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Plato

Plato

  • In this monumental work of moral and political philosophy, Plato sought to answer some of the world’s most formidable questions: What does it mean to be good? What enables us to distinguish between right and wrong? How should human virtues be translated into a just society? Perhaps the greatest single treatise written on political philosophy, The Republic has strongly influenced Western thought concerning questions of justice, rule, obedience, and the good life.

    This work is also undoubtedly the best introduction to Plato’s philosophy in general. Not only does it contain his ideas on the state and man but also his famous theory of forms, his theory of knowledge, and his views on the role of music and poetry in society.

  • The Dialogues of Plato, written between 427 and 347 BC, rank among the most important and influential works in Western thought. Most famous are the first four, in which Plato casts his teacher Socrates as the central disputant in colloquies that brilliantly probe a vast spectrum of philosophical ideas and issues, among them art, beauty, virtue, and the nature of love. Socrates' ancient words are still true, and the ideas found in Plato's Dialogues still form the foundation of a thinking person's education. When Socrates is accused by his enemies of crimes against the state, among them "impiety" and "corruption of the young," his trial and death become the dramatic final setting for his message.

    These first four of Plato's dialogues are offered unabridged, as translated by the distinguished classical scholar Benjamin Jowett:

    1. Euthyphro
    2. Apology
    3. Crito
    4. Phaedo