Plato,Harold North Fowler
The Athenian philosopher Plato was born in 427 BCE. In early manhood an admirer of Socrates, he later founded a school of philosophy in the grove Academus. Much else recorded of him is uncertain; that he left Athens for a time after Socrates' execution is probable; that he went to Cyrene, Egypt & Sicily is possible; that he was wealthy is likely; that he was critical of democracy is obvious. He lived to be 80. Linguistic tests still try to establish the order of his extant philosophical dialogs, revealing Socrates' mind fused with Plato's thought. In Laches, Charmides & Lysis, Socrates & others discuss separate ethical conceptions. Protagoras, Ion & Meno discuss whether righteousness can be taught. In Gorgias, Socrates is estranged from his city's thought, his fate impending. The Apology (not a dialog), Crito, Euthyphro & the Phaedo relate Socrates' trial & death & propound the soul's immortality. The Symposium & Phaedrus, written when Socrates was alive, are about the origin & meaning of love. Cratylus discusses language's nature. Republic's 10 books concern righteousness (& education, gender equality, social structure & abolition of slavery). Of the 6 so-called dialectical dialogs Euthydemus deals with philosophy; metaphysical Parmenides is about general concepts & absolute being; Theaetetus is about epistemology. Of its sequels, Sophist deals with not-being; Politicus with good & bad statesmanship & governments; Philebus with what's good. Timaeus seeks the origin of the visible cosmos out of abstract geometrical elements. Unfinished Critias treats of Atlantis. Unfinished also is Plato's last work, the 12 books of Laws (Socrates absent), a critical discussion of principles of law which he thought Greeks might accept. Loeb Classical Library's edition is in 12 volumes.
Philosophy,Classics
Cratylus/Parmenides/Greater Hippias/Lesser Hippias