Author
Plato
-428--348
Plato (-428--348) is a public-domain author available on Rivro. Read free books, explore subjects, and discover related classics.
WikipediaSubjects
Books by Plato
The Republic
"The Republic" by Plato is a Socratic dialogue written around 375 BC. Through conversations between Socrates and various Athenians, the work explores the meaning of justice and whether the just person is happier than the unjust. Socrates examines existing forms of government and proposes an ideal city-state ruled by philosopher-kings. The dialogue ranges across profound questions: the nature of the soul, the role of poetry, love, aging, and the purpose of political power itself.
Symposium
"Symposium" by Plato is a Socratic dialogue written between 385-370 BC. At a banquet in ancient Athens, notable figures including Socrates, Alcibiades, and Aristophanes engage in a contest of speeches praising Eros, the god of love. Each man offers his perspective on love's nature and power—from inspiring battlefield courage to transcending earthly desire. Through conflicting ideas and shifting viewpoints, the dialogue explores love's deepest meanings while showcasing both philosophical depth and literary artistry.
Phaedrus
"Phaedrus" by Plato is a dialogue written around 370 BC. Socrates encounters the young Phaedrus outside Athens, who has just heard a speech about love. What begins as a countryside stroll becomes an intricate philosophical exploration of love, rhetoric, and the human soul. Through three competing speeches, Socrates and Phaedrus debate whether it's better to favor a lover or a non-lover, ultimately revealing deeper questions about divine madness, the soul's nature, and the proper practice of persuasive speech.
Apology
"Apology" by Plato is a Socratic dialogue written after 399 BC. It presents Socrates's legal defense at his trial, where he faced charges of corrupting Athens's youth and introducing new gods. Standing before a jury of perhaps 500 Athenian men, Socrates refuses to use sophisticated rhetoric, speaking instead in his characteristic questioning style. Rather than compromise his integrity to avoid death, he challenges his accusers and maintains his philosophical principles, insisting his only wisdom comes from knowing that he knows nothing.
The Republic of Plato
"The Republic of Plato" by Plato is a Socratic dialogue written around 375 BC. In this foundational work of philosophy and political theory, Socrates debates the nature of justice with Athenians and foreigners, asking whether the just person is happier than the unjust. The discussion ranges from definitions of justice to the design of an ideal city-state ruled by philosopher-kings, exploring aging, love, the soul's immortality, and poetry's role in society along the way.
Phaedo
"Phaedo" by Plato is a dialogue written in ancient Greece. In the final hours before his execution, Socrates debates the immortality of the soul and the nature of the afterlife with his friends. Through philosophical arguments with Pythagorean philosophers Simmias and Cebes, he explores whether the soul survives death and what awaits it afterward. The dialogue culminates in a mythological vision of the underworld and an account of Socrates' death.
Laws
"Laws" by Plato is a dialogue written in ancient Greece as Plato's final work. Three elderly men journey to Zeus's cave, debating who deserves credit for establishing laws. When one traveler reveals he must create laws for a new colony, they spend their journey designing an entire legal system for the imagined city of Magnesia. Through twelve books, they explore divine law, education, criminal justice, and the nature of soul, creating a vision distinct from Plato's earlier Republic.
Gorgias
"Gorgias" by Plato is a Socratic dialogue written around 380 BC. Through probing questions at a dinner gathering, Socrates challenges self-proclaimed teachers of rhetoric about the true nature of their craft. Is rhetoric an art or merely flattery? Can persuasive speech be moral without philosophy? The dialogue explores whether the power of words serves truth and justice, or simply pleasure and political advantage, as Socrates confronts the celebrated rhetoricians of Athens.
Euthyphro
"Euthyphro" by Plato is a philosophical dialogue written around 399 BC. Set outside an Athenian court, it follows Socrates as he awaits trial for impiety. He encounters Euthyphro, a confident prophet prosecuting his own father for murder. Socrates asks Euthyphro to define piety, sparking a rigorous examination that produces increasingly refined definitions—yet none prove satisfactory. Their discussion culminates in a famous dilemma about the gods' relationship to goodness, launching a debate that continues millennia later.
Apology, Crito, and Phaedo of Socrates
"Apology, Crito, and Phaedo of Socrates" by Plato is a collection of philosophical dialogues written in the early 4th century BC. This significant work captures the essence of Socratic thought through three primary discussions surrounding the trial, moral obligations, and the nature of the soul and immortality, focusing on the key character of Socrates, who defies conventional norms as he confronts his death. At the start of the text, the introduction lays the groundwork for understanding the historical context of Plato's works and highlights his importance in philosophy. The opening dialogue, "Apology," details Socrates’ defense during his trial, where he stands resolutely against accusations of impiety and corruption of youth. Socrates engages with the Athenian jury using logic and rhetorical questioning, stressing the value of wisdom over popular opinion and laying the groundwork for his philosophical principles. The beginning shows Socrates contemplating his wisdom in light of the oracle's declaration, establishing his commitment to the pursuit of truth and justice, setting the stage for the deeper themes explored in the subsequent dialogues.
Theaetetus
"Theaetetus" by Plato is a philosophical dialogue written in the early-middle 4th century BCE. Socrates engages the young mathematician Theaetetus in a probing investigation of knowledge itself. Together, they examine three different definitions of what knowledge might be—each seemingly plausible, yet each ultimately unsatisfactory. The dialogue concludes without resolution as Socrates departs to face trial for impiety, leaving the fundamental question unanswered in characteristic Platonic fashion.
Meno
"Meno" by Plato is a Socratic dialogue written around 385 BC. The work begins with a simple question: Can virtue be taught? As Socrates and his young interlocutor Meno pursue this inquiry, they encounter profound puzzles about the nature of knowledge itself. How can we search for what we don't know? Why is knowledge more valuable than true belief? Through dialectical exchange and a famous geometric demonstration with a slave, Plato explores recollection, learning, and the immortality of the soul.
Timaeus
"Timaeus" by Plato is a philosophical dialogue written around 360 BC. Through lengthy monologues, the work explores the nature of the physical universe and humanity's place within it. A divine craftsman—the demiurge—brings order from chaos, shaping the cosmos according to eternal, perfect forms. The dialogue examines why the world exists as a living, intelligent whole and how the elements were organized from primordial disorder. It also references the legendary tale of Atlantis, setting the stage for deeper cosmological speculation.
Protagoras
"Protagoras" by Plato is a dialogue written in ancient Greece. Socrates engages the renowned sophist Protagoras in a spirited philosophical debate at the lavish home of Callias. Their central contest: Can virtue be taught? As young Athenians and fellow sophists gather to witness the exchange, the two thinkers clash over the nature of goodness, the unity of virtue, and the relationship between pleasure and moral excellence. This lively encounter reveals fundamental questions about education, wisdom, and what it means to live well.
Critias
"Critias" by Plato is a dialogue written in ancient Greece that recounts the legendary story of Atlantis, a mighty island kingdom that attempted to conquer Athens. Through the character Critias, Plato describes how the gods divided the ancient Earth and how early Athens embodied an ideal civilization of virtue and moderation. The dialogue contrasts a good city with one corrupted by ambition, exploring themes of divine justice and societal decline. Part of an unfinished trilogy, the work ends abruptly, leaving Atlantis's fate tantalizingly incomplete.
Sophist
"Sophist" by Plato is a philosophical dialogue written around 360 BC. Led by the mysterious Eleatic Stranger, the dialogue pursues a challenging question: what distinguishes a sophist from a philosopher? Through an intricate method of collection and division, the interlocutors systematically classify forms of knowledge and expertise, building elaborate taxonomies to corner their elusive quarry. The dialogue explores deep questions about language, reality, and definition while Socrates—unusually—remains silent in the background.
Ion
"Ion" by Plato is a dialogue written in ancient Greece. In this short work, Socrates questions Ion, a professional rhapsode who performs and lectures on Homer's poetry. Their conversation explores a provocative question: does Ion's skill come from genuine knowledge and artistic technique, or from divine possession? Through pointed questioning, Socrates challenges Ion's claims of expertise, suggesting that poets and their performers may be inspired vessels of the gods rather than masters of craft—a conclusion the rhapsode resists accepting.
Crito
"Crito" by Plato is a dialogue written around 399 BC. It depicts a conversation between Socrates and his friend Crito as Socrates awaits execution in prison. Crito urges Socrates to escape, offering money and refuge, but Socrates refuses. Through their debate about justice and injustice, Socrates personifies the Laws of Athens to argue that wrongdoing cannot be answered with wrongdoing. The dialogue presents an early statement of social contract theory.
Statesman
"Statesman" by Plato is a Socratic dialogue that follows the action of the "Sophist." The work depicts a philosophical conversation seeking to define what makes a true statesman, distinguishing this figure from both sophist and philosopher. Through dialectical investigation and the method of division, the interlocutors explore whether genuine political power requires specialized knowledge of just rule—or whether most rulers merely imitate such wisdom without possessing it. The dialogue raises questions about who should govern and why.
Parmenides
"Parmenides" by Plato is a dialogue written in ancient Greece. It depicts a young Socrates meeting the renowned philosophers Parmenides and Zeno, who challenge his Theory of Forms. Through rigorous questioning, Parmenides presents five complex arguments that expose potential contradictions in Socrates' distinction between eternal Forms and particular things. The work reverses the usual dynamic, positioning Socrates as student rather than teacher, and explores fundamental questions about unity, plurality, and the nature of reality itself.
Cratylus
"Cratylus" by Plato is a dialogue written during Plato's middle period. Two men ask Socrates whether names are conventional or natural—whether language consists of arbitrary signs or words have intrinsic connections to what they signify. Through extensive etymological exploration, Socrates examines the origins of divine names and abstract concepts, testing theories about how language captures reality. The dialogue probes fundamental questions about meaning, communication, and whether studying words can lead to philosophical truth about the nature of things themselves.
Philebus
"Philebus" by Plato is a philosophical dialogue written around 360-347 BC. It presents a debate between Socrates and two young Athenians about whether pleasure or reason constitutes the highest good. The conversation explores the nature and hierarchy of different pleasures, distinguishing between beneficial and harmful forms. Through this ethical investigation, Socrates examines broader questions of being, knowledge, and proper measure. The dialogue concludes with a universal value order that assigns pleasure its appropriate—but subordinate—place in the good life.
Charmides
"Charmides" by Plato is a philosophical dialogue written in ancient Greece. Socrates returns from battle and encounters the handsome young Charmides at a wrestling school, initiating a provocative inquiry into the nature of sophrosyne—temperance or self-control. Through exchanges with Charmides and his mentor Critias, Socrates dismantles each proposed definition, from quietness to self-knowledge. The dialogue explores profound questions about virtue and wisdom while never reaching a final answer, leaving readers to grapple with these timeless philosophical challenges themselves.
Euthydemus
"Euthydemus" by Plato is a dialogue written around 384 BC. In this satirical work, Socrates recounts to his friend Crito a meeting with two Sophist brothers who claim philosophical superiority. Through a series of increasingly absurd logical tricks and fallacies, the brothers attempt to trap Socrates in verbal puzzles designed to be impossible to refute. Plato contrasts genuine Socratic education with what he presents as the deceptive methods of Sophist argumentation, exposing the emptiness behind their intellectual showmanship.