While a lot of what Plato wrote about Socrates is accepted by historians , some people believe that Plato ( who saw Socrates as a hero ) portrayed Socrates as a much greater man than he actually was . Socrates ' opposition to democracy is often denied , and the question is one of the biggest philosophical debates when trying to determine exactly what Socrates believed . The strongest argument of those who claim Socrates did not actually believe in the idea of philosopher kings is that the view is expressed no earlier than Plato 's Republic , which is widely considered one of Plato 's `` Middle '' dialogues and not representative of the historical Socrates ' views .