Plato by Andrew S. Mason (review)

“Created especially for students,” each volume in the Ancient Philosophies series aims to offer “a clear yet rigorous presentation of core ideas. Designed to lay the foundation for a thorough understanding of their subjects, these fresh and engaging books are compact and reasonable priced, with illustrative texts in translation” (ii). Nine volumes have now appeared, and this volume on Plato by Andrew Mason, the eighth in the series, is another welcome addition.

According to the author, “[t]his book aims to present Plato’s thought to readers with no previous knowledge of it. In line with the general aims of the Ancient Philosophies series, it is written with senior undergraduates and first-year graduate students particularly in mind, but I have tried to make it accessible to a wider readership as well” (vii). The volume succeeds in this aim, providing students new to Plato with a highly readable, informative, and at times provocative introduction to the thought of this cardinal figure in the history of philosophy.

The present reviewer does not envy the herculean task of writing an introduction to the thought of Plato for a number of reasons. Not only has so much already been said, but the endeavour to introduce and summarise the thought of a philosopher, so foundational, whose ideas span a long and important period of history, change and develop within that period, and are rarely explicitly stated in his own words as his own, immediately presents the author of such a book with some serious decisions to make. First among these, one which affects the entire plan of this study, is how to arrange the material and here Mason has decided to organise the book thematically rather than genealogically. Each approach has its virtues and vices. A genealogical approach might more closely examine the development of Plato’s thought throughout his philosophical career and consider how certain questions arise from previous positions. This might provide a more complete historical picture, but an historical approach would necessitate a repetition of themes, which might be confusing to a new student. The author, however, has chosen the thematic approach, which has the benefit of dealing with a different feature of Plato’s thought in each chapter. It is difficult to say simply what Plato thinks about any particular subject, since his views change over time and his own position is sometimes difficult to ascertain from the dialogues. The author is of course aware of this and is careful to tell the reader that Plato’s ideas on certain points change. Further, the author explains that he neglects the earlier Socratic dialogues only because there is a future volume on Socrates planned for the series. Nevertheless, the present reviewer believes that the volume could benefit from a more in-depth presentation of Plato’s historical context and his Pre-Socratic predecessors. Something along these lines would go a long way towards situating the reader historically.

The first chapter is an overall introduction dealing briefly with Plato’s life, the character of his writings, and the plan of the book. The author states that his aim is “to introduce some of Plato’s central ideas” (13). He stresses Plato’s relevance today, claiming that “[s]ometimes his ideas may actually be seen as making a contribution to current debates; at other times they may draw our attention to issues that are unfairly neglected” (2). The present reviewer was pleased to see that the author helpfully reminds the reader that, “[p]hilosophy for him is a way of life, and philosophical reasoning is important in guiding the way we should live,” a common view among the Ancients that is unfortunately foreign to many approaches to philosophy today (3).

In the second chapter, “Plato’s development and Plato’s Socrates” (p. 15-26), the author introduces the reader to the distinctions and similarities between Plato’s Socrates and the historical Socrates, and to the various stages of Plato’s thought. For example, he points out...