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What is a library, if not a gathering place for the soul? In The Plato Library, the dialogues of Plato are read in full, inviting the listener to sit beside...
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What is a library, if not a gathering place for the soul? In The Plato Library, the dialogues of Plato are read in full, inviting the listener to sit beside Socrates and his companions as they inquire into justice, beauty, love, knowledge, virtue, and the good life. Come, then, and listen. Not as one who already knows, but as one willing to seek.
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Transcribed
12 JUN 2026 · In which Socrates, challenged by longstanding rumours and recent accusations alike, offers a candid and unadorned defence, seeking to dispel falsehoods about his character and his reputed wisdom. He recounts his peculiar mission from the Delphic oracle, engaging interlocutors of various sorts to reveal the nature of true wisdom, while addressing charges of corrupting youth and impiety with measured scrutiny and reasoned argument.
Transcribed
13 JUN 2026 · In which Socrates steadfastly defends his lifelong pursuit of virtue and truth, asserting his divine mission to awaken the soul of Athens despite the threat of death, and resolutely refuses to alter his principles for the sake of self-preservation. He contemplates the nature of death with a hopeful dignity, urging his judges to consider that no harm can befall a good man either in life or after, and entrusts his sons’ upbringing to the city’s care.
Transcribed
14 JUN 2026 · In which Socrates encounters Euthyphro at the King Archon’s porch and is drawn into a discourse concerning the nature of piety, prompted by Euthyphro’s peculiar prosecution of his own father for murder. Through careful questioning, Socrates seeks to unravel the essence of holiness, challenging Euthyphro to define what makes an act pious beyond mere examples or divine approval.
15 JUN 2026 · In which Socrates and Meno engage in an earnest discourse upon the nature and teachableness of virtue, exploring definitions and the perplexities of knowledge through dialectic and the wondrous demonstration of latent understanding within a slave. Their inquiry unfolds amidst reflections on right opinion, the immortality of the soul, and the elusive quest for true education, revealing the paradoxical state of human wisdom and instruction in their time.
16 JUN 2026 · In which the multifarious and sometimes contradictory expressions of Plato’s doctrine of ideas are surveyed with a tempered eye, revealing them as poetic symbols and philosophical aspirations rather than rigid teachings, intimately intertwined with notions of the soul’s immortality and the pursuit of knowledge. This account also traces the echoes and transformations of these ancient ideas through subsequent philosophical thought, emphasising their enduring spirit that elevates the divine and ideal above the material and mundane.
17 JUN 2026 · In which the young Meno and the contemplative Socrates engage in a probing discourse on the nature and unity of virtue, wrestling with definitions and the coherence of its parts, whilst questioning the possibility of genuine knowledge or teaching. Their exchange leads to a demonstration of learning as recollection, where a slave boy, guided solely by inquiry, is drawn towards recognising truths he had not known, thus revealing the perplexing yet enlightening process of philosophical investigation.
18 JUN 2026 · In which Socrates engages Meno in a dialectic exploration of virtue, questioning whether it is knowledge, can be taught, or is a divine gift, whilst examining the nature of true opinion and the existence of teachers of virtue in their city. They consider the paradox that while good men exist and guide others, there appear to be no clear instructors of virtue, suggesting it may arise from a form of divine instinct rather than human education.
19 JUN 2026 · In which Phaedo recounts the solemn yet serene gathering in the prison where Socrates, surrounded by friends, discourses on the nature of death and the philosopher’s pursuit of truth beyond the body. Through their thoughtful dialogue, they explore the soul’s detachment from bodily pleasures and the hope for a blessed existence after death, marking the commencement of a profound philosophical inquiry.
20 JUN 2026 · In which Socrates and his friends deliberate upon the nature of the soul and its liberation from the body, considering how true knowledge and wisdom are attainable only by disentangling the soul from bodily distractions and corruption. They further explore the soul’s immortality and its cyclic journey between life and death, invoking the principle of opposites and the doctrine of recollection to argue for the soul’s continued existence and its prior acquaintance with eternal truths.
21 JUN 2026 · In which Socrates and his companions explore the notion that our souls possessed knowledge before birth, recognising eternal and unchanging essences distinct from the mutable and corporeal body. They reflect upon the soul’s affinity to the divine and its destiny beyond bodily death, considering the purification of the soul through philosophy as a preparation for a life aligned with truth and immortality.
What is a library, if not a gathering place for the soul? In The Plato Library, the dialogues of Plato are read in full, inviting the listener to sit beside...
show more
What is a library, if not a gathering place for the soul? In The Plato Library, the dialogues of Plato are read in full, inviting the listener to sit beside Socrates and his companions as they inquire into justice, beauty, love, knowledge, virtue, and the good life. Come, then, and listen. Not as one who already knows, but as one willing to seek.
show less
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| Author | Good Old Classics |
| Organization | Good Old Classics |
| Categories | Philosophy |
| Website | - |
| - |
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