Plato and Beginning of Philosophy

It is Plato who first uses the words 'philosopher" and "philosophy", and who, in his dialogs or dramatic discussions, establishes for all subsequent Western thought just was the enterprise of philosophy will be. In our study of these dialogs we will trace the origins in Plato of philosophy's primary questions concerning what is real and true as opposed to mere appearance (ontology, metaphysics), what is knowledge as opposed to mere opinion (epistemology), what is valid argument (logic), what is beautiful (aesthetics), and what is good, just and fair (ethics, politics). Plato foregrounds speech and language in all these considerations. Hence language, as the medium of thought and communication, will be a fundamental concern throughout our study.