Great Dialogues of Plato

Nothing bad can be said about platos classic dialogues if this is your thing. Its nice having them handy in one book.

Two pages in and I can already tell this is the perfect translation, since so many miss the nuance in references to the divine in Plato, which are necessary for understanding the text. My only complaint, and it's so minor I won't even mark it down, is that the ink smears if you touch it for too long. Turn the pages by the corners.

If your interested in philosophy this is the right book for you. Socrates was a very wise man. I particularly like that part with the picture of the image holders.

I last read this in high school. So getting reacquainted was a joy. Plata (through Socrates) takes on so many of the ethical problems of the world, ones we are still dealing with today.

Socrates, in prison and facing the death penalty, explained to his lifelong friend, Crition, why he (Socrates) refused to escape, Robert C. Karlsberg, M.D. Formerly, USMC -- Combat Zone Medical Officer

It is a very good translation of Plato's dialogues. It is in first person as if Socrates is having conversations (dialogues) with various people. It is Plato's way of passing on Socrates' teaching using the Socratic method. I use it for high school at home but it is a good read for anyone interested in Plato, Socrates, Greek philosophy, the foundations of philosophy or philosophy in general.

If you don’t know who he is do yourself a favor and order it anyway once you find out who he is you’ll be glad you did!

There is no point in trying to detract from the works of Plato themselves; anyone who is buying a collection of his dialogues is already convinced of his preeminence in Western philosophy. This translation, however, is honestly lousy, and it surprises me how well it seems to have been received. Though I have some training in philosophy (an undergraduate degree) I'm certainly not an ancient philosophy expert, and I found no difficulty in reading Jowett, and I imagine the average reader approaching Plato would not either. Rouse's modus operandus appears to be to make Plato "accessible"--to a fault, I think. Whatever gains are made in clarity are more than countered by the awkwardness of the text and frequent anachronisms. To illustrate, here are two quotes from the first dialogue included, Ion: "Socrates: I'm glad to hear it, Ion, for it is clear you won't mind giving me a show. Ion: I will most certainly. You'll find it a treat to hear, Socrates, how finely I have decked out Homer! I believe I've earned a golden crown from the Homer Association." What Rouse awkwardly translates as "Homer Association"--which sounds like a group of middle-aged men who get together every Wednesday to bowl and drink, or something--is preserved in Jowett's text as Homeridae, a group of ancient Greek Homeric scholars. How this could be confusing, especially with a simple footnote, is beyond me. Second: "Ion: When someone speaks about any other poet, I can't attend. I can't put in one single remark to the point, I'm just in a doze--but only mention Homer and I'm wide awake in a jiffy . . ." The term "jiffy" is so anachronistic and silly that it really distracts the reader from the flow of the text. I cannot possibly understand why Rouse thought this was a good word to use here. These are just some examples. All translations of Plato that I've encountered have some anachronism--Socrates quotes Latin phrases in Jowett, for example--but there is and should be a limit, and I think it's obvious that Rouse exceeds that limit.

Produkt kam wie erwartet.

Very compact and neat selection of Plato's most important dialogues. If you need a complete compilation of dialogues then check Hackett's "Plato: Complete Works"

the pages are literally coming off!!! what the hell

Very good experience!

It has a Good Collection of Plato's Major works as well as Socrates Apology & Republic, both of which I was actually lookin to buy. Give it a read and see for yourself.