Reddit reviews Plato: Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo (Hackett Classics)

Think by Simon Blackburn.

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Five Dialogues of Plato.

The Meno dialogue by Plato. I recommend the Grube translation published by Hackett
https://www.amazon.com/Plato-Dialogues-Euthyphro-Apology-Classics/dp/0872206335/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=meno&qid=1554906863&s=gateway&sr=8-6

I suggest picking up a copy of Plato: Five Dialogues. It's pretty much the standard introduction to Plato in universities everywhere. They're perhaps the easiest to read in comparison with the other dialogues, will give you a good idea of Plato's methodology and core philosophical views, and collectively represent a good introduction to thinking philosophically. And a paperback copy is cheap and easy to find.

I haven't read it, but I can tell you that the consensus about it in the History of Philosophy community is that it's pretty bad. I've only seen it cited in history of philosophy journals as a foil. For a broad introduction, I've heard Kenny's new work is pretty good. And I rather like Copleston's History, though it's nine ~500 page volumes. I think your best bet, though, is just to read some philosophical classics. Perhaps Plato's Five Dialogues (https://www.amazon.com/Plato-Dialogues-Euthyphro-Apology-Classics/dp/0872206335/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467069583&sr=8-1&keywords=five+dialogues), Descartes' Meditations (https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-First-Philosophy-Hackett-Classics/dp/0872201929/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467069631&sr=8-1&keywords=meditations+descartes), Russel's Problems of Philosophy (https://www.amazon.com/Problems-Philosophy-Bertrand-Russell/dp/1613821875/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1467069667&sr=8-7&keywords=problems+of+philosophy), and maybe Searle's Brief Introduction to Mind (https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Brief-Introduction-Fundamentals-Philosophy/dp/0195157346/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467069693&sr=8-1&keywords=searle+mind).

There are better, more important, and more recent works than these, but I think these are good intros to philosophy as a whole for two reasons: 1) these are very representative of Ancient, Modern, Early Analytic, and contemporary philosophy of mind. And 2) these are all pretty easy. Philosophy's batshit complicated, at times; but none of these are more difficult than they have to be (and yet, they're not Idiot's Guides … )

I like the Five Dialogues because they have excellent material and take us on a journey through Socrates' trial and death.

For a beginner, it's hard to beat the Hacket "Five Dialogues" (Euthyphro, Meno, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo). This will give you a fair taste of the early dialogues. You can follow up with Republic, Parmenides, Theatetus, Sophist, and Statesman.

If you find yourself wanting to dig deeper, I'd suggest the Focus Philosophical Library series for many dialogues.

yup. I'm rereading the Five Dialogues and it is a really good read.

I would recommend starting with Plato. Start by reading the Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, and Phaedo. These five works are conveniently included in one volume by Hackett:

https://www.amazon.com/Plato-Dialogues-Euthyphro-Apology-Classics/dp/0872206335

Plato writes dialogues. These read like plays where the characters are having a conversation about philosophy. Plato will teach you how philosophical conversation works, showing you by example how to think and introducing you to classic philosophical problems. These five dialogues are among the easier dialogues, and serve as a standard text for introducing philosophy.

After reading Plato, you should read Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy. Like Plato, Descartes teaches the importance of tearing down all your beliefs and starting from the ground up. If you want to do philosophy, you have to learn how to eliminate your unfounded beliefs and place everything you think you know (science, religion, politics) under heavy criticism.

Plato and Descartes are great starting points, not because they teach you what to think, but because they teach you how to think.

Alright, so I'm not sure where to begin with this one. Personally, I'm Agnostic. I have all of the qualifications for Atheism except that I like the idea that there's something after life. So sue me. (Don't, please.) Anyway, I know Atheists, Pagans, Wiccans, Christians, and my mother calls herself a "Recovering Catholic". I've met a Buddhist turned Christian, and Christians turned Buddhist. It's a crazy world out there, and tolerance is a great place to start, because these are all great people in my life.

Now, I suggest letting her explore her beliefs, but all parents want to help, so if you're leaning that way, I suggest, when she's old enough to understand them, give her 3 things to read.

1.) Plato's Euthyphro

2.) The Way of Chuang Tzu

3.) The Gospel According to Thomas

Yes, in this order. You can sit down and talk with her after each.

1.) The Euthyphro argument is basically, if something is good because Gods says so, then there is no good, because can change it on a whim. Yet if something is inherently good, we don't need God to tell us, and he becomes an arbitrary figurehead.

2.) The Way of Chuang Tzu is mostly parables. There's a lot of verse, and was my first introduction to Buddhism and Taoism. I actually have an old version that belonged to my great grandmother. Some are really easy to understand. The general message is that you should be yourself, but be a good person, but they are each a different lesson in how one should act.

3.) The Gospel According to Thomas was one of the "Lost" versions of the gospel. If she's really researching, she'll probably have stumbled onto the bible. It's pretty hard not to. The point of this one is to say, "This was cut from the bible for not being close enough to its teachings." The way it's written is something much more closely resembling the Buddhist/Taoist writings from the Far East. It still conveys the bible's message, but with a different view. You use this one to show that everyone's beliefs are different, but sometimes they overlap. It's the message, and not the doctrines that are really important, and she should be free to believe whatever she chooses.

Alternatively, you could give her Plato last. Those are just some research suggestions.

As a philosopher, few are as readable or as well-liked as Plato. He writes his philosophy as dialogues--i.e. conversations between his main character Socrates and other people.

For starters, I would recommend this collection of Plato's earlier dialogues, which recounts the real-life trial and execution of Socrates.

BA in philosophy, currently in an Economics PhD program, I couldn't agree with this more.

If you're interest in philosophy, might as well start at the beginning. Pick up Plato's Euthyphro, Meno, Crito, Phaedo, and Apology. You can get them in one edition [here] (http://www.amazon.com/Plato-Dialogues-Euthyphro-Apology-Classics/dp/0872206335/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1417995874&sr=8-4&keywords=plato%27s+dialogues). This is the edition that was assigned to me in the intro to philosophy class I took as an undergraduate. Another key primary texs in the history of philosophy that you can jump into is Descartes' Meditations (Descartes is generally considered the beginning of the "Modern" philosophical period, depending upon who you ask).

If you're interested in the history of philosophy, and want to read further, I recommend the "Longman Standard History of Philosophy," it has commentary and excerpts from the major works of most of the 'canonical' figures in Western philosophy. This will give you a way to jump right into some primary text, and then if you find a philosopher you like, you can purchase the full-length version of their work to explore more in depth.

Bertrand Russel's "The History of Philosophy" is a good read, but it can be a little bias toward Russel's own philosophical viewpoint/his projects (logical atomism).

The Cooper edition is the one to get if you want all the dialogues in one spot. Otherwise, the Hackett editions are the way to go. For your specific itinerary, they have this one: https://www.amazon.com/Plato-Dialogues-Euthyphro-Apology-Classics/dp/0872206335. It has all the dialogues you want to read minus the republic, but also the meno and phaedo.

If you're reading the apology, euthyphro, and crito, then you gotta read the phaedo, too. It's the one where Socrates takes the fatal poison.

I think the best place to begin is Volume I of A History of Philosophy by Frederick Copleston, covering ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. Not that I don't recommend the other eight volumes as well—it does enjoy, the back cover tells me, "universal acclaim as the best history of philosophy in English"—but it's particularly important to understand the issues and ideas of philosophy in classical antiquity because of the degree to which it sets the agenda for all subsequent Western philosophy.

I agree with /u/thud_mancake about the importance of reading primary texts, and there I'll limit myself to two recommendations. First, the four dialogues of Plato often published together under the title The Trial and Death of Socrates: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo. Second, Utopia by Thomas More.

Plato is more important and better than any stoicism. I think reading those would be great for what you ask for. Check out the thread "Where should I start?" in r/AskPhilosophyFAQ for more philosophy suggestions.

Five Dialogues was a good start for me.
However, what had really gotten me interested in philosophy, were talks from Terence McKenna. There are hours of dialogue on youtube you could listen to.


Five Dialogues

Terrence Mckenna