Understanding Plato

Outlines Plato's life and historical background, introduces his major works, and offers a fresh approach to the interpretation of his ideas

Understanding Plato introduces beginning philosophy students to the nature of philosophy and philosophical method by providing a clear description and analysis of four of the Socratic dialogues (Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno), and Plato's Republic. This book is a "companion" in the sense that students can consult it for commentary and guidance while reading the original classic works. Understanding Plato is the first in a series of companion volumes offering students both a summary and critical analysis of some of the classics of ethics and political philosophy. A forthcoming volume will be devoted to John Locke's Second Treatise of Government. The third volume will discuss John Stuart Mill's ethical theory in Utilitarianism and his discussion of the limits of state power over the individual in On Liberty. Chapters in all volumes in the series will conclude with a set of questions for thought and discussion. Laurence Houlgate is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. He received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles, and has previously held professorships at the University of California, Santa Barbara and George Mason University, Virginia. He has published many articles in legal and philosophical journals and is the author of The Child and the State; Family and State; and Morals, Marriage and Parenthood.

Understanding Plato’s Republic is an accessible introduction to the concepts of justice that inform Plato’s Republic, elucidating the ancient philosopher's main argument that we would be better off leading just lives rather than unjust ones Provides a much needed up to date discussion of The Republic's fundamental ideas and Plato's main argument Discusses the unity and coherence of The Republic as a whole Written in a lively style, informed by over 50 years of teaching experience Reveals rich insights into a timeless classic that holds remarkable relevance to the modern world

The Republic is Plato's most famous work and one of the seminal texts of Western philosophy and politics. The characters in this Socratic dialogue - including Socrates himself - discuss whether the just or unjust man is happier. They are the philosopher-kings of imagined cities and they also discuss the nature of philosophy and the soul among other things.

This concise, essay length guide examines Plato's discussion of love in The Symposium. It covers all the speeches, culminating in Alcibiades's drunken homage to Socrates, and examines the moral dimensions Plato attaches to love, as well as key concepts such as Common and Heavenly Love.

Here is the question: what constitutes a good explanation of phenomena? Whereas true being (forms) can be known through dialectic, concrete phenomena can only be explained. An explanation is verisimilar of dialectical knowledge as concrete things are images of eternal ones. Ashbaugh shows how Plato subtly develops the notion of imaging and explaining, accounting for how physical things can be different from forms and how they are connected to forms.

This book argues that Plato's Charmides presents a unitary but incomplete argument intended to lead its readers to substantive philosophical insights. Through careful, contextually sensitive analysis of Plato's arguments concerning the virtue of sophrosyne, Thomas M. Tuozzo brings the dialogue's lines of inquiry together, carrying Plato's argument forward to a substantive conclusion. This innovative reading of Charmides reverses misconceptions about the dialogue that stemmed from an impoverished conception of Socratic elenchus and unquestioned acceptance of ancient historiography's demonization of Critias. It views Socratic argument as a tool intended to move its addressee to substantive philosophical insights. It also argues, on the basis of recent historical research, a review of the fragments of Critias' oeuvre and Plato's use of Critias in other dialogues, that Plato had a nuanced, generally positive view of Critias. Throughout, readers are alerted to textual difficulties whose proper resolution is crucial to understanding Plato's often abstract arguments.