Plato's Philebus

By Plato

Book Overview

This translation with introduction and commentary of Plato's Philebus was originally issued under the title Plato's Examination of Pleasure and first reprinted as Plato's Philebus. This dialogue, generally agreed to be one of Plato's latest and most sophisticated, analyses in detail the nature of pleasure - its meaning, its varieties and importance. Professor Hackforth here translates the dialogue for the student and general reader. There is a running commentary on the course of the argument and the meaning of key Greek terms and a full introduction to explain the philosophical background and the place of this work among Plato's writings.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521097045
• ISBN13: 9780521097048
• Release Date: May 1972
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 156 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Happiness as a mix of pleasure and insight

The eternal rivalry between pleasure and insight about the good and happy life represents the main question of Plato's Philebus. With the rapprochement from different perspectives, Plato finally gets to the conclusion that the happy life consists in a good mix of pleasure and insight. Within the scope of his hassle, Plato develops a very differentiated and interesting conception of pleasure. Thereby he gets to the conclusion that pleasure is influenced by opinions and that it sometimes even consist of an opinion.

The most readable translation of Plato I have read yet

I have read several Hackett translations of Plato and Hackett always publishes quality translations. Not only are they affordable but the introductions and notes that accompany them are always extremely helpful for understanding what are often difficult texts. Dorthea Frede's translation of the Philebus is by far the best translation of any Plato I have read. I've read the Phaedo, the Timaeus, and the Republic and found all of them to be confusing at some points and nearly impenetrable at other points. However, Dorothea's translation of the Philebus is extremely clear, even when Plato is not, and that is a great accomplishment considering the text was translated into English by a non-native speaker of the language. I highly recommend this translation.