A Plato Primer (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780801476839)

"Plato was more than a philosopher; he was a master of literary composition who frequently wrote in a colorful style. At the heart of his work there is material as definitively philosophical as anything in the most technical works in the twenty-four centuries that have followed his pioneering labors."--from the Introduction

A Plato Primer introduces students and general readers to the main theses, concepts, and arguments in Plato's philosophy. Plato's thought--subtle, versatile, and multifaceted--extends over many decades of composition and many philosophical topics, making it difficult to distill. J. D. G. Evans overcomes this challenge by starting from the premise that there is a core to Plato's philosophy that can be traced through the spectrum of his writings.

He opens with a chapter on the Republic, Plato's major work; he then singles out a particular theme from the Republic for treatment in each of the six subsequent chapters. These themes, which correspond to modern philosophical categories (Knowledge, Reality, Dialectic, Value, Causality and Change, Politics), enable Evans to bring other Platonic works into his discussion. Featuring a useful "Further Reading" section for those wishing to pursue given topics in the secondary literature, A Plato Primer is a wide-ranging and compelling analysis of the original philosophical personality shining through the body of Plato's writings.