Around 600 BC, Lao Tze was born in the region of China which we now refer to as Hunan. Nearly 200 years later, Socrates was born in Athens, Greece. In these two hundred years, Lao Tze's teachings spread across 5000 miles, as the crow flies, and influenced ancient Greece. This is evident in the writings and teachings of Socrates and Plato. There are many affinities between Taoist and Platonic philosophies, such as the preferred method of selecting leaders, the desire to seek an ultimate truth, and the philosophy of anti-materialism.
Plato and Lao Tze first agree in their method of selectin…
