Plato the Teacher: Being Selections from the Apology/Euthydemus/Protagoras/Symposium/Phaedrus/Republic/Phaedo

by Plato, William Lowe Bryan (Editor), Charlotte Lowe Bryan (Editor)

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

496 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2007

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."

Reviews

[Maecenas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read the Apology, and Phaedrus!

'Phaedrus', I'm gonna be honest went quite a bit over my head. I found the discussion on the four different types of madnesses fascinating however, my brain started tuning out when he started describing how to have like a philosophically sound debate. I just don't think I got everything I needed to out of that section. Parts of this were thought-provoking for me though, particularly when he spoke about the duties and almost like "moral obligations" of writers, I found myself thinking about this quite a bit after I finished reading it.
Overall, I need to revisit this later, I just need more help understanding it.

The 'Apology' I had an easier time reading although I definitely could benefit from revisiting it. I will say, the ending genuinely had a profound impact on me, some of the best musings on the topic of death and dying that I've ever read about. It was oddly comforting.

this rating is based off of personal enjoyment level btw...