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亞斯的姪子。依據後來羅馬作家第歐根尼·拉爾修的說法,柏拉圖的原名為亞裏斯多克勒斯(Aristokles),後來因為他強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、第二卷和第七卷裏,柏拉圖舉出了幾個隱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),這種形式便是知識的終極目標,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。柏拉圖認為,自然界中有形的東西是流動的,但是構成這些有形物質的「形式」或「理念」卻是永恆不變的。柏拉圖指出,當我們說到「馬」時,我們沒有指任何一匹馬,而是稱任何一種馬。而「馬」的含義本身獨立於各種馬(「有形的」),它不存在於空間和時間中,因此是永恆的。但是某一匹特定的、有形的、存在於感官世界的馬,卻是「流動」的,會死亡,會腐爛。這可以作為柏拉圖的「理念論」的一個初步的解說。
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