Description

This book helps understand Plato?s writings by describing the circumstances in which they were produced. The author begins with an account of Plato?s life and development and a brief analysis of some of the more difficult points arising from the criticism of Plato?s writings. The remainder of the work considers the total setting ? political, literary and philosophical ? in which Plato?s writings were produced. There are extensive appendices on the Platonic Epistles, Aristotle and the Theory of Ideas, and on the post-Aristotelian tradition. The result is both a lucid account of Plato himself and a comprehensive view of culture in fifth century Greece.