TIMAEUS   by Plato   Translated by Benjamin Jowett Contents INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS. Section 1. Section 2. Section 3. Section 4. Section 5. Section 6. Section 7. Section 8. TIMAEUS INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS. Of all the writings of Plato the Timaeus is the most obscure and repulsive to the modern reader, and has nevertheless had […]

SYMPOSIUM   By Plato Translated by Benjamin Jowett Contents INTRODUCTION. SYMPOSIUM INTRODUCTION. Of all the works of Plato the Symposium is the most perfect in form, and may be truly thought to contain more than any commentator has ever dreamed of; or, as Goethe said of one of his own writings, more than the author […]

  STATESMAN   By Plato Translated by Benjamin Jowett Contents INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS. STATESMAN INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS. In the Phaedrus, the Republic, the Philebus, the Parmenides, and the Sophist, we may observe the tendency of Plato to combine two or more subjects or different aspects of the same subject in a single dialogue. In the […]

SOPHIST   By Plato Translated by Benjamin Jowett Contents INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS. SOPHIST INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS. The dramatic power of the dialogues of Plato appears to diminish as the metaphysical interest of them increases (compare Introd. to the Philebus). There are no descriptions of time, place or persons, in the Sophist and Statesman, but we […]

PHILEBUS   By Plato Translated by Benjamin Jowett Contents INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS. PHILEBUS INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS. The Philebus appears to be one of the later writings of Plato, in which the style has begun to alter, and the dramatic and poetical element has become subordinate to the speculative and philosophical. In the development of abstract […]

LYSIS   By Plato   Translated by Benjamin Jowett Contents INTRODUCTION. LYSIS, OR FRIENDSHIP PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE INTRODUCTION. No answer is given in the Lysis to the question, ‘What is Friendship?’ any more than in the Charmides to the question, ‘What is Temperance?’ There are several resemblances in the two Dialogues: the same youthfulness […]

GORGIAS   by Plato   Translated by Benjamin Jowett Contents INTRODUCTION. GORGIAS INTRODUCTION. In several of the dialogues of Plato, doubts have arisen among his interpreters as to which of the various subjects discussed in them is the main thesis. The speakers have the freedom of conversation; no severe rules of art restrict them, and […]

EUTHYPHRO By Plato Translated by Benjamin Jowett Contents INTRODUCTION.EUTHYPHRO INTRODUCTION. 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. […]

EUTHYDEMUS by Plato Translated by Benjamin Jowett Contents INTRODUCTION.EUTHYDEMUS INTRODUCTION. The Euthydemus, though apt to be regarded by us only as an elaborate jest, has also a very serious purpose. It may fairly claim to be the oldest treatise on logic; for that science originates in the misunderstandings which necessarily accompany the first efforts of […]

CRITIAS   by Plato Translated by Benjamin Jowett Contents INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS. CRITIAS. INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS. The Critias is a fragment which breaks off in the middle of a sentence. It was designed to be the second part of a trilogy, which, like the other great Platonic trilogy of the Sophist, Statesman, Philosopher, was never […]