Thinking starts here. A great collection of translations of the dialogues.

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Product Description

All the writings of Plato generally considered to be authentic are here presented in the only complete one-volume Plato available in English. The editors set out to choose the contents of this collected edition from the work of the best British and American translators of the last 100 years, ranging from Jowett (1871) to scholars of the present day. The volume contains prefatory notes to each dialogue, by Edith Hamilton; an introductory essay on Plato's philosophy and writings, by Huntington Cairns; and a comprehensive index which seeks, by means of cross references, to assist the reader with the philosophical vocabulary of the different translators.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #71716 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1776 pages

Review
This elegant edition contains many of the best and most readable English translations of the Dialogues and Letters. . . . Judiciously edited, beautifully printed. -- Review

Review
This elegant edition contains many of the best and most readable English translations of the Dialogues and Letters. . . . Judiciously edited, beautifully printed.
(Review of Metaphysics )

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Customer Reviews

No longer standard! Do not use!
This dreadful anthology was once the standard English edition of Plato. I had to assign it when I taught courses on Plato because there was nothing else. Many of the translations are bad. Even the decent ones often are quite old, and their flowery Victorian diction is off-putting. The collection isn't complete, as it leaves out a number of important dialogues from the Platonic corpus. And the introductions are uniformly ghastly; the editors have little understnding of philosophy, and keep saying horrible things like "There's a lot of boring logic-chopping in this dialogue, but at least the personality of Socrates is engaging." There is no longer any need to be subject to the tyranny of Hamilton & Cairns! There is now a far better edition, with excellent introductions, excellent translations, and including all the dialogues. It's the COMPLETE WORKS from Hackett Pub., edited by John Cooper. It will be the standard edition from now on. Go get that one! Don't get this one!

Second best Plato collection in English
Here is what you get:

CONTENTS

Editorial Note (editors)

Introduction (Huntington Cairns)

Apology

Crito

Phaedo

Charmides

Laches

Lysis

Euthyphro

Menexenus

Lesser Hippias

Ion

Gorgias

Protagoras

Meno

Euthydemus

Cratylus

Phaedrus

Symposium

Republic

Theaetetus

Parmenides

Sophist

Statesman

Philebus

Timaeus

Critias

Laws

Epinomis *

Greater Hippias *

Letters *

* denotes items whose authenticity is seriously doubted.

The most irritating thing about this collection is the moronic, but mercifully short, Edith Hamilton introductions to the dialogues.

Let us take some examples from her introduction to the dialogue "Euthyphro":

"When Socrates asks what then is piety, he [Euthyphro] gives the answer characteristic of the orthodox everywhere - in effect 'Piety is thinking as I do.'"

Is this really the case? Is that all that Moses, Isaiah, Paul, Augustine, Aquinas, and Martin Luther, to name only a few, had to say on the subject?

Here is another:

"Socrates makes a distinction fundamental in reasoning and often disregarded, that the good is good not because the gods approve it, but the gods approve it because it is good."

There is several hundred years of intense philosophical and theological debate (still continuing) settled in a pretty summary fashion.

Finally, there is this:

"The real interest of the dialogue, however, is the picture of Socrates just before his trial...keenly involved in a discussion completely removed from his own situation."

One of the charges against Socrates was of course impiety. Also, I guess, it is ridiculous to assume that there is much inherent interest or significance in asking questions about the metaphysical grounding of the good, especially by comparison with Hamilton's fascinating "People" magazine approach to philosophy.

In one sense, the introductions do, however, perfectly introduce Plato. The multiple layers of stupidity in the introductions make a striking contrast with the multiple layers of insight in the dialogues themselves. When the reader goes from Hamilton to Plato, it is wonderfully pleasurable to feel the effect of the author's IQ jumping about 200 points.

As others have noted, if you have a free choice, "Plato: Complete Works", edited by John M. Cooper is the Plato collection to get. The translations are more modern, the introductions are smarter (if not longer), the footnotes identifying people, places and events more numerous, and many more of the works of uncertain authenticity are included, which have historical significance if nothing else.

If you do have to buy this collection for school or because it is used as a reference by some other work you're reading, don't despair. You're still getting Plato. Also, you're getting the better index.

Here, for example, is the index entry for "habit" from this collection:

habit: in education of infants, Laws 7.792e, force of, ib. 4.708c; and nature, ib. 7.794e; and temperament, ib. 2.655e; and virtue, Rep. 7.518e, 10.619c

And here is the entry from the Cooper collection:

habit: L. 2.655e, 4.708c, 7.792e, 7.794e; R. 7.518e, 10.619c.

Standard, but use caution
This is generally considered the standard collection of Plato's dialogues. On the whole it's pretty good, and it's certainly convenient. Just two caveats: (1) Edith Hamilton's introductions to the dialogues must be taken with more than a few grains of salt. She has a sentimental attitude that amounts to saying, "Plato was such a wise and good man -- almost as wise and good as we are!" When it comes to the more difficult dialogues (e.g. Parmenides), she is out of her depth. (2) To get a sense of the difficulties in translating Plato, read the preface to Allan Bloom's translation of the Republic (Basic Books). Bloom is particularly hard on Cornford, some of whose translations are reprinted here. Just keep in mind that, if you want to study Plato more closely, you may have to use more literal translations or learn some Greek.