Plato
1) The Republic
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Often ranked as the greatest of Plato's many remarkable writings, this celebrated philosophical work of the fourth century BC contemplates the elements of an ideal state, serving as the forerunner for such other classics of political thought as Cicero's De Republica, St. Augustine's City of God, and Thomas More's Utopia. Written in the form of a dialog in which Socrates questions his students and fellow citizens, The Republic concerns itself chiefly...
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
"Among the most powerful and moving of Plato's dialogues, the Symposium is one of the greatest literary works on the nature of love in Western thought." "During a lively dinner party, a series of speakers offer their views on eros or desire. They see love as a response to beauty, a cosmic force, a motive for social action and a means of ethical education. Through jokes and flirtation they reveal their attitudes to love and personal relationships....
3) Gorgias
Author
Series
Publisher
Penguin Books
Pub. Date
2004.
Language
English
Description
"A philosophical dialog in which Plato explores the struggle to overcome the temptations of worldly success and live and moral life."--
Author
Series
Language
English
Formats
Description
The Dialogues of Plato (427–347 B.C.) rank with the writings of Aristotle as the most important and influential philosophical works in Western thought. In them Plato cast his teacher Socrates as the central disputant in colloquies that brilliantly probe a vast spectrum of philosophical ideas and issues. None is more exciting and revelatory than the four dialogues — Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo — on
...5) The laws
Author
Series
Publisher
Penguin
Pub. Date
2004.
Language
English
Description
A lively dialogue between a foreign philosopher and a powerful statesman, Plato's Laws reflects the essence of the philosopher's reasoning on political theory and practice. It also embodies his mature and more practical ideas about a utopian republic. Plato's discourse ranges from everyday issues of criminal and matrimonial law to wider considerations involving the existence of the gods, the nature of the soul, and the problem of evil. This translation...
Author
Series
Publisher
Penguin Books
Language
English
Description
Here in one book are the four classic accounts of the trial and death of Socrates. Here in one book are the four classic accounts of the trial and death of Socrates.
Here in one book are the four classic accounts of the trial and death of Socrates. Here in one book are the four classic accounts of the trial and death of Socrates.
7) Phaedo
Author
Series
Publisher
Bobbs-Merrill
Pub. Date
[1951]
Language
English
Description
The Phaedo is acknowledged to be one of Plato's masterpieces, showing him both as a philosopher and as a dramatist at the height of his powers. For its moving account of the execution of Socrates, the Phaedo ranks among the supreme literary achievements of antiquity. It is also a document crucial to the understanding of many ideas deeply ingrained in western culture, and provides one of the best introductions to Plato's thought. - Publisher.
9) Sophist
Author
Publisher
Project Gutenberg
Language
English
Description
The Sophist is a Platonic dialogue from the philosopher's late period, most likely written in 360 BC. In it the interlocutors, led by Eleatic Stranger employ the method of division in order to classify and define the sophist and describe his essential attributes and differentia vis a vis the philosopher and statesman. Like its sequel, the Statesman, the dialogue is unusual in that Socrates is present but plays only a minor role. Instead, the Eleatic...
10) Apology
Author
Publisher
Duke Classics
Language
English
Description
"Apology" is the famous account of the trial of Socrates. Plato's dialogue presents the charges brought against Socrates by the people of Athens and lays out the arguments that the accused presented in his defense. Socrates was accused of corrupting the youth of the city with his radical ideas and of impiety against the pantheon of the Athenian gods, or more specifically, of not believing in the gods of the city and believing instead in no gods or...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
The Trial and Death of Socrates remains a powerful document, partly because it was a true – perhaps in certain parts verbatim – account of the end of one of the greatest figures in history. In Apology Socrates defends himself before the Athenian court against charges of corrupting youth. Phaedo is the account, by a young man, of the actual last words and moments of Socrates. These are presented with scene-setting introductions to the historical
...13) Crito
Author
Publisher
Project Gutenberg
Language
English
Description
There is a well-known saying that the whole of Western Philosophy is footnotes of Plato. This is because his writings have set the schema that philosophy can be said to have followed ever since. Following the teachings of Socrates, Plato's works are among the world's greatest literature. The Crito seems intended to exhibit the character of Socrates in one light only, not as the philosopher, fulfilling a divine mission and trusting in the will of heaven,...
14) Alcibiades I
Author
Publisher
Project Gutenberg
Language
English
Description
Alcibiades was a notable figure in Ancient Greek history. Famed Athenian statesman, orator and general, he had a powerful impact on the political and military scene in Athens and Sparta, despite his difficult and tumultuous youth. Alcibiades was well-trained in the art of Rhetoric, and among his many renowned teachers was also Socrates, the philosopher, who taught Plato and had set the foundation of western philosophy as we know it today.
Alcibiades...
15) Alcibiades II
Author
Publisher
Project Gutenberg
Language
English
Description
The Second Alcibiades or Alcibiades II is a dialogue traditionally ascribed to Plato. In it, Socrates attempts to persuade Alcibiades that it is unsafe for him to pray to the gods if he does not know whether what he prays for is actually good or bad for him. (Source: Wikipedia)
Author
Publisher
Barnes & Noble
Pub. Date
2008.
Language
English
Description
In "Meno," Socrates and Meno set out to find teachers of ethics. When they are unable to find any, the reader is left wondering if knowledge, goodness, and justness can be taught.
"Parmenides" tells of the meeting between a young Socrates and two philosophers from the Eleatic school, Parmenides and Zeno. In his most challenging work of philosophy, Plato debates monism and plurality.
In "Theaetetus," Socrates and Theaetetus explore the three definitions...
Author
Series
Publisher
Barnes & Noble
Pub. Date
[2005]
Language
English
Description
Thirteen of Plato's most well-known dialogues are included in the collection "Essential Dialogues of Plato." Plato was a learned student of the early philosopher Socrates. Because Socrates did not write any works before his untimely death, Pluto took Socrates' beliefs and expressed them through imagined dialogues between the philosopher and his students. It was the first time in Western history that a philosophical dialectic between the teacher and...
20) Protagoras
Author
Publisher
Hackett Pub. Co
Pub. Date
[1992]
Language
English
Description
Plato's "Protagoras" is a series of debates or arguments between Socrates and the elderly Protagoras, who was a well-known Sophist. Socrates was deeply critical of the Sophists, who were teachers or wise men who charged money for educating students and dispensing wisdom. He believed them to be corrupt and dangerous men, who could lead their pupils astray. In Plato's dialogue, Socrates challenges Protagoras and his beliefs in front of an audience of...
