Plato embraced these ideas and elaborated on them in his book The Republic, wherein he imagined a "perfect state in which ethics, virtue and reason were in balance." He advocated the pursuit of wisdom rather than the acceptance of dogma.
Aristotle studied medicine as well as philosophy and applied a systematic method to the study of the human relationship with other aspects of the world around us. Aristotle was the tutor to Alexander the Great. Aristotelian thought was ultimately harmonized with Christian theology by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) in the thirteenth century.
As we noted in our introduction, the milestones of history are like dominoes. Later events are caused by earlier events. The battles of Salamis and Plataea were significant because they prevented the annihilation of Greek civilization. This in turn allowed a great flourishing of Greek culture, which gave rise to the philosophers who were largely responsible for formulating the basis of modern Western culture.
Throughout history, and in many cultures, there have been numerous outstanding thinkers, writers and theoreticians, but in Athens during this period there was a larger concentration of such great minds— and they exerted a more profound impact on Western history—than the world would see in such a small space and time until the Renaissance. Among these were three whose names stand out above the others. Socrates (469-399 BC) was the first, and he was the teacher of Plato (427-347 BC). Plato in turn taught Aristotle (384-322 BC). This continuity of creativity added significantly to the depth and fullness of the birth of Western philosophical thought.
Socrates teaching Plato and another student. Socrates, who developed a following because of his witty oration, was also a brilliant philosopher that many consider to be the father of Western philosophy. Socrates believed that humans existed for a purpose and that right and wrong played a crucial role in defining our relationship with the environment and other people. He went on to theorize that the purpose of an ideal government embodied wise men ruling for the general good of society.