Author and Citation Information for "Plato"

The latest version of the entry "Plato" (minor correction) is not yet archived and may change before it is archived in the Winter 2026 edition. You should wait for the Winter 2026 archived edition of the Encyclopedia to quote or cite this version. Fixed editions of the Encyclopedia are created and archived every three months, on the 21st of September (Fall), December (Winter), March (Spring), and June (Summer).

If you need to cite the current version before the Winter 2026 edition is available, then please use the following format but note, again, that the Winter 2026 Edition may vary from the current text if further changes are made:

Kraut, Richard, "Plato", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2026 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.), forthcoming URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2026/entries/plato/>.

Please note that you are being asked to cite a URL that is in a fixed, archived edition of the encyclopedia. The reason for this is that the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy recommends that readers cite a stable document for scholarly purposes. You should not cite the dynamic portion of the encyclopedia.

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Spring:	March 21
Summer:	June 21
Fall:	September 21
Winter:	December 21

Older versions of "Plato" are available in the following editions:

Summer 2026 (substantive content change)
Spring 2022 (substantive content change)
Fall 2017 (substantive content change)
Spring 2015 (minor correction)
Fall 2013 (substantive content change)
Summer 2012 (minor correction)
Fall 2011 (substantive content change)
Fall 2009 (substantive content change)
Fall 2008 (minor correction)
Summer 2004 (minor correction)
Spring 2004 (first archived) [author: Kraut, Richard]

This entry was first published on Sat Mar 20, 2004. It was last modified on Oct 7, 2026.

BibTeX Citation String (Current Version in Winter 2026 Archive)

There are over 50 BibTeX styles and no standard format that is guaranteed to work for all 50. So, we suggest you use our string as a 'useful suggestion' that might need to be adapted for your particular BibTeX file. Also note that the double braces around the title is to preserve capitalization. You may wish to edit that as well.

@InCollection{sep-plato,
	author       =	{Kraut, Richard},
	title        =	{{Plato}},
	booktitle    =	{The {Stanford} Encyclopedia of Philosophy},
	editor       =	{Edward N. Zalta and Uri Nodelman},
	howpublished =	{\url{https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2026/entries/plato/}},
	year         =	{2026},
	edition      =	{{W}inter 2026},
	publisher    =	{Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University}
}