Plato: The Man and His Work

A serviceable introduction to the dialogues and synopsis of each, but Taylor maintains strenuously that the theory of forms, etc., were Socrates’ and that Plato never put anything into Socrates’ mouth that didn’t come from Socrates. So caveat emptor – this is a novel theory outside the mainstream of Platonic scholarship, which considers the early dialogues essentially Socratic, with transitional, mid and late ones becoming increasingly Platonic. It’s hard to take this theory seriously considering the picture of Socrates we get from Plato’s early dialogues combined with those of other Socratic dialogue writers, including Xenophon. If Plato’s epistemology, ontology and metaphysics came from Socrates, why don’t the other show more writers indicate anything about them? Oddly, this hardly mars the analysis and commentary. But if anyone (i.e., Pete) has a suggestion for another good overview of the dialogues, I’m all ears. show less

An idiosyncratic and thorough interpretation of Plato's thought. Using a review of the dialogues, Taylor covers a tremendous amount of ideas and concepts presented in the Platonic corpus. With contextual commentary this is a useful adjunct to any serious reading of Plato's dialogues.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Edward_Taylor

This is the Plato translation I FIRST read in history of philosophy at Wheaton. Then I read another one.

Alfred Edward Taylor (December 22, 1869 - October 31, 1945) was a British idealist philosopher most famous for his contributions to the philosophy of idealism in his writings on metaphysics, the philosophy of religion, moral philosophy, and the scholarship of Plato.[1] He was a fellow of the British Academy (1911) and president of the Aristotelian Society from 1928 to 1929. At Oxford he was made an honorary fellow of New College in 1931. In an age of universal upheaval and strife, he was a notable defender of Idealism in the Anglo-Saxon world