#2: Plato
If Socrates lit the match, Plato built the house that philosophy would live in for centuries. He was born in Athens, likely around 427 BCE, and unlike his teacher, he wrote a great deal. His dialogues, with Socrates often at the center, remain among the most famous texts in Western thought. Plato asked readers to look beyond what appears on the surface. The visible world, in his view, was only part of the story.
