ISBN 9781913260613 (paperback), 322 pages

An essential guide to Plato’s dialogues

For more than two millennia, Plato’s dialogues have challenged, inspired, and captivated readers. While the Apology and Republic are among his best-known works, they are only two of a remarkable collection of dialogues that explore love and friendship, virtue and justice, rhetoric and politics, knowledge and reality. Plato’s Shadow is an invitation to discover the full breadth of Plato’s thought.

Written for students and general readers alike, it begins with an accessible introduction to the lives and times of Socrates, Plato, and the pre-Socratic philosophers. It then provides a clear and concise summary of all of Plato’s dialogues, placing each in its philosophical context and tracing the unfolding of Plato’s thought across one of the most influential bodies of writing in the Western tradition.

This thoroughly revised second edition also includes extended commentaries on six of Plato’s most important dialogues—Gorgias, Meno, Phaedo, Phaedrus, Republic, and Theaetetus. Together, they illuminate Plato’s central concerns—from ethics, politics, justice, and rhetoric to knowledge, love, and the immortality of the soul—while revealing the growing subtlety of his philosophy, literary artistry, and dialectical method.

Whether you are approaching Plato for the first time or returning to him with fresh questions, Plato’s Shadow provides the knowledge and context to read the dialogues with understanding and delight.

About the author

Dr Neel Burton is a philosopher and psychiatrist who lives and teaches in Oxford, England. His other books include The Gang of Three: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle; How to Think Like Plato and Speak Like Cicero; and Aristotle’s Universe.

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

For more than two millennia, Plato has stood at the heart of Western philosophy. More than any other thinker, he gave enduring shape to the central questions of philosophy—to the study of knowledge, reality, beauty, ethics, politics, and religion. Yet his influence rests not only on the originality and depth of his ideas, but also on the extraordinary literary power of the dialogues in which he expressed them. 

Unlike the thinkers who came before (and after) him, Plato never spoke in his own voice. Instead, he presented readers with a variety of characters and perspectives, inviting them to think for themselves rather than telling them what to believe. His dialogues reward not passive agreement but active participation, and each return to them reveals fresh questions, new insights, and deeper meanings. 

While the Apology and the Republic are among Plato’s best-known works, they are only two of a remarkable collection of dialogues exploring love and friendship, virtue and justice, rhetoric and politics, knowledge and reality. Plato’s Shadow is an invitation to discover this wider corpus. 

Written for students and general readers alike, it provides an accessible introduction to the lives and times of Socrates, Plato, and the pre-Socratic philosophers, together with concise summaries of all of Plato’s dialogues. This thoroughly revised second edition also includes extended commentaries on six of Plato’s most important works—Gorgias, Meno, Phaedo, Phaedrus, Republic, and Theaetetus—tracing the unfolding of Plato’s thought across one of the richest and most influential bodies of writing in the Western tradition.