Plato: Complete Works

Very well collected and organized! I quite liked the introduction and overview in the beginning of the book; it provides a wonderful context to Plato’s works and Socratic dialogues as a whole—making the text approachable for any audience. There is also a plethora of authors notes on words and sections that require contextual explanations to understand. I like how the author went this direction as apposed to modifying the translated text in such a way that I feel further misinterprets what is meant in its original form. Of course unless you can read ancient text in its original language, you’re always going to lose a little meaning in the process, but from the other books I’ve read this seems to be the most organic and understandable form. Finally the book protector is pretty and the book cover fits very nice in my collection!

I got this edition of Plato's Works back in March, as I wanted, not only a TRULY COMPLETE edition of Plato, but modern translations as well. I have an MA in History, but one of my BA's is in Philosophy, with an emphasis in Early Western and Scholastic Philosophy. Over the years since, I have read many philosophers, from Plato, to Marx, to Mao, and many more. But ultimately, it ALL goes back to Plato. As Alfred North Whitehead said, all philosophy AFTER Plato was and is footnotes to him. And one cannot argue that Plato was to Western Civilisation every bit as important as Moses, and the other Biblical writers, and possibly moreso. This particular book is well-bound, with a dust jacket. I got it from a private seller at Amazon, and if memory serves it was listed as VERY GOOD condition, which it is in fact. There is some minor underlining at the beginning of the text, but that is all. Buying this book hard-copy for US$35 is a steal. Back to the content. These are all modern translations. I am used to the Jowett translations, which are all VERY dry. These are much easier to read. My knowledge of Greek is extremely limited, and even then mostly New Testament Greek, which is an entirely different dialect, for lack of a better word, than what Plato used. My personal recommendation is that, if you are reading merely for basic knowledge, use this text. If you are a true scholar of Plato (as I fancy myself to be), STILL use this text, as well as other translations, including Jowett, for comparison. Better yet, learn the original Greek! For those of us who cannot learn Greek at this time, this book is a jewel. It contains EVERYTHING, either written by Plato, or thought to be, or that even came to us under his name, spuriously so. It is THE MOST COMPLETE edition out there. Plato is the real deal. Reading him will set you to truly understand the human condition. There is no one, not Aristotle, not Moses, and I would dare to say, not even Jesus (and I say that as a Christian!), who can impart the kind of knowledge that Plato can. One who does not read him cannot be said to be any kind of scholar. In fact, if I may be so bold, I would say that reading Plato is necessary to even be truly human. In sum, I encourage EVERY PERSON who is literate to read this book. In fact, it SHOULD be required reading in EVERY high school across the land. The only reason it isn't is because, as a previous reviewer noted, the government (which controls the curriculum in our schools) would be terrified of people actually learning to THINK for themselves.

Using solely simple English and understandable terms, in the style which the texts were originally composed by Plato himself, the translators and editors of this Hackett version of Plato successfully brought the classics of paramount significance in western civilization to curious and studious readers in the modern era. What else can I say? Just buy it! Surely you won't regret. Pros 1) Beautiful hard cover for collectors. (Well, if you really desire the insights of Plato, you should make the book as dirty as possible after you read it, raping it with your markers and margin notes.) 2) The style of writing: as I mentioned in the introductory part of this review. 3) Full Stephanus pagination is provided throughout the entire work, making it extremely convenient to the readers for scholarly research, and discussion/comparison with other people. 4) Introductory passages, to both the way you should study Plato in the beginning chapters of the book, and before each of Plato's dialogues, helping the reader to get a grand picture at first, so that you can decide, after you read the introduction, that if you really need to read the dialogues. However, I'd suggest you read all his works in its entirety, at least those that are generally agreed by scholars to be Plato's genuine work. Cons The only issue of this great thing is of course the quality of its printing. The pages are very thin, like the kind of paper used in printing dictionaries and the bible. As regards this aspect, I'd prefer the polished paper used in Cambridge classics. Font size (approximately 11 pt serif font) is okay for youngsters, but I would suggest the elderly to get magnifying glasses for reading this.

編集主幹はプリンストン大学哲学科教授のJohn M. Cooper教授。その他３０名の教授の翻訳で読みやすさ満点です。プラトンやその著作についての解説、また全著作をカバーしたindexもついていて本当に贅沢な造りです。プラトンを読む事の意味や、読む時に注意する事など価値ある解説が特に助かりました。 装丁、紙質ともにCODと同様です。結構気にする人もいると思うので。 小林秀雄も言うように、プラトンには哲学の専門用語は無く、文脈にしっかりついて行く姿勢さえ持っていれば読む事ができ、深い所まで考えさせてくれます。 大学受験の英文法書一冊とターゲット１９００レベルの単語帳をマスターしていれば、単語と文法においては十分読めるでしょう。多読にも使えるし精読にも使える、最高の英文素材です。

Amazing Philosophy. I have read it before, now I am studying it.

Excellent quality. Pages are necessarily thin but fine if you are careful.

Platon'un Türkçe çevirileri eksik. Çevrilmiş olanların büyük bir çoğunluğu da berbat çevirilere sahip. Alınabilecek en iyi çeviri bu. Fiyat tuzlu fakat Platon'un yazdığı her şeyi elde ediyorsunuz.

Every Plato works and works attributed to him are included in this one copy with helpful and comprehensive introductions before each translations. Besides the thin jacket and flimsy quality of pages, it was a good buy. And it'll look good on the shelf of any library.