The Dialogues of Plato, Volume 2: The Symposium
The Symposium is one of Plato's greatest works, a beautiful and profound philosophical discourse on the nature and meaning of love. It begins with a discussion of physical love and concludes with Socrates' explanation of how from a love of physical beauty one can come to a realization of the nature of Beauty itself. The excellent translation by Allen, who also translated Volume 1: Euthypho; Apology; Crito; Meno; Gorgias; Menexenus ( LJ 6/15/85), is supplemented with a line-by-line analysis that explores the relationship of the moral and metaphysical themes in The Symposium to Plato's other works; incorporates the views of contemporary scholarship; and traces the influence of the dialog on later writers. This book will be of immense value to students of philosophy and literature and should interest general readers as well.- Raymond Frey, Centenary Coll., Hackettstown, N.J.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.