In Plato’s Theaetetus, Socrates is portrayed as a midwife to the intellect, a metaphor for his task as a dialectician as he seeks to help give birth to wisdom. Thus it is that the author refers to Plato as the midwife’s apprentice. This volume represents an attempt to provide a more manageable account of the author’s two volume magnum opus, An Examination of Plato’s Doctrines. An accessible and lucid introduction to Plato’s ideas is provided which nonetheless challenges traditional interpretations. In particular the author is concerned to offer an interpretation of the significance of what Plato said. The chapters are arranged by topic, for ease of comprehension.

Reviews

‘The work as a whole will be an excellent guide for students of general philosophy but also an indispensable textbook for specialist students of Greek philosophy’ The Times Literary Supplement

Contents

Preface 1. Preliminaries 2. The Traditional Picture 3. Platonism and the Theory of Forms 4. The Physical World 5. Spiritual Things 6. Perception and Knowledge 7. Knowledge and Belief 8. The Logic of Knowing and Believing 9. Dialectic and the Structure of Reality 10. The Good Life 11. Virtue and the Pursuit of Happiness 12. Culture and the Imagination 13. The Good Society 14. In Conclusion. Index.