Philosophy

Keith Quincy's new translation of Plato's dialogues makes these texts truly accessible and restores to them some of their original power to provoke and inspire. Presented in chronological order, rather than the usual thematic groups, Quincy's dialogues present a sense of the evolution of Plato's thought, making him more clearly a subject than he appears to be in other collections. Each dialogue is preceded by an introduction linking it to historical characters and events, and providing biographical sketches of the principals and their relationship to Socrates and Plato. challenge the prevailing view of Socrates as an almost saintly figure, and of Plato as his devotedly brilliant disciple. But there is good evidence for Quincy's view, and it gives a new and enlivening slant to these treasured texts.

Plato of Athens, who laid the foundations of the Western philosophical tradition and in range and depth ranks among its greatest practitioners, was born to a prosperous and politically active family ca. 427 bce. In early life an admirer of Socrates, Plato later founded the first institution of higher learning in the West, the Academy, among whose many notable alumni was Aristotle. Traditionally ascribed to Plato are thirty-six dialogues developing Socrates dialectic method and composed with great stylistic virtuosity, together with thirteen letters. "Republic," a masterpiece of philosophical and political thought, concerns righteousness both in individuals and in communities, and proposes an ideal state organized and governed on philosophical principles.