Understanding Plato

by David J. Melling

This incisive book fills the longstanding need for a sound, reliable, and balanced guide to the whole of Plato's philosophical work. Melling describes the different stages in Plato's philosophical development, introduces his different methods and styles of philosophy, and explains why the debates were important then and what sense we can make of them now. Against the background of the ancient Greek world, Melling illuminates Plato the man, his writings, and, above all, why his ideas should be considered important two thousand years after his death.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics

192 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1987

Reviews

[Richard Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very nice overview of Plato's thinking and writing. It is relatively easy to read and provides very good summary style overview of key texts. The book is very well laid out.

My one caveat is that this may be just a little too deep for someone with no philosophical background (though I would suggest you try it), and on the other hand it is sometimes a little bit too light for someone who wants a serious and critical philosophical review of Plato's writing. This would be ideal for someone studying Plato at degree level - but probably not sufficient on its own to get into some of the details of his writing.

2019 update : as part of my ongoing exercise to refresh my philosophical knowledge before starting a masters, I just re-read this book. It is definitely a good way into Plato, detailed enough to explain his main areas of thought and cover his lifetime of writing, but not too complex. Well written and accessible.

[Yohanes Saputra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sufficient introduction to the thoughts of Plato.

In the introduction the author states that it's not claiming to be the definitive book, but only to introduce the thoughtscape of Plato. From my reading, I learned to know what background influences that made him believed what he believed - which is the strength of the book.

Five facts about Plato that will shock you:
1. Plato's life would have been a different life if the Athenians weren't spared mercy by the Spartans, and if Socrates had not died.
2. If theory of Forms shocks you, then the theory of recollection will shock you more. The idea that knowledge is not acquired but remembered is an unfamiliar one for me. That means the soul has an intelligence before its birth in a body, a pre-existence of the soul. This is like the theory of reincarnation and which it is, surprisingly!
3. People make it seemed Plato held permanent beliefs in his lifetime. That is far from the truth. Plato, as in the case of Freud, held very different beliefs in their stages of intellectual life; some are cast out, others refined and made more perfect. Reading Plato with the assumptions of fixed-held beliefs in each of his book would make us very baffled by the inconsistency and contradiction we may pass through.
4. The dialogues. They're complex. We assume Socrates believed such-and-such things when we read Plato, but the historical Socrates did not. What was used, of course, Socrates as a figure to evidence Plato's method of systematic questioning. It's a very effective method to test the truth of unjustified claims, a very early attempt to test such-and-such claims.
5. The interlocutors of the dialogues are very, very smart individuals. We may joke around, calling people with world salad a Sophist, but in fact it hits more deeper to contemporary society. People here-and-there claiming to be teachers of virtue, the "coach", the motivation speakers, the hustling chad with their guaranteed courses that will make you successful in all aspects of life: these are true today and no less truer than in Plato's day. But, are they showing us virtue or not? Makes you think.

[Philemon - · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Plato's dialog Meno, Socrates lays out in steps the process of learning, the historical importance of which seems hard to overstress:

(a) False opinion subjected to effective questioning leads to the refutation of the false opinion.
(b) Refutation leads to ignorance and bewilderment.
(c) Ignorance and bewilderment lead to a thirst for knowledge.
(d) A thirst for knowledge leads to a resolute and persistent inquiry.
(e) Resolute and persistent inquiry leads to true opinion.
([) Continual questioning of the ground of one's true opinions leads to knowledge.

Going over the principal arguments in many of the greatest Dialogues, David Melling has provided here a very serviceable short introduction to Plato. The arguments are both well presented and well critiqued. Melling frequently points out gaps and inconsistencies in Socrates' thinking, which is all well and good, since the Socratic method is not a recipe for complete and final answers. Rather, what it has provided is a fertile base for millennia of philosophical, and one continuing to serve as a base for serious existential conversations old, new, and ongoing.

Within the Western philosophical tradition, any discussion of what is true, what is good, what is virtuous, and what is beautiful must stem from the roots that Socrates and Plato planted. We owe them great debt of gratitude for their work.

As AI comes into prominence, we'll have to go back to what the machines will lack: a soul. Dialogs like Phaedo will help us sort it out.

One disappointment deserves to be noted, however: the absence of a chapter on the Symposium. That's the one where Socrates discusses eros (passionate love and desire) and debates its relationship to the good and the beautiful. Admittedly a knotty area.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Understanding Plato is a little gem, a great introduction to the writing of Plato.