Dialogues of Plato

by Erich Segal (Introduction)

Plato's dialogues attributed to Socrates

Mass Market Paperback

Published May 1, 1986

About the author

Erich Wolf Segal was an American author, screenwriter, and educator. He was best-known for writing the novel Love Story, a bestseller, and writing the motion picture of the same name, which was a major hit.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each of these were definitely worth reading, but I just don't sync well with the dialog. For the ideas that overlap with Aristotle, I much prefer his essays, from which I can grasp the concepts more clearly. The dialogues are entertaining as well as educational. Socrates can be an insufferably jerk, and in addition to the syllogism, he seems to have invented the bad analogy and false modesty.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised to learn that Erich Segal was a classics professor. (At Harvard, no less.) Segal's intro is good, but the GR description of this book is wrong -- it's not the Jowett translation throughout. In fact, only Apology and Meno are Jowett; I picked this up to read Seth Benardete's translation of Symposium, and one of my other favorite translators, R.E. Allen, contributed his translation of Euthyphro. I finished those and am working my way through Protagoras. It's a nice selection of dialogues, and inexpensive too. Socrates would appreciate that.