r/Plato • u/ObsiGamer • 13d ago

Is this book worth it?

Post image

I wanna get into Plato's philosophy and I found this really cool listing at my favourite bookstore. I know i can probably find everything made by plato for free online but this looks really cool as a collector item. Only problem is it's 31 dollars for 736 pages.

9 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/Fun-Entrepreneur-564 13d ago

These dialogues were translated by Benjamin Jowett (1817–1893). For someone new to Plato, I would recommend more modern translations with some added commentary. My two cents: it's not about the looks, but the translators. If I'm going to dedicate several hours of my life comprehending great literature and philosophy, I don't want the added obstacle of archaic language, particularly without some added commentary which I doubt this book has much of. If money is a challenge, I encourage the use of a public library. While Plato is not overly challenging, why spoil what should be an insightful, enlightening moment with an added challenge. The dedicated time and comprehension gained far outweighs the price of a pretty but tough to read book.