Plato: The First Alcibiades: A Dialogue Concerning the Nature of Man; With Additional Notes Drawn from the MS Commentary of P, Paperback/Thomas Taylor

Descriere

Contributor(s):Author: Thomas Taylor The present edition of Plato's "First Alcibiades" is a reproduction of the translation completed by Thomas Taylor and Floyer Sydenham. Stephanus numbers have been added to the original text for easy reference, and Taylor's "Additional Notes," drawn from the MS Commentary of Proclus on this dialogue, has been included immediately following the translation. This is the second book in a series of publications reproducing the Works of Plato. The first volume in this series reproduced Taylor's "General Introduction to the Philosophy and Writings of Plato" (ISBN: 9781530752379) From the Foreword: "The most peculiar and firm principle of all the dialogues of Plato, and of the whole theory of that philosopher, is the knowledge of our own nature, and such pure and genuine knowledge of ourselves, circumscribed in scientific boundaries, must be considered as the most proper principle of all philosophy. "The design of all that has been said in the First Alcibiades is to purify our dianoetic part i. e. our reasoning power] from two-fold ignorance, and to remove all that impedes our resumption of true science. For we are ignorant of ourselves in consequence of being involved in oblivion produced by the realms of generation, and agitated by the tumult of the irrational forms of life. In the mean time, we think that we know many things of which we are ignorant. This dialogue therefore is the beginning of all philosophy, in the same manner as the knowledge of ourselves." (Proclus on the First Alcibiades) The First Alcibiades makes for the perfect opening to the Platonic dialogues, being somewhat of a preface in itself to the full study of Plato's philosophy. As Taylor notes: "The First Alcibiades ... may be called, and appears to have been generally considered by the ancients, an introduction to the whole of Plato's philosophy." This is naturally apparent to any keen student of philosophy who considers the most basic requisites for wisdom. Before o