Understanding Plato: The Smart Student's Guide to the Socratic Dialogues and The Republic (Smart Student's Guides to Philosophical Classics)

Understanding Plato is the first book in a series on the classical philosophers. It contains a complete discussion and anaysis of four of the early Socratic dialogues (Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno) and the Republic, Plato's longer and more famous work. All books in the seies are designed for beginning and intermediate philosophy students who want clarity, but also more depth than they would ordinarily get from books that give only outlines of the philosopher's thoughts and theories.Each book focuses on both content and philosophical method. Each chapter breaks down arguments of the philosopher into understandable sections, showing how they reaches their conclusions and defend against possible objections. Each chapter concludes with a set of questions for thought and discussion. Some of the questions are on topics that provide an excellent starting point for term papers. References to other books about the philosopher or the topic can be found at the end of the chapter, in footnotes, textboxes or at the back of the book.Other books in the Smart Student's Guide series are on John Locke's Second Treatise of Government, John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism and On Liberty, Immanuel Kant's Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, and David Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion.