Ν?ο-ιστορικ?, ρεαλιστικ?, κοινωνικ?-πολιτικ? μυθιστ?ρημα, ιδια?τερα επ?καιρο, μια δυνατ? αναφορ? στην προσφυγικ? κρ?ση, που χτυπ? κυρ?ω? τα παιδι?, τα ασυν?δευτα προσφυγ?πουλα.Το φθιν?πωρο του 2014, η Λητ?, φιλ?λογο?, τοποθετε?ται ω? αναπληρ?τρια καθηγ?τρια σε Γυμν?σιο του νησιο? τη? Κω. Εκε?, συναντ? πρ?σφυγε? που καταφθ?νουν με σαπιοκ?ραβα απ? τι? τουρκικ?? ακτ??. Αποφασ?ζει συνειδητ? να βοηθ?σει του? πρ?σφυγε?, ω? εθελ?ντρια, στο ?Ιπποκρ?τειο? νοσοκομε?ο τη? Κω. Στο θ?λαμο του νοσοκομε?ου συναντ? τρει? Σ?ριου? πρ?σφυγε?, βαρι? τραυματισμ?νου?, τον Ασλ?ν, παλι? γν?ριμο, απ? τι? κοιν?? του? μεταπτυχιακ?? σπουδ?? στη Σκωτ?α, μαζ? με ?λλου? δυο Σ?ριου? φ?λου? του, τον Τζαμ?λ και τον Οσ?μα, που συνοδε?ουν ενν?α μικρ? παιδι?, προσφυγ?πουλα, ορφαν? πολ?μου. Η Λητ? εμπλ?κεται στη ζω? των τρι?ν ανδρ?ν και των ενν?α παιδι?ν. Το προσφυγικ? ζ?τημα γ?νεται δικ? τη? θ?μα, κομμ?τι του ψυχισμο? τη?, πρ?γμα που εκφρ?ζεται ?ντονα στα τραγο?δια που πα?ζει στην κιθ?ρα τη?, στου? μαθητ?? τη? στο σχολε?ο τη? Κω, στη ζω? τη?, στον τρ?πο που αναζητ? τι? θ?σει? τη? Ευρωπα?κ?? ?νωση?, τη? ?πατη? Αρμοστε?α? του ΟΗΕ, των εμπλεκ?μενων κρατ?ν. Στηρ?ζει με ιδια?τερη ευαισθησ?α τα ασυν?δευτα παιδι? - προσφυγ?πουλα, που π?φτουν θ?ματα επικ?νδυνων εγκληματι?ν και χ?νονται κατ? τη δι?ρκεια τη? πορε?α? του? προ? την κεντρικ? και β?ρεια Ευρ?πη, σε βρ?μικα κυκλ?ματα εκμετ?λλευση?, πορνε?α?, παιδεραστ?ν, εμπορ?ου ανθρωπ?νων οργ?νων, ναρκωτικ?ν, κ.?. Ο δυνατ?? ?ρωτ?? τη? για τον Ασλ?ν και η αγ?πη τη? για τα παιδι? την οδηγε? μαζ? του?, στην κεντρικ? Ευρ?πη και στην ενεργ? συμμετοχ? τη? στο προσφυγικ? ζ?τημα καθ?? και στην τοποθ?τησ? τη? με πρακτικ? τρ?πο, σε ?να θ?μα που αφορ? ?λη την Ευρ?πη, την παγκ?σμια κοιν?τητα, τον ΟΗΕ, καθ?? χτυπ?ει β?ναυσα, εδ? και χρ?νια, του? λαο?? τη? Μεσογε?ου και υποθ?λπει κρυφ?, ?νομα, αλλ? και φανερ? συμφ?ροντα.Ε?ναι ?να βιβλ?ο που χτυπ? τον ρατσισμ?, την ξενοφοβ?α, τι? θρησκευτικ?? προκαταλ?ψει?, στηρ?ζει τον ?νθρωπο και τι? πανανθρ?πινε? αξ?ε?, που κουρελι?ζονται απ? πολ?μου?, εμφυλ?ου?, μ?ση, φανατισμο?? και ζητ? αλληλεγγ?η και πιστ? εφαρμογ? των ν?μων και καν?νων του ΟΗΕ, που ?χουν να κ?νουν με τα ανθρ?πινα δικαι?ματα.

A new-historical, realistic, social-political novel. A current, strong reference to the refugee crisis, which strikes the unescorted innocent refugee children.At the beginning of the autumn of 2014, Leto, a teacher of Greek literature is assigned in a secondary school of Kos, as a contract teacher. There, she meets a lot of refugees from Syria, who arrive on the island, with old and rusty boats, from the Turkish shores. After a big wreck, she consciously decides to help them as a volunteer in “Hippokratio” hospital of Kos. There, she is responsible for three heavily injured men from Syria. One of them is Aslan, a friend from their common post graduate studies in Aberdeen University, Scotland. In the same room, there are two other friends of him, Jamal and Ossama. They all accompany nine refugee children, orphans of the war. Leto is involved in the life of the three injured men and the nine refugee children. The refugee issue becomes her own issue, a part of her, which she wholeheartedly expresses through playing her guitar to her students of Kos throughout her whole life. She challenges the attitudes of European Union and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as well as all the involved nations. She stands by the unescorted refugee children, sensitively, who become victims of dangerous criminals and they get lost in den of vices of prostitution, pederasty, trafficking in human organs, drugs and so on, on their way to the Central and North Europe. Leto’s strong love for Aslan and her love for children leads her to the Central Europe where she participates energetically to the refugee matter, and she takes position practically, to an item which overconcerns all Europe, the whole world, the United Nations, as it brutally beats all the nations of Mediterranean Sea, pandering hidden and illegal interests, but obvious too.A book which challenges racism, xenophobia and religious prejudice, stands by the human and supports the universal values that are torn up by the war, the civil war, the total hatreds, and fanatics. It is asking for solidarity and faithful implementation of laws and rules of the U.N., which are closely linked to the human rights.

Of all the works of Plato the Symposium is the most perfect in form, and may be truly thought to contain more than any commentator has ever dreamed of; or, as Goethe said of one of his own writings, more than the author himself knew. For in philosophy as in prophecy glimpses of the future may often be conveyed in words which could hardly have been understood or interpreted at the time when they were uttered.

In the Meno, Anytus had parted from Socrates with the significant words: 'That in any city, and particularly in the city of Athens, it is easier to do men harm than to do them good;' and Socrates was anticipating another opportunity of talking with him. In the Euthyphro, Socrates is awaiting his trial for impiety. But before the trial begins, Plato would like to put the world on their trial, and convince them of ignorance in that very matter touching which Socrates is accused. An incident which may perhaps really have occurred in the family of Euthyphro, a learned Athenian diviner and soothsayer, furnishes the occasion of the discussion.

Some dialogues of Plato are of so various a character that their relation to the other dialogues cannot be determined with any degree of certainty. The Theaetetus, like the Parmenides, has points of similarity both with his earlier and his later writings. The perfection of style, the humour, the dramatic interest, the complexity of structure, the fertility of illustration, the shifting of the points of view, are characteristic of his best period of authorship. The vain search, the negative conclusion, the figure of the midwives, the constant profession of ignorance on the part of Socrates, also bear the stamp of the early dialogues, in which the original Socrates is not yet Platonized.

There are no descriptions of time, place or persons, in the Sophist and Statesman, but we are plunged at once into philosophical discussions; the poetical charm has disappeared, and those who have no taste for abstruse metaphysics will greatly prefer the earlier dialogues to the later ones. Plato is conscious of the change, and in the Statesman expressly accuses himself of a tediousness in the two dialogues, which he ascribes to his desire of developing the dialectical method.

We have now to consider the parts which are useful to animals for movement in place (locomotion); first, why each part is such as it is and to what end they possess them; and second, the differences between these parts both in one and the same creature, and again by comparison of the parts of creatures of different species with one another. First then let us lay down how many questions we have to consider.

Rousseau first exposes in this work his conception of a human state of nature, presented as a philosophical fiction, and of human perfectibility, an early idea of progress. He then explains the way, according to him, people may have established civil society, which leads him to present private property as the original source and basis of all inequality.

A book in which Rousseau theorized about the best way to establish a political community in the face of the problems of commercial society, which he had already identified in his Discourse on Inequality. The Social Contract helped inspire political reforms or revolutions in Europe, especially in France. The Social Contract argued against the idea that monarchs were divinely empowered to legislate. Rousseau asserts that only the people, who are sovereign, have that all-powerful right.

Caesar, advancing by moderate journeys, and continuing his march without intermission, arrived at Lilybaeum, on the 14th day before the calends of January. Designing to embark immediately, though he had only one legion of new levies, and not quite six hundred horse, he ordered his tent to be pitched so near the sea-side that the waves lashed the very foot of it. This he did with a view that none should think he had time to delay, and that his men might be kept in readiness at a day or an hour's warning. Though the wind at that time was contrary, he nevertheless detained the soldiers and mariners on board, that he might lose no opportunity of sailing; the rather, because the forces of the enemy were announced by the inhabitants of the province, to consist of innumberable cavalry not to be numbered; four legions headed by Juba, together with a great body of light-armed troops; ten legions under the command of Scipio; a hundred and twenty elephants, and fleets in abundance. Yet he was not alarmed, nor lost his confident hopes and spirits. Meantime the number of galleys and transports increased daily; the new-levied legions flocked in to him from all parts; among the rest the fifth, a veteran legion, and about two thousand horse.

Malcolm Ross, a young barrister, is awakened in the middle of the night and summoned to the house of famous Egyptologist Abel Trelawny at the request of his daughter, Margaret, with whom Malcolm is enamored. Once Malcolm arrives at the house, he meets Margaret, Superintendent Dolan, and Doctor Winchester, and learns why he has been called: Margaret, hearing strange noises from her father’s bedroom, woke to find him unconscious and bloodied on the floor of his room, under some sort of trance.

Potere, cortigianeria, dispotismo, libertà, uguaglianza... attuali o inattuali la satira d'Holbach e La Boétie? Cambiano i tempi e i nomi, ma la natura umana nel suo fondo negli ultimi secoli non è mutata. Com'è virtù di tutti i classici, le loro voci continuano a farci sorridere, indignare e riflettere non solo sul passato ma ugualmente sul presente e sul futuro, su quanto in esso ci possa essere di desiderabile o indesiderabile. In Appendice, i testi si possono leggere anche nella loro originaria edizione in francese. SOMMARIO?- Fabrizio Pinna, Una introduzione (in due tempi) e qualche digressione: I. Barone d'Holbach, "Quest'arte sublime dello strisciare"...; II. ?tienne de La Boétie, "Siate determinati di non voler più servire ed eccovi liberi"... . LIBERT? & POTERE: Paul Henri Thiry d'Holbach, Saggio sull'arte di strisciare ad uso dei cortigiani; Paul Henri Thiry d'Holbach, I Cortigiani; Jean le Rond d'Alembert, Cortigiano; ?tienne de La Boétie, La servitù volontaria. APPENDICE I: Libertà Uguaglianza (1799)- Il Cittadino Editore. APPENDICE II: Essai sur l’art de ramper, à l’usage des courtisans (1764) - Paul Henri Thiry d'Holbach; Des Courtisans (1773) - Paul Henri Thiry d'Holbach; Courtisan (1752) / Courtisane (1754) - Jean le Rond d'Alembert; Discours de la servitude volontaire o Contr'un (1549) - ?tienne de La Boétie.?LE COLLANE IN/DEFINIZIONI & CON(TRO)TESTI

南怀瑾先生的著述涉及儒、释、道等中国传统文化经典，他常以经史合参的讲述方式、生动幽默语言，结合古今中外历史人文典故，结合当下的日常生活，引领新世代的人们直入文化的核心智慧，让读者更乐于了解历史人文的博大精深。本套装收录东方出版社已出版的南怀瑾作品。

O parte dintre noi au tr?it vremuri grele pe care uneori le mai vis?m, le povestim sau despre care scriem ?nc?, f?r? patima cumplit? care i-a cuprins pe profitorii de atunci, care ?i ast?zi ne fac r?u, ?i chiar mai r?u dec?t ?pe vremea aceea“, cum se zice. E drept c? noi am prev?zut-o ?ntr-un fel sau altul, spun?nd-o celor care se-ncumetau s? ne asculte, f?r? preten?ia, Doamne, fere?te!, de a ne considera ?i disiden?i, cum o f?cur? cei men?iona?i mai sus. Previziunile noastre s-au bazat pe o anume cunoa?tere a mersului istoriei, care, cum se ?tie, se tot repet?, cu mici deosebiri, fire?te. Oricum, ceva cuno?tin?e de economie politic? nu ne stric? nici ?n zilele noastre, pentru a ne da seama de jocul frecvent al trecerii de la economia politic? la politica economic? ?i, mai ales, al trecerilor de la un sistem sau or?nduire economic? la alta ?i invers, cum le-am tr?it noi: de la capitalism la socialism ?i viceversa. Ca un fel de ciud??enie, au r?mas considera?iunile despre noul eon sau noua er? (New Age) ale filosofului din Lancr?m, mai ales c? acestea s-au realizat abia dup? c?derea comunismului, pe care n-o mai prev?zuse Blaga. (Alexandru Surdu) Eseuri filosofice de acela?i autor 1. Voca?ii filosofice rom?ne?ti, Editura Aca?de?miei Rom?ne, Bucure?ti, 1995, 216 p.; edi??ia a II-a, Editura Ardealul, T?rgu-Mure?, 2003, 206 p. 2. Confluen?e cultural-filosofice, Editura Pai?de?ia, Bucure?ti, 2002, 219 p. 3. M?rturiile anamnezei, Editura Paideia, Bu?cu?re?ti, 2004, 193 p. 4. Comentarii la rostirea filosofic?, Editura Kron-Art, Bra?ov, 2009, 186 p. 5. Izvoare de filosofie rom?neasc?, Editura Biblioteca Bucure?tilor, Bucure?ti, 2010, 171 p.; edi?ia a II-a, Editura Renaissance, Bucu?re?ti, 2011, 161 p. 6. A sufletului rom?nesc cinstire, Editura Re?naissance, Bucure?ti, 2011, 197 p. 7. Pietre de poticnire, Editura Ardealul, T?r?gu-Mure?, 2014, 179 p.

...a knyvet ne tekintsük úgy, mint amelynek a fejldése már befejezdtt, és amin már nincs is mit tkéletesíteni... azzal mintha nem foglalkozna senki, hogy a knyvet miként lehetne az olvasó számára használhatóbbá tenni... nagyon is el tudnék képzelni ergonomikusabban megtervezett és knnyebben kézben tartható knyvet is (amelyet nem ejtek el, ha a mobilom után kezdek kotorászni a 6-os villamoson. Ha egyszer vehetünk jobban kézbe ill tollat, akkor talán ez sem képtelenség).”

Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consisted of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, arranged into twelve books (in the manner of Virgil's Aeneid) with minor revisions throughout and a note on the versification. It is considered by critics to be Milton's "major work", and helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of his time. The poem concerns the Biblical story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Milton's purpose, stated in Book I, is to "justify the ways of God to men" Short Summary:The poem is separated into twelve "books" or sections, the lengths of which vary greatly (the longest is Book IX, with 1,189 lines, and the shortest Book VII, with 640). The Arguments at the head of each book were added in subsequent imprints of the first edition. Originally published in ten books, a fully "Revised and Augmented" edition reorganized into twelve books was issued in 1674, and this is the edition generally used today. The poem follows the epic tradition of starting in medias res (Latin for in the midst of things), the background story being recounted later.Milton's story has two narrative arcs, one about Satan (Lucifer) and the other following Adam and Eve. It begins after Satan and the other rebel angels have been defeated and banished to Hell, or, as it is also called in the poem, Tartarus. In Pand?monium, Satan employs his rhetorical skill to organise his followers; he is aided by Mammon and Beelzebub. Belial and Moloch are also present. At the end of the debate, Satan volunteers to poison the newly created Earth and God's new and most favoured creation, Mankind. He braves the dangers of the Abyss alone in a manner reminiscent of Odysseus or Aeneas. After an arduous traversal of the Chaos outside Hell, he enters God's new material World, and later the Garden of Eden. At several points in the poem, an Angelic War over Heaven is recounted from different perspectives. Satan's rebellion follows the epic convention of large-scale warfare. The battles between the faithful angels and Satan's forces take place over three days. At the final battle, the Son of God single-handedly defeats the entire legion of angelic rebels and banishes them from Heaven. Following this purge, God creates the World, culminating in his creation of Adam and Eve. While God gave Adam and Eve total freedom and power to rule over all creation, He gave them one explicit command: not to eat from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil on penalty of death.

《哲学是很好玩儿的》(套装共15册)包括生命哲学、心灵哲学等多种哲学思想结晶，读者可以从入门开始，通过通俗易懂的方式学会如何用哲学思维思考，感受哲学里的自我和世界，帮读者重新审视自我和我们栖居的世界，以及和这个世界的关系，捕捉心中迸发的迷惑与感悟，进而把它们锤炼为人生的智慧。

Within our Society (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness), guru has been taken to be synonymous with diksa-guru, but what about those great souls who have introduced us to Krsna consciousness? What relationship do we have with these Vaisnavas, and what are our obligations toward them, as well as toward parents, teachers, sannyasis, and other superiors who help guide us back to Godhead? Not much has been said by the Society on these topics, and hardly any appreciation is shown for those souls who labor to elevate us day by day.The scriptures, however, glorify as guru all Vaisnavas who guide a conditioned soul back to Godhead — be they instructors or initiators — advocating a culture of honor and respect. ISKCON needs to reflect upon these principles further, and the purpose of this book is to act as a catalyst toward such an end.

Sri Krsna számtalan univerzum vitathatatlan Ura, akit korlátlan er?, gazdagság, hírnév, tudás és lemondás jellemez, ám ezek az ?r?kké diadalmas energiák csupán részben  tárják fel ?t. Végtelen dics?ségét csak az ismerheti meg, aki elb?v?l? szépségénél keres menedéket, ?sszes t?bbi fenséges tulajdonsága forrásánál, melynek páratlan transzcendentális teste ad otthont. Szépségének legf?bb jellemz?je az a mindenek f?l?tt álló édes íz, ami t?mény kivonata mindennek, ami édes. Minden édes dolgot túlszárnyal, és nem más, mint az édes íz megízlelésének képessége. Sri Krsna édes természete finom arany sugárzásként ragyog át transzcendentális testén. Govinda páratlanul gy?ny?r? testének legszebb és legédesebb része ragyogó arca. ?des hold-arcán rejtélyes mosolya a legédesebb, az az arcáról ragyogó ezüst holdsugár, ami nektárral árasztja el a világot. Mosolyának sugárzása nélkül keser? lenne a cukor, savanyú a méz, és a nektárnak sem lenne íze. Amikor mosolyának holdsugara elvegyül teste ragyogásával, a kett? együtt a kámfor aromájára emlékeztet. Ez a kámfor aztán ajkán keresztül a fuvolába kerül, ahonnan megfoghatatlan hangvibrációként t?r el?, és er?nek erejével rabul ejti azoknak az elméjét, akik hallják. Ahogy a szavak gondolatok mondanivalóját hordozzák, ahogy a gondolatok a szemben tükr?z?dnek, ahogy egy mosoly a szív érzelmeir?l árulkodik, úgy a fuvola hangja Sri Krsna szépségét viszi a fül?n keresztül a szív templomának oltárára.

Euthyphro (Ancient Greek: Euthuphron) is one of Plato's early dialogues, dated to after 399 BC. Taking place during the weeks leading up to Socrates' trial, the dialogue features Socrates and Euthyphro, a religious expert also mentioned at Cratylus 396a and 396d, attempting to define piety or holiness. Background The dialogue is set near the king-archon's court, where the two men encounter each other. They are both there for preliminary hearings before possible trials (2a).Euthyphro has come to lay manslaughter charges against his father, as his father had allowed one of his workers to die exposed to the elements without proper care and attention (3e–4d). This worker had killed a slave belonging to the family estate on the island of Naxos; while Euthyphro's father waited to hear from the expounders of religious law (exegetes cf. Laws 759d) about how to proceed, the worker died bound and gagged in a ditch. Socrates expresses his astonishment at the confidence of a man able to take his own father to court on such a serious charge, even when Athenian Law allows only relatives of the deceased to sue for murder. Euthyphro misses the astonishment, and merely confirms his overconfidence in his own judgment of religious/ethical matters. In an example of "Socratic irony," Socrates states that Euthyphro obviously has a clear understanding of what is pious and impious. Since Socrates himself is facing a charge of impiety, he expresses the hope to learn from Euthyphro, all the better to defend himself in his own trial. Euthyphro claims that what lies behind the charge brought against Socrates by Meletus and the other accusers is Socrates' claim that he is subjected to a daimon or divine sign which warns him of various courses of action (3b). Even more suspicious from the viewpoint of many Athenians, Socrates expresses skeptical views on the main stories about the Greek gods, which the two men briefly discuss before plunging into the main argument. Socrates expresses reservations about such accounts which show up the gods' cruelty and inconsistency. He mentions the castration of the early sky god, Uranus, by his son Cronus, saying he finds such stories very difficult to accept (6a–6c). Euthyphro, after claiming to be able to tell even more amazing such stories, spends little time or effort defending the conventional view of the gods. Instead, he is led straight to the real task at hand, as Socrates forces him to confront his ignorance, ever pressing him for a definition of 'piety'. Yet, with every definition Euthyphro proposes, Socrates very quickly finds a fatal flaw (6d ff.). At the end of the dialogue, Euthyphro is forced to admit that each definition has been a failure, but rather than correct it, he makes the excuse that it is time for him to go, and Socrates ends the dialogue with a classic example of Socratic irony: since Euthyphro has been unable to come up with a definition that will stand on its own two feet, Euthyphro has failed to teach Socrates anything at all about piety, and so he has received no aid for his own defense at his own trial (15c ff.).

The Republic (Greek: Politeia) is a Socratic dialogue, written by Plato around 380 BC, concerning the definition of (justice), the order and character of the just city-state and the just man, reason by which ancient readers used the name On Justice as an alternative title (not to be confused with the spurious dialogue also titled On Justice). The dramatic date of the dialogue has been much debated and though it must take place some time during the Peloponnesian War, "there would be jarring anachronisms if any of the candidate specific dates between 432 and 404 were assigned". It is Plato's best-known work and has proven to be one of the most intellectually and historically influential works of philosophy and political theory. In it, Socrates along with various Athenians and foreigners discuss the meaning of justice and examine whether or not the just man is happier than the unjust man by considering a series of different cities coming into existence "in speech", culminating in a city (Kallipolis) ruled by philosopher-kings; and by examining the nature of existing regimes. The participants also discuss the theory of forms, the immortality of the soul, and the roles of the philosopher and of poetry in society. Short Summary (Epilogue):X.1—X.8. 595a—608b. Rejection of Mimetic ArtX.9—X.11. 608c—612a. Immortality of the SoulX.12. 612a—613e. Rewards of Justice in LifeX.13—X.16. 613e—621d. Judgment of the Dead The paradigm of the city — the idea of the Good, the Agathon — has manifold historical embodiments, undertaken by those who have seen the Agathon, and are ordered via the vision. The centre piece of the Republic, Part II, nos. 2–3, discusses the rule of the philosopher, and the vision of the Agathon with the allegory of the cave, which is clarified in the theory of forms. The centre piece is preceded and followed by the discussion of the means that will secure a well-ordered polis (City). Part II, no. 1, concerns marriage, the community of people and goods for the Guardians, and the restraints on warfare among the Hellenes. It describes a partially communistic polis. Part II, no. 4, deals with the philosophical education of the rulers who will preserve the order and character of the city-state.In Part II, the Embodiment of the Idea, is preceded by the establishment of the economic and social orders of a polis (Part I), followed by an analysis (Part III) of the decline the order must traverse. The three parts compose the main body of the dialogues, with their discussions of the “paradigm”, its embodiment, its genesis, and its decline.The Introduction and the Conclusion are the frame for the body of the Republic. The discussion of right order is occasioned by the questions: “Is Justice better than Injustice?” and “Will an Unjust man fare better than a Just man?” The introductory question is balanced by the concluding answer: “Justice is preferable to Injustice”. In turn, the foregoing are framed with the Prologue (Book I) and the Epilogue (Book X). The prologue is a short dialogue about the common public doxai (opinions) about “Justice”. Based upon faith, and not reason, the Epilogue describes the new arts and the immortality of the soul. ? About Author: Plato (Greek: Platon, " 428/427 or 424/423 BC – 348/347 BC) was a philosopher in Classical Greece. He was also a 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 most-famous student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy and science. Alfred North Whitehead once noted: "the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato." Plato's sophistication as a writer is evident in his Socratic dialogues; thirty-six dialogues and thirteen letters have been ascribed to him, although 15–18 of them have been contested. Plato's writings have been published in several fashions; this has led to several conventions regarding the naming and referencing of Plato's texts. Plato's dialogues have been used to teach a range of subjects, including philosophy, logic, ethics, rhetoric, religion and mathematics. Plato is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy. His writings related to the Theory of Forms, or Platonic ideals, are basis for Platonism. ? Early lifeThe exact time and place of Plato's birth are not known, but it is certain that he belonged to an aristocratic and influential family. Based on ancient sources, most modern scholars believe that he was born in Athens or Aegina between 429 and 423 BC. His father was Ariston. According to a disputed tradition, reported by Diogenes Laertius, Ariston traced his descent from the king of Athens, Codrus, and the king of Messenia, Melanthus. Plato's mother was Perictione, whose family boasted of a relationship with the famous Athenian lawmaker an