The Works of Plato

Selections needed to complete my St. John's list: In Phaedrus, the discussion of Platonic love is completed with further discussion regarding the sensible vs the bodily love. Socrates is made out as a lover of wisdom, not as wise himself. His mastery of discussion are also shown in the way he wraps

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up his first argument so quickly, only to have Phaedrus force him to stay, at which time he works into his real thoughts. In essence, he shows that arguments are of higher worth if they can stand up to continuing tests of their truth. Also, man cannot handle arguments about his ideas if he has not explored them and himself completely. In Parmenides, we are introduced to the full metaphysical concept of the idea. It's separation fron the actual object and the resulting paradoxical implications are troubling to Plato, although it could be easily dismissed due to the metaphysical nature. In Thaetetus, Socrates is portrayed as the midwife of ideas. Most of the discussion compares lawyers and philosophers, the former being slaves to time and objective, while the latter can fully explore any topic to find the real truth. In Sophist, Plato gives an oveview of the various philosophical camps and casts an inferior light on most of them. The sophists are actually somewhat simple in that their arguments do not hold up under further scrutiny. Finally, in Timaeus, the recurring theme of balance between body and soul is discussed. In addition, we are introduced to Solons' tales about Atlantis which are more fully conveyed in Critias. Critias is actually one of the more interesting works to me, bringing out so many parallels to Biblical tales, origins of government, ancient history, and cultural ideas prevalent across the world.

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