容需登入查看的頁面 (link)
Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Ulrich von. Plato: His Life and Work (translated in Greek by Xenophon Armyros). Kaktos. 2005 [1917]. ISBN 978-960-382-664-4.
參考文獻
Alican, Necip Fikri. Rethinking Plato: A Cartesian Quest for the Real Plato. Amsterdam and New York: Editions Rodopi B.V. 2012. ISBN 978-90-420-3537-9.
Allen, R. E. (1965). Studies in Plato's Metaphysics II. Taylor & Francis. ISBN0-7100-3626-4
Ambuel, David (2007). Image and Paradigm in Plato's Sophist. Parmenides Publishing. ISBN978-1-930972-04-9
Guthrie, W.K.C. (1986). A History of Greek Philosophy (Plato – The Man & His Dialogues – Earlier Period), Cambridge University Press, ISBN0-521-31101-2
Irwin, Terence (1995). Plato's Ethics, Oxford University Press, US, ISBN0-19-508645-7
Jackson, Roy. Plato: A Beginner's Guide. London: Hoder & Stroughton. 2001. ISBN 978-0-340-80385-1.
Jowett, Benjamin (1892). [The Dialogues of Plato. Translated into English with analyses and introductions by B. Jowett.], Oxford Clarendon Press, UK, UIN:BLL01002931898
Kochin, Michael S. Gender and Rhetoric in Plato's Political Thought. Cambridge Univ. Press. 2002. ISBN 978-0-521-80852-1.
LeMoine, Rebecca. Plato's Caves: The Liberating Sting of Cultural Diversity. New York: Oxford University Press. 2020. ISBN 978-0190936983.
Lilar, Suzanne (1954), Journal de l'analogiste, Paris, Éditions Julliard; Reedited 1979, Paris, Grasset. Foreword by Julien Gracq
Lilar, Suzanne (1963), Le couple, Paris, Grasset. Translated as Aspects of Love in Western Society in 1965, with a foreword by Jonathan Griffin London, Thames and Hudson.
Lilar, Suzanne (1967) A propos de Sartre et de l'amour , Paris, Grasset.
Lundberg, Phillip. Tallyho – The Hunt for Virtue: Beauty, Truth and Goodness Nine Dialogues by Plato: Pheadrus, Lysis, Protagoras, Charmides, Parmenides, Gorgias, Theaetetus, Meno & Sophist. Authorhouse. 2005. ISBN 978-1-4184-4977-3.
Márquez, Xavier (2012) A Stranger's Knowledge: Statesmanship, Philosophy & Law in Plato's Statesman, Parmenides Publishing. ISBN978-1-930972-79-7
Miller, Mitchell (2004). The Philosopher in Plato's Statesman. Parmenides Publishing. ISBN978-1-930972-16-2
Mohr, Richard D. (2006). God and Forms in Plato – and other Essays in Plato's Metaphysics. Parmenides Publishing. ISBN978-1-930972-01-8
Mohr, Richard D. (Ed.), Sattler, Barbara M. (Ed.) (2010) One Book, The Whole Universe: Plato's Timaeus Today, Parmenides Publishing. ISBN978-1-930972-32-2
Moore, Edward (2007). Plato. Philosophy Insights Series. Tirril, Humanities-Ebooks. ISBN978-1-84760-047-9
Patterson, Richard (Ed.), Karasmanis, Vassilis (Ed.), Hermann, Arnold (Ed.) (2013) Presocratics & Plato: Festschrift at Delphi in Honor of Charles Kahn, Parmenides Publishing. ISBN978-1-930972-75-9
Piechowiak, Marek. Plato's Conception of Justice and the Question of Human Dignity. Peter Lang: Berlin. 2019. ISBN 978-3-631-65970-0.