Sunday, May 10, 2015

Phaedo by Plato REVIEW

Phaedo  Phaedo by Plato
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What I like about Plato’s dialogues is how accessible they are. Much of Western thought is based on Plato's writings, so you can’t get much more academic than that, but at the same time, Plato isn’t hard. You don’t have to have special skills or been formally trained in philosophy to enjoy and understand Plato. Pheado is one of Plato’s later dialogues so it, probably, represents Plato’s own viewpoints rather than Socrates’. As for the philosophy itself, I like the proofs for the pre-existence of the soul and even the existence the soul after death. Some ideas Plato seems to take for granted and just doesn’t offer any explanation, like re-incarnation. I enjoyed Pheado. I think that Plato's dialogues is a great place to start for someone who has an interest in the origins of western philosophy.

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The Ws

WHEN I Discovered This Classic
college 

WHY I Chose to Read It
I hadn't read any ancient Greek, for the challenge, yet.

WHO I’d Recommend It To
someone interested in Western philosophy

WILL It Stay A Classic
Clearly, the answer is yes, but I think that it is still relevant because it deals with the universal theme of the existence of the soul.

WHO I’d Recommend It To
I’d recommend this to anyone who expressed interest in reading a mystery.