Robert Cavalier, "Plato for Beginners"
I picked this up last semester because I was in a philosophy class and thought Plato was kind of interesting (or rather, that Socrates was pretty interesting, and Plato just happened to write down everything Socrates had said). I also figured that since we were covering lots of philosophers, this would be a study guide of sorts.
But I never got around to reading it and apparently didn�t need to, since I got an �A� in the class anyway. So this languished on my shelf until now.
And actually, I kind of wish it had stayed there. I suppose it might have been interesting if I hadn�t already covered all this ground before and really, this seems to soften the touch to make Plato look much more favorable. Plato, unlike Socrates, had a habit of fleeing place after place when he needed to save his skin. This book makes it look as if he just liked traveling.
There are lots of pretty cartoons to look at and the end did mention some areas I hadn�t read about before where he�s in a situation of power and tries to set up his idea of a utopian society. His vision really resembles a totalitarian state.
Once again, power corrupts.
I said it before, I�ll say it again: If I want philosophy, I�ll watch the Muppet Show.
