The Trial and Death of Socrates: Four Dialogues (Dover Thrift Editions: Philosophy)

After years of being dissatisfied with different paperback editions of Plato, I finally stumbled across this Dover Thrift Edition of Plato's four most essential biographical dialogues. Focusing on the life and person of Socrates, this razor-thin paperback volume is the most affordable and accessible introduction to Plato that you will find on the market. Rather than plunging you directly into the Republic and other more abstract writings, it wisely focuses on what we all love about Plato: His dialogues centering on the eccentric life and Christ-like death of his great teacher Socrates. This English translation is the old standard one, of course, but it's a wonderfully slender little volume that gives you enough Plato without overwhelming you. For those of us who like our Plato in small doses, rather than in a fat trade paperback (i.e. Signet Classics) or big expensive tome of collected writings, this volume is wonderful. In our electronic world, there's little need to have all the writings of Plato in one hardcopy edition anyway, as one will easily find several free and inexpensive translations of his entire corpus in electronic formats online.

I bought it for my daughter, she needed it for her class. Her opinion: 2 pages were stuck together from tiny spots, it didn’t cause much damage. Apart from that, came in good condition and I would definitely recommend this book as well! Enlightening, and an interesting read.

Anyone interested in either philosophy or Western literature should read at least three of these four classics. The one I'd skip is the last and longest, the Phaedo. In it, Socrates - awaiting his death - explains to his friends why the soul is immortal, engaging in one of the least convincing and most tortuous of his famous arguments. The first essay, the Euthyphro, is instead arguably one of the best not just among the Platonic dialogues, but among ancient Western texts in general. It is nicely written, engaging and, most importantly from a philosophical perspective, convincing. In it, Socrates is on his way to hear the charges that will eventually bring about his premature death, when he meets the cocksure Euthyphro, who is about to denounce his own father. The ensuing dialogue features Socrates at his best, including a pretty good dose of not so subtle sarcasm directed at his pompous interlocutor. Philosophically speaking, the dialogue presents the best argument ever for why gods - even if they did exist - are irrelevant to questions of morality. Plenty of Christian theologians have tried to rebut it over two and a half millennia, and they have all abysmally failed. The remaining two dialogues, the Apology and the Crito, also concern two episodes taking place right before Socrates' death (respectively, his defense at trial and his explanation to his friends of why he accepted to die at the hand of the State, even though he had the means and opportunity to escape in exile). They too are splendid examples of philosophy in action from one of the best practitioners of all time.

A must read for philosophy.

Most philosophy books just present a stream of assertions and arguments that may of may not be organized into chapters. If you don't like reading what amount to court briefs, those books can be a pain to read.This book is nothing like that.The Dialogues are framed as Socrates's life story, complete with side characters, one-line-jokes, and dramatic tension. These things majorly elevate what would have been a dull slog through ancient Greek debates. You end up rooting for Socrates rather than just analyzing him. The final dialogue, in which he openly drops arguing in favor of simply stating his religious beliefs, is a little off, but the rest of the book is great. Easily the best I could expect out of a philosophy book.

:)

I know this is something that has been written many years ago but at the end it gets a bit repetative on the discussion of death and the soul.

I bought this book for a small philosophy class. The price made it affordable for me to provide the texts and the quality is also great! At first I was going to print the dialogues from the internet but this is more cost effective and gives the kids the actual book to keep.

Nice small book easy to carry and read, (some smaller compact books have horrible small print, but this one doesn’t!) cant wait to read the book.

Very good

One of the gems of ancient Greek literature "The Trial and Death of Socrates" tells (as the title suggests) of the persecution and execution of Socrates through four dialogues written down by his friend Plato. Plato attempted throughout this work to use only Socrates voice and arguments and not colour them with his own views. Socrates comes across at first as a intensely irritating character especially in his thoughts on piety. However his defence of himself at his trail is brilliant and well worth reading. Socrates defence of justice and majority rule even when he is sure that it will lead to his demise is breathtaking and his attacks upon his accusers, whom he confuses and makes fools of regularly, is most entertaining.

Refreshing. This book provides some arguments that are still of actuality. Socrates explains why he is not afraid of dying.

Now that I am 60, I have the spiritual maturity to really enjoy the portent of Socrates argumentation. A fantastic read.May I offer a quote from the book. "A life left unexamined is not worth living."