Three Dialogues by Plato

Three Dialogues by Plato

Three Dialogues is a collection of three Socratic dialogues by the philosopher Plato: Protagoras, Philebus, and Gorgias. Protagoras is an argument between the elderly and celebrated sophist Protagoras and Socrates about the nature of sophists and virtue. Philebus, written between 360 and 347 BC and one of the last Socratic dialogues, features Socrates (rare for a late dialogue), Philebus, and Protarchus. It centers on the value of pleasure versus knowledge, and focuses in the end on the inherent value of philosophy and reason over drama and poetry: a wholly philosophical idea. Finally, Gorgias is an argument between a philosopher and rhetorician, emphasizing the art of persuasion as necessary for gaining legal and political advantages. All three dialogues are also available in the Cosimo omnibus editions of The Works of Plato. One of the greatest Western philosophers who ever lived, PLATO (c. 428-347 B.C.) was a student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle. Plato was greatly influenced by Socrates' teachings, often using him as a character in scripts and plays (Socratic dialogues), which he used to demonstrate philosophical ideas. Plato's dialogues were and still are used to teach a wide range of subjects, including politics, mathematics, rhetoric, logic, and, naturally, philosophy.

Born to a politically connected and aristocratic family between 428 and 423 B.C., Plato received a good standard of education at an early age, and was able to immerse himself in the intellectual community of Ancient Athens. His most notable contemporary and mentor was Socrates, an eccentric but highly capable philosopher who was to feature as a principle character in most of Plato's scholarly writings. Owing to his high standard of education in art, mathematics, rhetoric and philosophy, Plato was able to assemble a comprehensive philosophy of his own via his favoured form of writing which was the dialogue. In total, over thirty of these Platonic dialogues have survived the passage of time - and together they form the backbone of Ancient Greek philosophy. After enjoying success as a writer and academic, Plato in 385 B.C. founded The Academy. This school was to unite the most capable thinkers of Greece, and would help to advance learning throughout Greek society's Golden Age. It was in the Academy that Plato would instruct and apprentice Aristotle, who was to go on to gain renown as a philosopher and scholar. Owing to his reputation Plato was hired by Dion, whose nephew Dionysus II was the rightful ruler of Sicily - Dion wished his nephew to receive a good education in the art of sound and wise governance. However Dionysus II became suspicious and accused both Plato and Dion of conspiracy - after some time spent under arrest, Plato returned to his homeland. In his late period, Plato continued to tutor and mentor the best young minds of Athens, and he would perish around 348 B.C. having lived beyond the age of eighty. Today Plato's legacy remains lauded: the philosopher ably used logic and reason to imbue insight on democratic governance, while developing a cohesive philosophy on topics such as art, metaphysics, justice and the 'Theory of Forms' - his iconic take on how ideas related to reality.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781944529888
ISBN 10	1944529888
Title	Three Dialogues
Author	Plato
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Cosimo Classics
Year published	2011-03-01
Number of pages	214
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.