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Plato
An excellent wielder of rational argument, the ancient Greek philosopher Plato dedicated his life to the pursuit and defense of truth, goodness, and justice. His insights not only left a lasting imprint on the world of philosophy but now illuminate the intellectual bankruptcy of contemporary thought.
Despite his paganism, Plato has often been an intellectual ally for Christians. David Talcott calls for a reengagement with Plato’s arguments about metaphysical reality, teleology, and virtue in order to strengthen our faith in the truthfulness of God’s Word and the Christian worldview. Through both what is praiseworthy and problematic in Plato, we can see the goodness of God’s salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Despite his paganism, Plato has often been an intellectual ally for Christians. David Talcott calls for a reengagement with Plato’s arguments about metaphysical reality, teleology, and virtue in order to strengthen our faith in the truthfulness of God’s Word and the Christian worldview. Through both what is praiseworthy and problematic in Plato, we can see the goodness of God’s salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
- GenresPhilosophy
144 pages, Paperback
Published November 29, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 14, 2025
Talcott, David. Plato. Phillibsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed. 2024.
At first I worried that this volume would sound like the previous ones, running the refrain of “Van Til to the rescue!” When I saw that the renowned classical scholar Anthony Esolen wrote the foreword, my fears were laid to rest. This volume, perhaps unique among worldview analyses, actually attempts to understand Plato’s own aims–not just his arguments but why he gave those particular arguments. David Talcott succeeds on all levels.
Against Materialism
Almost all discussions of Plato, the competent ones anyway, make much of his “two realms,” the forms above and the senses below. To be sure, Plato probably believed something like that, but such a portrayal misses his actual aims. As Talcott notes with beauty, some of these aims are actually common sense. For Plato and also the Christian, materialism, the belief that all is matter in motion, is the enemy. It should not surprise us that Christians, even those who disavow Plato, used his arguments.
Beauty cannot be a physical thing. To use Talcott’s example: take a beautiful ring, a beautiful tower, and a beautiful body–what do they have in common? On a materialistic basis, it is hard to say. The tower is tall and rectangular, the ring circular, and the beautiful body is….what? What is the material atom or group of atoms that constitutes the beautiful? The materialist has one way out: relativism. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That does not solve the problem, though. What is it for the relativist that suggests to him what makes the three objects beautiful? Even on relativistic principles, it is hard to identify any material property.
Plato does a good job refuting materialism, and on this point most of us, whether we like it or not, are probably Platonists. But he still has to answer the question. His answer: “things have a rational structure to them that gives them order and makes them what they are” (Talcott 42). This is the form or essence. Before we raise difficulties about Plato’s view of the forms, we must appreciate the proto-Christian “feel” to it: “The spiritual structures the physical” (44).
Marriage and Homosexuality
Was Plato (or Socrates) gay? If not, did he not approve of homosexuality? Talcott does a good job defending Plato on these points. The dialogues where he supposedly supports homosexuality are misguided. In the Phaedrus, several of the main characters are gay. Plato simply wrote a dialogue that reflected part of the population of Athens. As Talcott notes, “If you were to write a dialogue at Starbucks on Critical Race Theory, you would, well, have to have a character espouse it.”
In his other dialogue, the Symposium, where we would most expect Plato to approve of homosexuality, he introduces the most flamboyant character (Alcibiades), not to promote homosexuality, but to show how destructive it is to natural virtue. (And anyone reading this, knowing of Alcibiades’ character and political failures, would not think Plato was approving of homosexuality). In any case, those who say Plato approved of homosexuality clearly have not read his final work, The Laws.
So far, so good. But did not Plato teach communal marriage in the Republic? Sort of. How serious we are to treat this obviously idealized utopia is up for debate. In any case, by the time we get to the Laws, Plato has abandoned this and holds to traditional marriage.
Evaluation
This is easily the best volume in P&R’s Great Thinkers series. Talcott brings to the table analytic rigor while never sacrificing Plato’s own beautiful style. And perhaps unlike some in this series, Talcott seems very interested in understanding Plato on Plato’s own terms. He avoids the need to have a “Christian Worldview Critique” immediately ready. Indeed, when we find out what Plato is doing, there is not a pressing need for such a critique. To be sure, Plato was not a Christian and his philosophy comes up short on several major issues. But those are easy to spot. Few people will be remotely tempted to view knowledge as eternal recollection. You do not need a Christian Worldview Critique to see that.
At first I worried that this volume would sound like the previous ones, running the refrain of “Van Til to the rescue!” When I saw that the renowned classical scholar Anthony Esolen wrote the foreword, my fears were laid to rest. This volume, perhaps unique among worldview analyses, actually attempts to understand Plato’s own aims–not just his arguments but why he gave those particular arguments. David Talcott succeeds on all levels.
Against Materialism
Almost all discussions of Plato, the competent ones anyway, make much of his “two realms,” the forms above and the senses below. To be sure, Plato probably believed something like that, but such a portrayal misses his actual aims. As Talcott notes with beauty, some of these aims are actually common sense. For Plato and also the Christian, materialism, the belief that all is matter in motion, is the enemy. It should not surprise us that Christians, even those who disavow Plato, used his arguments.
Beauty cannot be a physical thing. To use Talcott’s example: take a beautiful ring, a beautiful tower, and a beautiful body–what do they have in common? On a materialistic basis, it is hard to say. The tower is tall and rectangular, the ring circular, and the beautiful body is….what? What is the material atom or group of atoms that constitutes the beautiful? The materialist has one way out: relativism. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That does not solve the problem, though. What is it for the relativist that suggests to him what makes the three objects beautiful? Even on relativistic principles, it is hard to identify any material property.
Plato does a good job refuting materialism, and on this point most of us, whether we like it or not, are probably Platonists. But he still has to answer the question. His answer: “things have a rational structure to them that gives them order and makes them what they are” (Talcott 42). This is the form or essence. Before we raise difficulties about Plato’s view of the forms, we must appreciate the proto-Christian “feel” to it: “The spiritual structures the physical” (44).
Marriage and Homosexuality
Was Plato (or Socrates) gay? If not, did he not approve of homosexuality? Talcott does a good job defending Plato on these points. The dialogues where he supposedly supports homosexuality are misguided. In the Phaedrus, several of the main characters are gay. Plato simply wrote a dialogue that reflected part of the population of Athens. As Talcott notes, “If you were to write a dialogue at Starbucks on Critical Race Theory, you would, well, have to have a character espouse it.”
In his other dialogue, the Symposium, where we would most expect Plato to approve of homosexuality, he introduces the most flamboyant character (Alcibiades), not to promote homosexuality, but to show how destructive it is to natural virtue. (And anyone reading this, knowing of Alcibiades’ character and political failures, would not think Plato was approving of homosexuality). In any case, those who say Plato approved of homosexuality clearly have not read his final work, The Laws.
So far, so good. But did not Plato teach communal marriage in the Republic? Sort of. How serious we are to treat this obviously idealized utopia is up for debate. In any case, by the time we get to the Laws, Plato has abandoned this and holds to traditional marriage.
Evaluation
This is easily the best volume in P&R’s Great Thinkers series. Talcott brings to the table analytic rigor while never sacrificing Plato’s own beautiful style. And perhaps unlike some in this series, Talcott seems very interested in understanding Plato on Plato’s own terms. He avoids the need to have a “Christian Worldview Critique” immediately ready. Indeed, when we find out what Plato is doing, there is not a pressing need for such a critique. To be sure, Plato was not a Christian and his philosophy comes up short on several major issues. But those are easy to spot. Few people will be remotely tempted to view knowledge as eternal recollection. You do not need a Christian Worldview Critique to see that.
January 25, 2025
A fine overview with little substantial critical engagement.
August 21, 2024
Have you heard of the philosopher Plato? This Greek philosopher has made a tremendous impact in Western thought. Philosopher Alfred North Whitehead have famously described European philosophical tradition as consisting of a series of footnotes to Plato. This book is part of the Great Thinkers series published by P&R Publishing and so far I have six volumes in this series. Like other titles in this series this volume reflect the editors’ aim of presenting readers Great Thinkers with care and accuracy while also providing an analysis and critique from the standpoint of a biblical Worldview and also Van Til’s apologetics as a tool of analysis.
After the introduction there are seven other chapters in the book with chapter two on Plato’s argument for the spiritual against materialism and chapter three on Plato’s defense of the truth against relativism and skepticism. Chapter four is on Plato’s view on virtue (contra hedonism) followed by a chapter on Plato’s view of Justice (contra selfish power) and a chapter on natural sex and marriage (contra indulgent passion). Chapter seven is on Plato’s view of the Divine and the final chapter is on the limits of Plato and the need for God’s glorious salvation.
The author David Talcott does a good job examining Plato in a way that respect Plato while also being critical with Plato that he doesn’t hold to a biblical worldview. I thought Talcott made a good point that Plato addresses a lot of philosophical worldviews that the secular West is now facing: Materialism, relativism, skepticism, homosexuality and hedonism. Reading this made me realize that the Bible is true that there is nothing truly new under the sun. The author approaches Plato from a biblical worldview and a distinctively Reformed perspective (relevant is a Reformed interpretation of Romans 1). However I do wish the author brought more Van Tillian style critique to Plato. I have been noticing that with each new title in the series the less there is a distinctively Van Tillian critique (though at times Van Til is mentioned in passing). Having said that the book does a good job explaining Plato and this book interests me for the author’s exploration of the question whether Plato was for homosexual relations or not. I’m convinced by the author’s argument that Plato was not for same sex relationship and I’m corrected from my former belief that Plato was for this.
Reading this book brought back memories of my undergraduate days at UCLA reading Plato and how well done my political theory professor was with bringing Plato to life as we explore his ideas as well as the professor’s powerful critique.
I recommend this book.
After the introduction there are seven other chapters in the book with chapter two on Plato’s argument for the spiritual against materialism and chapter three on Plato’s defense of the truth against relativism and skepticism. Chapter four is on Plato’s view on virtue (contra hedonism) followed by a chapter on Plato’s view of Justice (contra selfish power) and a chapter on natural sex and marriage (contra indulgent passion). Chapter seven is on Plato’s view of the Divine and the final chapter is on the limits of Plato and the need for God’s glorious salvation.
The author David Talcott does a good job examining Plato in a way that respect Plato while also being critical with Plato that he doesn’t hold to a biblical worldview. I thought Talcott made a good point that Plato addresses a lot of philosophical worldviews that the secular West is now facing: Materialism, relativism, skepticism, homosexuality and hedonism. Reading this made me realize that the Bible is true that there is nothing truly new under the sun. The author approaches Plato from a biblical worldview and a distinctively Reformed perspective (relevant is a Reformed interpretation of Romans 1). However I do wish the author brought more Van Tillian style critique to Plato. I have been noticing that with each new title in the series the less there is a distinctively Van Tillian critique (though at times Van Til is mentioned in passing). Having said that the book does a good job explaining Plato and this book interests me for the author’s exploration of the question whether Plato was for homosexual relations or not. I’m convinced by the author’s argument that Plato was not for same sex relationship and I’m corrected from my former belief that Plato was for this.
Reading this book brought back memories of my undergraduate days at UCLA reading Plato and how well done my political theory professor was with bringing Plato to life as we explore his ideas as well as the professor’s powerful critique.
I recommend this book.
January 20, 2024
3.5 stars. As a summary of Plato’s thoughts on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics and theology, this book is excellent. It is a deft and eloquent treatment that is to be further commended for placing the Gospel front and centre in its analysis of Plato.
However, Talcott’s critical engagement of Plato from a Christian (particularly Reformed) perspective, as promised in Chapter 1 and as per the theme of this series of books, is rather superficial. The overall conclusion appears to be that in some respects, Plato comes close to general Christian doctrine while falling far short fundamentally. But there is no deep engagement on his method and presuppositions, and no distinctively Reformed analysis. In Chapter 1, Talcott mentions the different types of reception that Plato has had among Christians (James Smith, Van Til, Frame, Augustine, Christian Platonists) but by the end of the book, there isn’t any attempt to explore the reasons for this diversity/divergence in views. To be fair, perhaps a proper treatment of this subject would have been beyond the scope of a small book (but one dearly wishes that at least a few pointers would have been given).
However, Talcott’s critical engagement of Plato from a Christian (particularly Reformed) perspective, as promised in Chapter 1 and as per the theme of this series of books, is rather superficial. The overall conclusion appears to be that in some respects, Plato comes close to general Christian doctrine while falling far short fundamentally. But there is no deep engagement on his method and presuppositions, and no distinctively Reformed analysis. In Chapter 1, Talcott mentions the different types of reception that Plato has had among Christians (James Smith, Van Til, Frame, Augustine, Christian Platonists) but by the end of the book, there isn’t any attempt to explore the reasons for this diversity/divergence in views. To be fair, perhaps a proper treatment of this subject would have been beyond the scope of a small book (but one dearly wishes that at least a few pointers would have been given).
February 1, 2024
This book is a great resource for classical Christian teachers wanting a quick introduction to Plato’s ideas. I have read and studied Plato previously and I found this book helpful as a refresher. Talcott also filled in some gaps in my knowledge. Some key discussions in the book are Plato’s political views as seen in his work Laws and also Plato’s theological views. These two points helped me understand why Christians have studied Plato over the centuries: he really did have some wonderful insights that Christians can learn from and appreciate. It was also great to see Talcott answer popular Christian concerns about Plato’s views on homosexuality and marriage. The reality is Plato was against homosexuality as an inordinate desire and he understood (as seen in his Laws) that marriage was a social good that actually helped reinforce societal bonds. Overall, Talcott’s book shows the true value of Plato’s philosophy and offers a way for Christians to both appreciate this brilliant pagan’s work while also seeing where he fell short of the great truth of the gospel. I recommend this resource for classical teachers looking for a solid introduction to this pivotal thinker.
May 17, 2024
This book is the theological equivalent of plundering bazookas from the Egyptian to fire at the Canaanites.
October 14, 2024
An excellent and accessible, commendatory and yet critical (when necessary) overview of Plato’s life and thought.
November 27, 2025
Concise/useful — 6.5/10
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews