As a student of Socrates, Plato (428­347 B.C.) was a Greek 
philosopher who pursued truth through questions, answers, and 
additional questions. He believed in two essential characteristics of 
knowledge: first, that it must be certain and infallible; second, that it is 
genuine and not merely an appearance. In 387 B.C. he founded the 
Academy in Athens, described as the first European university.

The early Dialogues of Plato  (428­347 B.C.) relate the teachings and 
style of his mentor, Socrates. Here, Socrates plays the character of 
the fool in order to unmask self-proclaimed experts. Socrates continues 
to be a central figure in Plato’s middle and late Dialogues  but their 
philosophical underpinnings are Plato’s own; they include his theories of 
Forms and of Knowledge.