ISBN 9781913260613 (paperback), 322 pages

An overview and outline of all of Plato’s dialogues

This new edition provides the student and general reader with a comprehensive overview of the thought of Plato, Socrates, and the pre-Socratic philosophers. It contains an introduction to their lives and times, and—for the first time—a précis of each of Plato’s dialogues, among which the Apology, Laches, Gorgias, Symposium, Phaedrus, Phaedo, Meno, Timaeus, Theaetetus, Republic, and 17 others.

Includes commentaries on six key dialogues (Gorgias, Meno, Phaedo, Phaedrus, Republic, and Theaetetus) which span the full breadth of Plato’s dazzling middle period. Taken together, these six dialogues disclose all his major themes and reveal the progression of his style and thought.

Editorial reviews

A succinct précis of the work of one of the world’s greatest and most influential thinkers … For the newcomer or undergraduate it’s a great resource, being both a celebration of and an introduction to some of the most remarkable, beautiful, provocative, powerful, and vital writings in Western literature. —The Good Web Guide

This book provides a tremendously useful service to anyone studying Plato, or to the more general reader … It is an essential addition to the library of any serious student of Plato—which, given his undiminished importance, should be every philosopher! —Philosophy Online

An invaluable, indispensable guide that avoids the usual one-sided approach to Plato… even the ordering of the dialogues makes sense. I shall certainly be recommending it to my students. —Dr Alan Cardew, University of Essex

The safest characterisation of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato. —Alfred North Whitehead

Plato thought that only philosophy can instil wisdom and virtue because it alone examines the presuppositions and assumptions that other disciplines merely take for granted. 

He conceived of philosophy as a unified discipline defined by a distinctive intellectual approach and capable of carrying the human mind or soul far beyond the realms of common sense and ordinary experience. He singlehandedly created and systematically elaborated upon all the principle branches of philosophy, including epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of religion, aesthetics, ethics, and political philosophy. 

The unrivalled scope and incisiveness of his writings as well as their enduring aesthetic and emotional appeal have captured the hearts and minds of generation after generation of readers. 

Unlike the thinkers who came before (and after) him, Plato never spoke in his own voice. Instead, he presented readers with a variety of perspectives to engage with, leaving them free to reach their own, sometimes radically different, conclusions.’ No one’ he said, ‘ever teaches well who wants to teach, or governs well who wants to govern.’ 

Plato’s Shadow provides the student and general reader with a comprehensive overview of the thought of Plato, Socrates, and the pre-Socratic philosophers. It contains an introduction to their lives and times, and—for the first time—a précis of each of Plato’s dialogues, among which the Apology,Laches, Gorgias, Symposium, Phaedrus, Phaedo, Meno, Timaeus, Theaetetus, Republic, and 17 others. 

This completely revised second edition, written some fifteen years after the first, includes commentaries on some of Plato’s most important dialogues: the Gorgias, Meno, Phaedo, Phaedrus, Republic, and Theaetetus. These six dialogues span the full breadth of his dazzling middle period. Taken together, they disclose all his major themes and reveal the progression of his style and thought.

A man may read Plato without clearly comprehending much of what he means. But he cannot read him without becoming, in some degree, a changed man. —Coventry Patmore