Plato

"Apology" is the famous account of the trial of Socrates. Plato's dialogue presents the charges brought against Socrates by the people of Athens and lays out the arguments that the accused presented in his defense. Socrates was accused of corrupting the youth of the city with his radical ideas and of impiety against the pantheon of the Athenian gods, or more specifically, of not believing in the gods of the city and believing instead in no gods or...

"Taking the form of a dialogue between Socrates, Gorgias, Polus and Callicles, the Gorgias debates crucial questions about the nature of government. While the aspiring politician Callicles propounds the view that might is right, and the rhetorician Gorgias argues that oratory and the power to persuade represent 'the greatest good', Socrates insists on the duty of politicians to consider the welfare of their citizens--a duty he believed had been dishonoured...

Timaeus is one of Plato's dialogues, mostly in the form of long monologues given by Critias and Timaeus, written c. 360 BC. The work puts forward reasoning on the possible nature of the physical world and human beings and is followed by the dialogue Critias. Participants in the dialogue include Socrates, Timaeus, Hermocrates, and Critias. Some scholars believe that it is not the Critias of the Thirty Tyrants who appears in this dialogue, but his grandfather,...

A classic work of ancient Greek literature from Plato, one of the most famous of all ancient Greek philosophers, the "Phaedo" is the moving story of the last moments of Socrates life as recounted by Phaedo, a student of Socrates and a first-hand witness to his final hours. "Phaedo" is the fourth and last dialogue by Plato of Socrates final days, following "Euthyphro", "Apology", and "Crito". In "Phaedo" we see the famous philosopher in his last hours...

"Set in the idyllic countryside outside Athens, the Phaedrus is a dialogue between the philosopher Socrates and his young friend Phaedrus, inspired by their reading of a clumsy speech by the writer Lysias about love. After first considering the virtues of romantic love, their conversation develops into a wide-ranging discussion on such subjects as the pursuit of beauty, the nature of humanity, the immortality of the soul and the attainment of truth,...

The Cratylus, Plato's sole dialogue devoted to the relation between language and reality, is acknowledged to be one of his masterpieces. But owing to its often enigmatic content no more than a handful of passages from it have played a part in the global evaluation of Plato's philosophy. This new English translation by C D C Reeve is the first since 1926, and incomparably the most helpful and accessible now available. It opens up the Cratylus to all...

The Sophist is a Platonic dialogue from the philosopher's late period, most likely written in 360 BC. In it the interlocutors, led by Eleatic Stranger employ the method of division in order to classify and define the sophist and describe his essential attributes and differentia vis a vis the philosopher and statesman. Like its sequel, the Statesman, the dialogue is unusual in that Socrates is present but plays only a minor role. Instead, the Eleatic...

The Dialogues of Plato, written between 427 and 347 B.C., rank among the most important and influential works in Western thought. Most famous are the first four, in which Plato casts his teacher Socrates as the central disputant in colloquies that brilliantly probe a vast spectrum of philosophical ideas and issues. Socrates' ancient words are still true, and the ideas found in Plato's Dialogues still form the foundation of a thinking person's education....

In the Meno, Anytus had parted from Socrates with the significant words: 'That in any city, and particularly in the city of Athens, it is easier to do men harm than to do them good;' and Socrates was anticipating another opportunity of talking with him. In the Euthyphro, Socrates is awaiting his trial for impiety. But before the trial begins, Plato would like to put the world on their trial, and convince them of ignorance in that very matter touching...

Alcibiades was a notable figure in Ancient Greek history. Famed Athenian statesman, orator and general, he had a powerful impact on the political and military scene in Athens and Sparta, despite his difficult and tumultuous youth. Alcibiades was well-trained in the art of Rhetoric, and among his many renowned teachers was also Socrates, the philosopher, who taught Plato and had set the foundation of western philosophy as we know it today. Alcibiades...