While there are many courses and tutorials online, learning from a book is still one of the best ways to greatly improve your skills. Below I have selected top Plato books.
1. Plato: Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo (Hackett Classics) (2002)
The second edition of Five Dialogues presents G. M. A. Grube’s distinguished translations, as revised by John Cooper for Plato, Complete Works. A number of new or expanded footnotes are also included along with an updated bibliography….
2. The Republic of Plato (2016)
Long regarded as the most accurate rendering of Plato’s Republic that has yet been published, this widely acclaimed translation by Allan Bloom was the first to take a strictly literal approach. In addition to the annotated text, there is also a rich and valuable essay — as well as indices — which will enable readers to better understand the heart of Plato’s intention.This edition includes an introduction by renowned critic Adam Kirsch, setting the work in its intellectual context for a new generation of students and readers….
3. Republic (Hackett Classics) (1992)
The revised edition of Grube’s classic translation follows and furthers Grube’s noted success in combining fidelity to Plato’s text with natural readability, while reflecting the fruits of new scholarship and insights into Plato’s thought since publication of the first edition in 1974. A new introduction, index, and bibliography by Professor Reeve are included in this new rendering….
4. The Republic (2019)
The Republic is a Socratic dialogue, written by Plato around 380 BC, concerning the definition of justice, the order and character of the just city-state and the just man—for this reason, ancient readers used the name On Justice as an alternative title (not to be confused with the spurious dialogue also titled On Justice). The dramatic date of the dialogue has been much debated and though it might have taken place some time during the Peloponnesian War, “there would be jarring anachronisms if any of the candidate specific dates between 432 and 404 were assigned”. It is Plato’s best-known work and has…
5. A Plato Reader: Eight Essential Dialogues (Hackett Classics) (2012)
A Plato Reader offers eight of Plato’s best-known works–Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo, Symposium, Phaedrus, and Republic–unabridged, expertly introduced and annotated, and in widely admired translations by C. D. C. Reeve, G. M. A. Grube, Alexander Nehamas, and Paul Woodruff.The collection features Socrates as its central character and a model of the examined life. Its range allows us to see him in action in very different settings and philosophical modes: from the elenctic Socrates of the Meno and the dialogues concerning his trial and death, to the erotic…
6. The Portable Plato (1966)
Paperback Publisher: The Viking Press (1966) ASIN: B00KKN4KRQ Shipping Weight: 1 pounds Average Customer Review: Be the first to review this item Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,554,152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) Would you like to tell us about a lower price? If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?…
7. Great Dialogues of Plato (2015)
—Emerson The Republic and other great dialogues by the immortal Greek philosopher Plato are masterpieces that form part of the most important single body of writing in the history of philosophy. Beauty, love, immortality, knowledge, and justice are discussed in these dialogues, which magnificently express the glowing spirit of Platonic philosophy. Translated by W. H. D. Rouse, one of the world’s most outstanding classical scholars and translator of Homer’s The Odyssey and The Iliad, this volume features the complete texts of seven of Plato’s…
8. The Republic (Penguin Classics) (1958)
Paperback Publisher: Penguin Books; Reprinted 1958 edition (1958) ASIN: B000GR00LG Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars 2 customer reviews Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #557,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #270 in Classic Greek Literature Would you like to tell us about a lower price? If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?…
9. The Works of Plato: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume: With a New and Original Translation of Halcyon and Epigrams by Jake E. Stief (2018)
A collection of the writings of Plato and his Socratic dialogues is essential for any aspiring philosopher. Fortunately, this Stief Books publication contains every work that has been attributed to Plato, both canonical and of dubious authenticity. A majority of the dialogues are translated by classic, albeit dated, translators; Benjamin Jowett and George Burges. Two works, Halcyon and Epigrams are new and original translations by Jake E. Stief. The font is a tad smaller than most publications so that you may have the complete canon of Plato for a cheap price,…
10. The Last Days of Socrates (Penguin Classics) (2003)
The trial and death of Socrates (469-399 BCE) have almost as central a place in Western consciousness as the trial and death of Jesus. In four superb dialogues, Plato provides the classic account. Euthyphro finds Socrates outside the court-house, debating the nature of piety, while the Apology is his robust rebuttal of the charges of impiety and a defence of the philosopher’s life. In the Crito, while awaiting execution in prison, Socrates counters the arguments of friends urging him to escape. Finally, in the Phaedo, he is shown calmly confident in the face of death, skilfully arguing the case…
11. Plato : Phaedo (Focus Philosophical Library) (1998)
This is an English translation of one of Plato’s great dialogues of Socrates talking about death, dying, and the soul due to his impending execution. Included is an introduction and glossary of key terms. Focus Philosophical Library translations are close to and are non-interpretative of the original text, with the notes and a glossary intending to provide the reader with some sense of the terms and the concepts as they were understood by Plato's immediate audience….
12. Plato Symposium (Hackett Classics) (1989)
A model of the kind of text one needs for lecture courses: the translation is extremely readable and made even more accessible by intelligent printing decisions (on dividing the text, spacing for clarification, etc.); the notes are kept to a minimum but appear when they are really needed for comprehension and are truly informative. And the introduction admirably presents both basic information and a sense of current scholarly opinion. –S. G. Nugent, Princeton University…
13. Six Great Dialogues by Plato. (Dover Publications,2007) [Paperback] ()
Six Great Dialogues by Plato. . Dover, 2007 ….
Best Plato Books Everyone Should Read
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Genesis and download some plato books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
Socrates in the cave : on the philosopher’s motive in Plato
Author(s): Diduch, Paul J.; Harding, Michael P.
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, Year: 2019, Size: 2 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2243563
Knowledge and Ignorance of Self in Platonic Philosophy
Author(s): James M Ambury; Andy German
Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Year: 2019, Size: 6 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2320046
Romanticism and the Re-Invention of Modern Religion: The Reconciliation of German Idealism and Platonic Realism
Author(s): Alexander Hampton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Year: 2019, Size: 4 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2327639
Socratic Ignorance and Platonic Knowledge in the Dialogues of Plato
Author(s): Sara Ahbel-Rappe
Publisher: State University of New York Press, Year: 2019, Size: 2 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2347153
German Political Thought and the Discourse of Platonism: Finding the Way Out of the Cave
Author(s): Paul Bishop
Publisher: Springer International Publishing;Palgrave Macmillan, Year: 2019, Size: 4 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2354417
Psychology and Ontology in Plato
Author(s): Luca Pitteloud, Evan Keeling
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Year: 2019, Size: 2 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2354438
Quality: From Plato to Performance
Author(s): Peter Dahler-Larsen
Publisher: Springer International Publishing;Palgrave Macmillan, Year: 2019, Size: 2 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2354729
Proclus: Commentary on Plato’s Timaeus Book 3: Volume 4: Proclus on the World Soul Part 2
Author(s): Proclus; Dirk Baltzly
Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Year: 2019, Size: 148 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2380620
Please note that this booklist is not absolute. Some books are truly hot items according to The Wall Street Journal, others are composed by unknown writers. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant resources you could recommend? Leave a comment if you have any feedback on the list.