Plato review | Plato Complete Works | Plato, John M. Cooper, ...

Plato at his readable best | Plato Complete Works | Plato, John M. Cooper, ...

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	• Plato Complete Works Plato, John M. Cooper, ... Hackett Pub Co, 1997 - 1808 pages average customer review:based on 47 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Plato Complete Works Edited by John Cooper

Plato Complete Works edited by John Cooper is a great book. This is a complete compilation of all the stories written by Plato. Translated and edited properly in a way that makes Plato understandable to the reader. Highly recommended.

Plato review

I purchased this book to do independent study on Plato. I was previously unaware that so much was attributed to him. The book includes some works which scholars believe not to be by him put are Platonic in the style of writing. Of special interest to me is the Theaetetus which is considered to be the founding document on epistemology and the theory of knowledge. Each dialogue has a foreword describing the immediate scene and surrounding context. Any serious academic student of philosophy needs to have this book.

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Plato at his readable best

Very readable and for most people who think that they dislike philosophy, this is an enjoyable read. You may not want to put it down. Good scholarship. This work prompts a lot of pondering and rumination on the simplest yet most profound subjects. To study the birth of systematic universals is both a privilege and a wonder.

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Review of Plato: Complete Works

This collection of Plato is as complete as possible. If anything, it contains a host of dialogues that are clearly not Plato's, and deserve to be excluded.

The translations are all readable, though they admittedly vary in style and quality. I have no experience with the Greek text, so I continue with personal bias... Many of the translations present a Plato who speaks very, very careful, using complex syntax, sparing to "that which is" or "and so it must be." Other translations, to my preference, understand the beauty of brevity. Again, the former sort my be more "authentically" Platonic. In review, though, its important to note that none of the translations are incomprehensible.

Footnotes. Not endnotes. Zeus be praised.

The introductions are never skimpy. They almost always present the content of the dialogue and its historical context, especially in the case of spurious works. I do have one criticism: there is only a single, two-page introduction before both the Republic and the Laws. I feel it would have been much more effective to present an introduction before each and every book of these works, all of which contain enough cultural content to fill out a full-page overview.

My biggest criticism is with the organization of this work. The editor makes almost no effort to organize the dialogues, leaving them in the original ordering of Thrasyllus. This preserves several of the ancient tetralogies (see the book's introduction), but the editor doesn't explain any of these tetralogies. The editor feels that dating and organizing Plato's works chronology is too sketchy, and so makes little effort in this regard.

Aside from an introduction to Thrasyllus and a brief mention of his tetralogical system, the introduction leaves much to be desired. As I said, there is no effort to give the works chronological perspective. There is a short introduction regarding the traditional thematic and literary focii of the dialogues, helping to introduce the reader to the writing itself. The biography of Plato is too brief.

Review of Criticisms:

Mind you, all of these criticisms stem from personal bias, and I do not level them in order to encourage the purchase of another collection. This collection is excellent.

1. Some of the translations feel too wordy to be truly enjoyable; they are readable and informative, but hardly a pleasure to read.

2. Each book to the Republic and the Laws deserves its own introduction.

3. The editor makes no effort to organize the dialogues chronologically, and does little to explain the tetralogies of Thrasyllus.

4. There is insufficient biological information in the introduction.

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It pleases the gods

The book is in pristine condition and arrived as timely as could be expected, considering the location of the shipper. Now I am actually capable of DOING my philosophy homework! Thanks!

Outstanding translations by leading contemporary scholars -- many commissioned especially for this volume -- are presented here in the first single edition to include the entire surviving corpus of works attributed to Plato in antiquity. In his introductory essay, John Cooper explains the presentation of these works, discusses questions concerning the chronology of their composition, comments on the dialogue form in which Plato wrote, and offers guidance on approaching the reading and study of Plato's works. Also included are concise introductions to each translation, meticulous annotation designed to serve both scholar and general reader, and a comprehensive index. This handsome volume offers fine paper and a high-quality Smyth-sewn cloth binding in a sturdy elegant edition.

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