Socrates (ca. 470–399 b.c.e.), Plato (ca. 427–347 b.c.e.), and Aristotle (384–322 b.c.e.)

Greek thinkers credited with the foundation and early development of Western philosophy. Scholars regard Socrates as the founder of Western philosophy and its most influential teacher and practitioner. Plato, a student and successor of Socrates, founded the Academy in Athens, considered the Western world’s first institution of higher learning. Plato’s pupil, Aristotle, refined his teacher’s ideas and became perhaps the most influential thinker of the classical world. The ideas and systems of thought crafted by these three individuals profoundly affected the intellectual development of the Western world.