Plato, the great philosopher of Athens, was born in 427 BCE. In early manhood an admirer of Socrates, he later founded the famous school of philosophy in the grove Academus. Much else recorded of his life is uncertain; that he left Athens for a time after Socrates' execution is probable; that later he went to Cyrene, Egypt, and Sicily is possible; that he was wealthy is likely; that he was critical of 'advanced' democracy is obvious. He lived to be 80 years old. Linguistic tests including those of computer science still try to establish the order of his extant philosophical dialogues, written in splendid prose and revealing Socrates' mind fused with Plato's thought. In "Laches, Charmides, " and "Lysis, " Socrates and others discuss separate ethical conceptions. "Protagoras, Ion, " and "Meno" discuss whether righteousness can be taught. In "Gorgias, " Socrates is estranged from his city's thought, and his fate is impending. The "Apology" (not a dialogue), "Crito, Euthyphro, " and the unforgettable "Phaedo" relate the trial and death of Socrates and propound the immortality of the soul. In the famous "Symposium" and "Phaedrus, " written when Socrates was still alive, we find the origin and meaning of love. "Cratylus" discusses the nature of language. The great masterpiece in ten books, the "Republic, " concerns righteousness (and involves education, equality of the sexes, the structure of society, and abolition of slavery). Of the six so-called dialectical dialogues "Euthydemus" deals with philosophy; metaphysical "Parmenides" is about general concepts and absolute being; "Theaetetus" reasons about the theory of knowledge. Of its sequels, "Sophist" deals with not-being; "Politicus" with good and bad statesmanship and governments; "Philebus" with what is good. The "Timaeus" seeks the origin of the visible universe out of abstract geometrical elements. The unfinished "Critias" treats of lost Atlantis. Unfinished also is Plato's last work of the twelve books of "Laws" (Socrates is absent from it), a critical discussion of principles of law which Plato thought the Greeks might accept. The Loeb Classical Library edition of Plato is in twelve volumes.

诗与哲学的关系长久以来都落脚在“争”字之上。《哲学的奥德赛——<王制>引论》以荷马来解读柏拉图，晚近也不乏以柏拉图来解读荷马的尝试，俨然有一种弥合“诗与哲学”之争的风气。然而，诗与哲学之争真的可以消除吗？这一争论的本质是什么？读完《哲学的奥德赛》我们或许会明白，所谓以荷马解读柏拉图，并不算是为诗人辩护，毋宁说只是揭示了一种诗歌形式的对哲学的辩护。 本书沿着《王制》的行文线索做了非常细致的解读，与《奥德赛》意象的对应也深有启发，是一本阅读柏拉图《王制》的很好的指引。

《普罗塔戈拉》是柏拉图对话中最卓越的作品之一，也是最令人费解的作品之一。本书就是对柏拉图《普罗塔戈拉》的研究文集。本书包括八篇文章，从不同的角度分析了柏拉图的这部对话。包括：卡恩《作为知识的德性》、冈萨雷斯《共同思索善》、柯弼《一位智术师的教育》、岚迪《〈普罗塔戈拉〉中的德性、技艺和美好生活 》、米勒《〈普罗塔戈拉〉中的普罗米修斯故事》、普罗雯塞尔 《“西蒙尼德竞赛”》、莫里斯《没谁有意作恶》以及赛奈柯《谁来教育老师》。

《美诺》是柏拉图作品中唯一一篇以德性为主题的对话，《洞穴中的德性》是近年来西方学界对柏拉图《美诺篇》的最新阐释。维斯教授认为，《美诺篇》是对自我意识的分析，但价值的评定基于对道德的探索而非对自我的询问。作者对《美诺篇》的融贯阅读，整合了关于《美诺篇》的一系列正统解释。

柏拉图的三次西西里之行贯穿了他的后半生。我们了解柏拉图其人其行，主要得益于归于他名下的十三封书简。十三封书简中， 《书简七》位置最居中、篇幅最长、内容最丰赡，素来最为研究者看重。在与其他书简联构成的意义网络中，它处于最核心的位置。它所记叙的人物、情节在其他书简中得到进一步描述，它所提出的政治一哲学学说也在其他书简中得到不同程度的体现。只有通过它，我们才能重构其他书简的背景和关系，才能进入整部作品的文脉之中——《书简七》之于其他书简，有如圆心之于圆的关系。 本书是关于柏拉图《书简七》的研究文集，包括《柏拉图与狄奥尼修斯：古典教养的悲剧》、《书简七中哲学政治的修辞》、《柏拉图传记中的事实与传说》、《书简七中的柏拉图与阿尔基塔斯》、《离题与对话：书简七与柏拉图的文学形式》、《中期柏拉图主义与书简七》、《从书简七看柏拉图对话》等七篇文章。