Comprehensive Study of Plato (Hardbound - 2002)

Plato (428 B.C.-347 B.C.) was one of greatest philosophers in the western philosophical tradition. He was the pupil of Socrates, teacher of Aristotle and founder of the 'Academy'. Central to his teachings is the notion of forms, which are located outside the everyday world, timeless, motionless and absolutely real. Plato's philosophy rejects scientific rationalism in favour of arguments. According to him, mind, not matter, is fundamental and material objects are merely imperfect copies of abstract and eternal 'ideas'.

The majority of his works are in dialogue form on topics like metaphysics, ethics & politics. The principal speaker in these works in Socrates.

The republic, one of most famous dialogues deals with justice, ideal type of state jurisprudence & the concept of 'Good'.

The present book is an excellent companion to Plato's life & philosophy. Plato's views on State, Justice, Communism, Education, Democracy and Foreign Relations etc. are discussed and analysed in detail. It includes comparison between the Republic and the Laws and Plato's Contribution to the History of Political Thought. In the end of the book original text of Republic of Plato and the original text of Plato in the Academy — Forms and Numbers by A.E. Taylor have been given. A topic on Socrates and a chronological Table depicting the important events that took place during the lifetime of Plato have also been included in the book.

Professor N. Jayapalan of Government Arts College, Karur (Tamil Nadu) did his post-graduation in History from Pachaiyappa’s College, Chennai (Madras University). Later, he did his post-graduation in Political Science from the same University. He got his M.Phil. from the Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli.

He has participated in a number of seminars connected with Indian History and Political Science. He has written more than hundred books, both on History and Political Science. He is one of the most popular authors in Tamil Nadu.