Plato: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) [Paperback]

Julia Annas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2003 | ISBN-10: 019280216X | ISBN-13: 978-0192802163

This lively and accessible book focuses on the philosophy and argument of Plato's writings, drawing the reader into Plato's way of doing philosophy and the general themes of his thinking. It discusses Plato's style of writing: his use of the dialogue form, his use of what we today call fiction, and his philosophical transformation of myths. It also looks at his discussions of love and philosophy, his attitude towards women, and towards homosexual love. It explores Plato's claim that virtue is sufficient for happiness and touches on his arguments for the immorality of the soul and his ideas about the nature of the universe.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Julia Annas is Regents Professor of Philosophy at The University of Arizona. She has published eight books and many articles on a wide variety of topics in ancient philosophy and is author of Ancient Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (May 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019280216X
• ISBN-13: 978-0192802163
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #358,001 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Too Short Invitation..., July 5, 2003

By 

benjamin (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Plato: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (Paperback)

This is the first book that I have ever read about Plato. While it is not the best book in this series - it should have been longer - it is still a good read and worth the $... you'll spend for it.

The best thing about this book is that, rather than just focus on Plato's own philosophy, generous mention is also given to his place in culture and the history of the interpretation of his works. More than anything, this makes for a more enjoyable read, but it also gives us a clue as to how certain practices and ideas that are still current today have (at least some of) their roots in Plato.

However, when it comes to Plato's own thought about different things, this book is a bit lacking. His theory of the forms is given short mention, while an entire chapter is devoted to his views on sexuality. Given our current cultural milieu, such a focus on sexuality is indeed interesting, but was sex really so central to Plato's philosophy?

While it is important to note the differences between his own culture and ours, it is more important to note the main currents of his thought, especially given the constraints on length for this book (the subtitle is, after all, "A Very Short Introduction"). If she had explained his most important and most famous ideas more, such a focus would not seem so disproportionately out of place.

Yet, it is also worth noting that Annas' goal seems to be to write a book that is simply a good place to *start*. The book ends with an invitation to do philosophy rather than to simply know about it which is, so to speak, in the very spirit of Plato himself.

64 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Short and deficient., March 27, 2005

By 

Epops (usa) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Plato: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (Paperback)

This is Prof. Annas' second contribution to this series, her first being A Short Introduction to Ancient Philosophy. This one does not measure up to the first. Some of the weaknesses of "Ancient Philosophy" are more evident in "Plato", while the strengths are lacking.

My first beef with Prof. Annas is trivial, but annoying, and that is her insistance that the traditional English language usage for the third person impersonal discriminates against females. In order to counter this supposed disrespect of females, she creates opportunities to plunk down a "she" or a "her" where a "one" or "it" or "he" would normally be expected. An example: Annas writes, "Someone who wins the lottery, for example, may well not be made any happier by just having the money. Unless she puts it to intelligent use, the money may do nothing for her, or even ruin her life." So, we were talking about the relationship of money to happiness, when suddenly the topic changes to gender politics. Why not just say, "Unless the money is put to intelligent use, it may contribute nothing to happiness, and may even ruin one's life", and leave gender politics out of it? I purchased this book in order to learn about Plato, not to deal with Julia Annas' feminist complexes.

She is excessively agnostic about the order of composition of the Platonic dialogues, dismisses with little discussion the internal evidence for a sequence, and its implications for the reconstruction of a picture of the historic Socrates. My complaint is not that she disagrees, but that she doesn't discuss the issue, which seems to be an important one in studies of Plato. And she really doesn't get to the meat of Socrates' irony and method of inquiry.

She devotes an entire chapter to sex and gender issues, only to then dismiss Plato thus: "By this point, studying Plato has little to contribute to modern feminist discussion: his starting points and many of his assumptions are too remote from ours for him to be a profitable partner in debate for very long." If that's true, why did we just spend an entire chapter, 14 percent of a very short book, on the subject?

The remainder of the book is taken up with superficial discussions of Plato's views of virtue, the soul, and metaphysics, and ends with a rousing statement of the obvious: "For in the end, his deepest message is not that we should believe in Forms, or the importance of virtue, but that we should engage with him, and with our own contemporaries, in aspiring to understand these matters."

I finished her Short Introduction to Ancient Philosophy stimulated to read more. By contrast, reading this book left me with the opposite feeling, that reading more by Annas would be frustrating and a waste of time.

10 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Worth Your Time, October 27, 2009

By 

F. Szarejko "FWS" (Kansas City, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Plato: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (Paperback)

Simply put, don't waste your money or your time on this book. It is poorly written and provides little guidance to the person wanting to begin their investigation of Plato.