Divine Dialogues: Together with the Apology of Socrates

by Plato

Excerpt from Divine Dialogues: Together With the Apology of Socrates

That there is but one God that we ought to love and serve him, and to endeavour to resemble him in holiness and righteousness; that this God rewards humility, and punishes pride.

That the true happiness of man consists in being united to God, and his only misery in being separated from him.

That the soul is mere darkness, unless it be illuminated by God: that men are incapable even of praying well, unless God teaches them that prayer, which alone can be useful to them.

That there is nothing solid and substantial but piety that this is the source of virtues, and that it is the gift of God.

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415 pages, Hardcover

First published September 12, 2013

About the author

Plato (Greek: Πλάτων), born Aristocles (c. 427 – 348 BC), was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms. He raised problems for what became all the major areas of both theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy, and was the founder of the Platonic Academy, a philosophical school in Athens where Plato taught the doctrines that would later become known as Platonism.
Plato's most famous contribution is the theory of forms (or ideas), which has been interpreted as advancing a solution to what is now known as the problem of universals. He was decisively influenced by the pre-Socratic thinkers Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and Parmenides, although much of what is known about them is derived from Plato himself.
Along with his teacher Socrates, and Aristotle, his student, Plato is a central figure in the history of philosophy. Plato's entire body of work is believed to have survived intact for over 2,400 years—unlike that of nearly all of his contemporaries. Although their popularity has fluctuated, they have consistently been read and studied through the ages. Through Neoplatonism, he also greatly influenced both Christian and Islamic philosophy. In modern times, Alfred North Whitehead famously said: "the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato."