Socrates' Way is the best book on self-development I have read since Michael Gelb's How to Think Like Leonardo. Gross shows how to apply the famous Socratic Method to such practical issues as how to choose your friends, how to get new ideas to improve your life, and how to find the time to nurture your emotional life. I especially enjoyed the chapter on "Socrates' Way for Women," which showed why the unique psychological strengths which many women have, equip us so well to succeed in the 21st century.

SOCRATES' WAY is immensely intelligent, yet user friendly; informational, yet inspirational. I am a devoted fan of Ron Gross's PEAK LEARNING, yet this latest read is something that I have been personally looking to discover for some time now. As an owner of an educational resource service, I'm always searching for books that I can recommend which will educate students in a subject area, while simultaneously instructing about important life values.

I have added SOCRATES' WAY to my latest resource guide, and will recommend it highly to educators from high school through college. The book is one that will be enjoyed by anyone, yet I can see how it would greatly assist in teaching today's learners about living well, through an accurate understanding of Socrates, himself.

I found it personally interesting, as the beginning chapter which is to "Know Thyself," is similar terminology that I have chosen for the opening in my most recent catalogue. Similarly, Ron Gross writes of "Strengthening Your Soul" toward the end of the book, which I have likewise placed in the conclusion of my catalogue resources. I found this placement of content to flow in a very fitting manner, both professionally and as an interested reader. It isn't difficult to envision students and teachers dissecting each chapter, step-by-step, resulting in each individual being able to "Know Thyself," which is what we aspire to as the end result of education.

It was enlightening to read the forward by Michael Gelb, author of HOW TO THINK LIKE LEONARDO DaVINCI, which is also one of my favorites to recommend, for similar reasons. Admirers of "LEONARDO" will most definately find SOCRATES' WAY to be a most enriching resource. You'll want keep it on your bedstand to gain inspiration, as well as give copies to the special people in your life. A must read!!

Never mind the "how to" and "dummies" books; this is the ultimate life and how to understand it book. With Ron Gross as Socrates incarnate we are privleged to experience wisdom of the ages brought relevant to the present times. A must for any thinking individual.

The fundamentals of Greek philosophy, ranging from Ionianscience to Aristotle, is given here in four brief but thorough lectures. I am not at all well versed in Greek philosophy, though I have occasion to say that F.M. Cornford's presentation of Socrates is the best I've read. He of course denotes the contributions of Plato, Pythagorus, and Aristotle.

In the fashion of Plato he comments on Socrates-the-man. How that he was ahead of his time, how that he had a forceful presence. He then moves on to Socratic thought. The only other lecture on Socrates that comes close to this is Karl's Jaspers "Socrates, Buddha, Confucious, Jesus."

I cannot enough say how well executed this work is. If you are student of philosophy (like me), read this right away.

But I do know that I love the writings of F.M. Cornford. He explains the writings of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle in such a way that it becomes entirely relevant to these days in which we live. Why are we the way we are? What were the beliefs of the ancient thinkers? Some of them were so tenacious in their beliefs that they were willing to give their lives for them. As a searcher of truth, this book spoke to me. Explains the "laws of nature" vs. the "laws of state" and why the former is more preferable than the latter. Cornford is a genius.

When I received this book, I was expecting a more comprehensive survey of Greek thought, but I was nonetheless pleasantly surprised. This very slim book (109 pp) is actually a series of lectures delivered by Cornford on the development of Greek philosophy from Ionian science to Socrates, his pupil Plato, and his pupil Aristotle (with nods to others such as Pythagoras and Democritus along the way). Cornford delivers in very plain language what he considers to be the essential differences between these thinkers. I found this to be a very enjoyable introduction to Greek (and Western) philosophy that can be read within an hour or two. If only more philosophers would deign to present their theories to the laity as clearly as Professor Cornford!

I had to write a term paper for my critical thinking class in college, and it was on Aristophanes. The topic, more specifically, explored how Socrates' fate would have been different, had Aristophanes not written the play "The Clouds." This book was helpful in explaining the play, Aristophanes, and his relationship with Socrates. If you're studying anyhting of this nature, or are just interested in the two men mentioned in the title, I strongly recommend that you read it.

While the introduction, conclusion and first essay (on "Clouds") is apparently anchored in an argument between philosophy and poetry, the further Strauss leaves "Clouds" behind, the more we see through his close reading of the plays, in a way we never do from the younger Plato, the cultural disintegration of Athens under the assault of the war. Euripides, not Socrates, emerges at the real opponent and comedy triumphs over both tragedy and philosophy as the best teacher. This brings us close to an historical experience so often lost in classical studies, particularly in political philosphy, the madness in the streets of Athens and the fully-formed, transcendent characters which emerge with the comic treatment. These are not the spoiled aristocratic youth clustered around Socrates or the sophists (Plato's real enemies - not the poets). These are the men and women at the corner bar. This book makes you wish Strauss had done a "Hobbes and Shakespeare." His evident enjoyment of his subject leaks through with increasing intensity the further he seems to drift from his dichotomy. Could it be Strauss wished to remind his followers, ever so gently, to, like, lighten up and read a good comedy, even in the Greek some labor so hard to acquire? The book at least raises two questions: how did the bold Aristophanes avoid capital punishment? why did the ironic, diplomatic Socrates accept his?

This book follows the typical Strauss pattern: In the first few pages he makes a blanket statement (in this case, Aristophanes is a reactionary; in Thoughts on Machiavelli it was, Machiavelli is evil), then follows it up will a torturous and nuanced analysis of the thinker's ideas until you begin to wonder: In what way is Aristophanes a reactionary or Machiavelli, evil. He tells you the picture is black and white, then he brings you in so close that it all turns gray. Be this as it may, Plato's Symposium and Republic (especially Republic X where Socrates bans the poets from his just city) tells only half the story (philosophy's side). In this book Strauss tells the other half (poetry's side). In essence, Symposium and Republic (and to a certain extent, Phaedo) make up Plato's case as to why philosophy should be the teacher of public morality instead of poetry. Strauss' book takes Aristophanes' eleven existing plays and presents his opposing arguments, his defence of poetry and attack on philosophy. Interesting read for we who sit the other side of Plato's Republic (i.e. Medieval Christendom, where there is no longer any contest between Thomas Aquinas and Dante Aligheri).

I just have to say this is a must read for everyone in the world. It is a such a logical way of looking at God that if you are looking for something real and powerful to make you believe this is it. If you are a doubter then this is the book for you! It is for everyone!

This book is so fun to read that you don't realize that your brain is being twisted into proper shape. It's like going to a mental chiropractor.

Other books of interest may include: "Between Heaven and Hell" by Peter Kreeft. All of Kreeft's books are engaging in style and hearty in substance. To see the interaction between Christianity and classical culture, see "Christianity and Classical Culture" by Jaraslov Pelikan. Mortimer Adler's books are also helpful in discussing how to think about God, Life, Truth, etc. A short little book "Does God Exist?" by Moody is written in the trialogue style and is great at rejecting the silly, yet popular, arguments against God and gives the reader much to think about. In a more Christian line, the works of C.S. Lewis are great, and the classic by Bishop Kallistos Ware, "The Orthodox Way" is a great place to start if your interested in historic Christianity. "The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church" by Vladimir Lossky will certainly reshape the old brain, too! Please check some of these out. Enjoy!

Socrates in New York was a breath of fresh air. It enables a reader of any religious or non-religious background to grasp the message contained. Modern man is no closer to the truth than the ancient philosophers, even with all the advanced technology; science still cannot prove or disprove the answers to the mysteries of the universe.

The reader will find the truth as it is written and provides some strong arguements in favor of faith, hope, and love... A clever piece of work indeed!

A must read for anyone in search of God or "Higher Power".

Professor Stumpf has done an excellent job at clearly describing all the key philosophical ideas and the awsome men who introduced them... beginning with the early Greek thinkers and moving chronologically to late 20th century philosophers. So the title of his latest edition should probably be slightly changed to reflect this latest reality.

Stumpf has taken the fog out of philosophy and instead has given the interested reader mostly sunlight from which to study these great ideas that have guided civilization to its present state.

Ironically, though, I find it odd that Stumpf book is not widely used, as I believe that it should be, throughout U.S. colleges and universities!

This may be due to the old silent fact that most college professors order textbooks for students that are exceedingly difficult to read, thus hoping that students will spend more time reading these foggy textbooks when in reality students end up not reading these foggy books at all. So college professors must begin changing their textbook selection criteria and start ordering textbooks that are, above all, well written and easy to follow as Stumpf's book clearly is.

Gerard J. Sagliocca, P.E.
Social Critic

Socrates to Sartre is a great book to use to understand the basic thought of any philosopher. The greatest strenghts of the book lie in the analysis of philosophy up to the modern period. In particular the book seems thin on the areas of existential philosophy and post-modern thought. Those limitations acknowledged, I would recommend this book for any person trying to crack the world of philosophy. Make sure you get another book if you want to understand the thought of 19th century or 20th century philosophers.

I recommend this book to anyone studying Philosophy. I majored in Phil in college and owe a great deal to "Socrates to Sartre" for helping me understand so many abstract concepts. It is writen in contemporary english so it is much easier to understand than many of the philosophers' own writing. The reader can follow the book as a historical text or use it as an encylopedia. All major theories by all major western philosophers are concisely broken down and explained. Examples are given. The book is structured in order of schools of thought and historical order. I swear one of my instructors must used this book for his lectures beacuse I used it for his classes and did very well. I don't mean to sound like I'm related to the author but this book is the best guide around.

This book is as fresh today as it was 25 years ago when it was originally published. John Sallis continues to be one of the most interesting voices in philosophy in the U.S. In this magnificent work Sallis explores several of the most important dialogues in the platonic corpus by concentrating upon the interaction between logos--speech or writing--and "being" within those works. What we get is an impressive set of interpretations upon old favorites: Meno, Apology, Republic, Sophist, Phaedrus, Cratylus. Since Sallis has been heavily influenced by Heidegger and Derrida he pays particular attention to the form of the dialogues and their slippery language. Rather than the tired old cliches about Plato's "theory of ideas" or "theory of hedonism" we get compelling, insightful interpretations about the twists-and-turns in the dialogues and the interplay between interlocutors. This book so rich as to defy the conventional, short review.

It is works like this which remind us that Plato is every bit as radical and profound today as he was 2,500 years ago. Put down those dreadful books by Vlastos and Nehemas; pick this one up! You will not be sorry.

The problem with Plato's dialogues is that they were written over 2,500 yeqrs ago. That's not Plato's problem, it's ours. The whole cultural milieu, on which the dialogue draw heavily, no longer exists. What's a Mother to do? Well if you get Doctor Sallis' marvelous little book you will be given guided tours of several important dialogues: Meno, Phaedrus, Republic and others. Of course, it doesn't replace actually reading the dialogues, and his language is a tad Heideggerian (but not offensively so). All in all a good read.

I wholeheartedly recommend this work; Written by a well respected continental philosopher, it is perhaps the finest introduction (in english) to the many dimensions of the platonic dialogues.

Society has often divided the history of philosophy into Eastern and Western thought. However, in "Socrates and the Enlightenment Path," William Bodri presents a convincing argument that Socrates was one of the rare people to have blended the two genres. Bodri systematically analyzes writings about Socrates and the writings of Eastern philosophy (including those about the Buddha and Confucius) in an attempt to determine whether or not Socrates achieved the highest levels of Eastern philosophy's enlightenment.
Yet, this text is not exclusively about Socrates and his ideas. Rather, it is an informative text on philosophy in general and mankind's search for clarity. Bodri searches many different texts and disciplines to determine that the truly great thinkers of our world have defied the boundaries of East and West to discover the oneness of true reality.

Bodri does an excellent job of discussing Eastern ideas in a way that is easy for Westerners to accept and understand. He uses the case of Socrates as a jumping point into a whole array of Eastern/Buddhist themes, including no-self and emptiness (dependent origination), impermanence, meditation (Samadhi), wisdom (Prajna), and enlightenment. While Bodri is not unique in discussing these topics, his discussion of them is the most useful and appropriate to a western audience. As Bodri points out, there are fundamental differences between the eastern and western approaches; ironically, Bodri takes a western, intellectual approach in criticizing western traditions, and pulls it off quite well. I found Bodri's writing to be much more attuned to my (western) mode of thinking. Bodri is much more understandable, and thus more useful, to the mainstream western audience. Granted, as Bodri would probably admit, intellectualizing about the differences between East and West, as Bodri does, cannot actually lead to wisdom. As he writes, "words are words until they are crystallized into actions." However, by showing the inadequacy of words themselves, Bodri more effectively inspires the reader to take the next step towards enlightenment than any other author I've read.

The Author goes to the root of the western civilization and brings out its long lost jewel - that the truth is NOT "out there", but in our heart. (The same thing can be said for the devil, that is if you believe he exists :) After reading this book, you will see that the original western philosophers and the eastern sages are not that different 2500 years ago. The vast difference we see today is a result of both westerners and easterners losing their roots and getting caught in the dazzling modern civilization. This book also contains insights into religion, philosophy and science. Highly recommended for anyone, no matter where you are from and what you do.

This book contains three things. Shelley's translation of Plato's dialogue _The Banquet_ (or _Symposium_), the first and still the greatest English version; Shelley's courageously anti-homophobic essay _A Discourse on the Manners of the Ancient Athenians Relative to the Subject of Love_; and an introduction by editor John Lauritsen. The five stars are for Shelley.

The _Symposium_ presents a group of Athenian aristocrats who share privilege, contempt for democracy and the leisure needed for philosophy. After one banquet, the slaves gone, they compete to make the best speech in praise of love. The most memorable speeches are by Aristophanes, Socrates and Alcibiades.

Aristophanes creates a comic myth in which men and women were once joined, sharing a body and a soul (and, each androgynous creature having four legs and four arms, getting about by tumbling). The gods became jealous of these creatures' happiness and split them up, creating the two sexes we know today. But men and women stayed together, each with the partner with whom they had shared a soul. So Zeus scattered them, forcing the male and female soulmates apart. And still men and women search amongst each other, looking for that one perfect soulmate.

Socrates' speech concerns love between men and boys, arguing that in their highest forms these loves have no sexual element. Alcibiades arrives late and drunk, and refuses to speak in praise of anything but Socrates himself. The party then breaks up.

The _Symposium_ is Plato's most theatrical dialogue, with vivid characterisation, deft comic touches and soaring poetic language. Shelley was also fascinated by Alcibiades' anecdote about Socrates standing lost in thought, oblivious to sun, cold, thirst or pain, motionless for three days. Shelley's translation is literally accurate (despite some minor errors) but also accurate in the higher sense of being a brilliantly poetic rendering of a brilliantly poetic work. Shelley called Plato's original "radiant", lamenting that his own words were a "gray veil" over the brightness of the original. But his modesty was unwarranted: his is one of the great English prose translations: fresh, clear and indeed radiant.

Shelley's _Ancient Athenians_ essay is just as remarkable. It attempts to explain how [some] ancient Athenians could have thought love between men, including sexual love, was "higher" than heterosexual love. In doing so he presented a pioneering case against homophobia. The courage of Shelley's stance in his 1818 essay, as in so many things, is simply astonishing.

Shelley's argument was that homosexuality flourished in
ancient Athens, and was considered nobler than heterosexual relations, because of the suppression of women. Athenian society didn't educate girls or women, and excluded them from the city's intellectual, artistic and political life. Therefore, Shelley argued, it was harder for male-female relationships to be equal partnerships, or to include the life of the mind, or indeed much beyond the housekeeping mundane or the purely sexual. Though he argued against condemning homosexuality he was also, as a proto-feminist, arguing that the social conditions that (he thought) foster homosexuality are unjust and undesirable.

Lauritsen's introduction misreads both texts in claiming them as gay classics. Plato's text has Socrates promote intergenerational same-sex relationships, though ideally without sexual practice or the body. Alcibiades' speech is homoerotic in its praise of Socrates, but crucial to that praise is that Socrates is celibate, even when tempted by the beautiful Alcibiades himself. Later, Plato will withdraw this limited tolerance, banning homosexuals from his "ideal" republic. As Karl Popper observed, Plato was a sign on the road that led to Fascism, Nazism, Communism. The _Symposium_ is a treasure of world literature, but too problematic a text simply to be celebrated as a gay classic.

Shelley's essay is also classic but not "gay". (Setting aside the fact that "gay" places someone within a culture that didn't exist in Shelley's lifetime.) Shelley argued that homosexual relationships can be loving and noble, and should not be condemned unless there is brutality or other things that would be equally undesirable in a heterosexual relationship. But he argues as a sympathetic outsider (with bisexual male friends), who also wrote essays defending the political rights of Ireland, deists and Catholics, without being Irish, or a deist or Catholic.

Lauritsen arguments for claiming Shelley as "gay" are astonishingly shonky. One, amazingly, is that Shelley was good-looking. But ... what about good-looking heterosexuals? Or Shelley's facial boils? More Lauritsen "evidence" is that Shelley stood naked when Trelawney first met him. But in public school culture then as now it was "manly"; not to fuss about being naked in front of other men; also, Shelley had been bathing, and he'd expected to pass women on the beach but didn't know Trelawney was there. Lauritsen mentions missing diary pages to suggest a cover-up. But he should know that the diary in question is Claire Claremont's and surrounding evidence indicates that the missing pages concern a pregnancy, an entirely heterosexual scandal. And Lauritsen says, meaningfully, that Shelley kissed friends at school, but should surely know that in that less emotionally constrained age men kissed to indicate friendship, not trouser turbulence. And so on.

Instead, Shelley was something more radical. Fascinated by androgyny, he asserted the right to enact masculinity as it suited him; ridin', shootin' and boatin' with Byron and Trelawney, and gentle and "womanly" with women and some male friends. Shelley unhitched the link, as Lauritsen does not, between gender performance and sexual orientation, in that sense being an ancestor of more fluid current thinking on sexuality. The idea that a man who is prepared to drop the male "armour" is necessarily homosexual is a 19th century conservative idea: it's ironic that some gay activists later took it up.

But despite reservations on Lauritsen's claims, he deserves our thanks for making Shelley's two magnificent tests available again. Shelley might be bemused to find himself claimed as gay, but he'd be pleased to find his works still enlisted in the struggle against bigotry and in the cause of love.

Cheers!

Laon

This is a splendid translation of Plato's "Symposium."

This dialogue is not a densely-wrought, tightly-argued philosophical argument, but a series of speeches in praise of the god of love (Eros). For this type of matter, who could serve better than Percy Bysshe Shelley, one of the greatest poets ever to write in English?

It's like discovering the work all over again. Make it a permanent part of your library, and wonder (from time to time) why this is not the translation used by everyone.

Highest recommendation!!

A special mood is induced by reading Plato, the product of an elite society whose ideal was leisurely contemplation. Indeed, it is an activity that seems to clash at every point with our own unreflective society whose thought currency is minted in soundbites and advertising slogans. People are not encouraged to be philosophical nowadays, so it is mainly the resort of the antisocial and the willfully eccentric who are in this way enabled to look down on the 'crude, vulgar masses.' Who, reading a book of Plato's, hasn't felt something of this pleasure?

If there is one book by Plato that can be considered to have a more mainstream appeal then it must surely be "The Symposium." The subject of love is of interest to us all and worthy of investigation as behind this word, perhaps the most overstretched in our language, there are so many possible meanings.

With this book we are able to eavesdrop on an after dinner party conversation by some truly great minds. As always, Plato is happy to present more than one view. Of course, the shocking point for the mainstream modern reader is that most of the discussion concerns homosexual love, nevertheless much of what is said can also be applied to many heterosexual situations.

Among the participants presented with perhaps some semblance to their original characters, are the great Athenian comic playwright, Aristophanes, and, towards the end, the party is enlivened by the arrival of the controversial Alcibiades, possibly the most brilliant statesman and soldier of his generation. It is through him and his confession of attempted seduction that we learn a great many details about Plato's mentor, Socrates.

The translator, Christopher Gill, succeeds in presenting the chain of argument in a clear, lucid style, further supplemented by a fine, lengthy introduction and copious notes for those unfamiliar with late fifth century BC Greece.

Plato's "Symposium" will always be read because there will always be people who question the nature of Love. Agathon's dinner party is the scene of a conversation between a small group of men, who go around the table offering their views on Love. What does Love mean to us to-day? Reading over the responses of the dinner-guests and their host, we find the same range of answers in Ancient Greece that we are likely to find now.

Phaedrus and Pausanias are utilitarians and materialists. Phaedrus looks at love between people and a proto-Burkean love for government and state. Pausanias complicates the argument, saying that there are two different kinds of love, one which is common and one which is heavenly - yet still oriented towards the real and the tangible. Eryximachus is a proto-Swedenborg, trying to reconcile or harmonize the two kinds of love.

The jewels of Plato's "Symposium" are Aristophanes and Socrates. Aristophanes gives us the profoundly moving depiction of Love as a fundamental human need, a desire for completion. For a writer of comedy, whose aim as an art form is forgiveness and acceptance, Aristophanes's explanation is no surprise, though its depth is amazing. While women are generally discounted throughout the "Symposium," not only does Socrates, as we might expect, completely astound his audience (both inside the book and out) with his progressively logical and ascendant view of Love, but he also does it through the voice of a woman, Diotima. When we realize that Socrates is a character in this fiction, and that his words originate in a woman, the egalitarianism and wisdom of Plato the author truly shines forth, like the absolute beauty he claims as the ultimate goal of Love.

Was Plato a feminist? I don't know. I do know that the "Symposium" is a tremendous book. I picked it up and did not stop reading it until I was finished. The style of the Penguin translation is smooth, with a lighthearted tone that can make you forget that you are reading philosophy. Plato's comedic masterpiece in the "Symposium" is the character of Alcibiades, who provides the work a fitting end. Get the "Symposium" and read it now. You cannot help but Love it...in a Platonic sort of way.

The symposium is Plato's famous dialogue on love. He brings together some of the greatest minds of Athens and together they debate the nature of Eros, the parentage of Love, and the Divine. Aristophanes, the comic, explains the human desire to unite with another using his favorite device: humor. Socrates, for whom Plato obviously has enormous admiration, gives us more pearls of wisdom, this time concerning love, beauty, and the ascent of man. Even the great general and statesman Alcibiades makes a cameo toward the end scene of the dinner-party.

At the very least, we learn about the Greek concept of Love. From this book we may garner a far deeper understanding of Eros than we might have previously hoped. This is the finest of Plato's works, in my opinion.

The Symposium will continue to tower among Western literature as a work of truly insightful genius. Buy this book and be prepared for enlightenment.

In ancient times, Plato was regarded as one who writes most beautifully, and even in translation his mastery comes forward.

Reading this book, you are at the beginning of philosophy. There are beautiful dialogs concerning the most profound questions anyone can ask.

An advantage of this particular book is that for a reasonable price you can own Plato's complete works in modern scholarly translations. The volume is skillfully edited and there are handy notes.

Plato is one of the few philosophers who can be read for pleasure. His influence on Western thought is immense. As Whitehead says, subsequent Western philosophy is just footnotes to Plato.

Here are some of the works collected in this volume -

Apology - Socrates defense of his life

Phaedo - a defense of the immortality of the soul

Euthyrpo - a criticism of the Divine Command theory of ethics

Republic - the ideal commonwealth, what is justice, theory of ideas

Meno - the recollection theory of knowledge

Timaeus - Plato's story of the creation of the universe, his cosmology

Plato, Complete Works is a must for the bookshelf of anyone interested in philosophy. Cooper's and Hutchinson's edition contains all Plato's known works and even some that might not be his, but are associated with him in some way. The translations are generally well-written and their style more up-to-date and readable than some older translations. As reviewers said before, this book is necessary if you want to understand philosophy and its history.

Except for some of the shorter works, (Euthyphro, Apology, Symposium), Plato's works are not easy to read. Some works are so dense and difficult that you can't see the point of his argument (e.g., Parmenides). If you need some help interpreting Plato, a good introduction to his work is G.M. Grube's Plato's Thought. It provides clear exposition on a number of subjects, including the theory of ideas, the nature of the soul, education, and statecraft.

One needs to decide whether Plato's thought is vital today or just historically important. Those who treat Plato as important today fall into one of two groups. There are those who think he is the source of that evil called Western Civilization. Post-modernists see modern philosophy as a series of rhetorical tropes started by Plato. They hold him responsible for the metaphysical nonsense espoused in philosophy today about reality, objectivity, and knowledge. If you think Plato is total nonsense and think his characters Protagoras (man is the measure of things) and Thrasymachus (might makes right) are largely correct, you might want to compare his work to Derrida or Nietzsche.

Then there are the Hellenists. They think that Plato said it all and nothing (or not much) more needs to be said. You usually get Alfred North Whitehead's quote here about philosophy being a series of footnotes to Plato. If you are so enthralled, you might want to try Allen Bloom, Stanley Rosen, or Leo Strauss.

Personally, I think both readings are wrongheaded for the same reason. In the 19th and 20th centuries especially, philosophy has made conceptual advances on Plato. Frege's logic, Kuhn's history of science, Peirce's communitarian pragmatism, and Wittgenstein's later language theory step beyond Plato.

If Plato is important today, it is for what he started, not what he says. He began the philosophical fields that are still popular areas today, including metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and politics. And he invented the character of Socrates, through which he developed the notions of dialectic and definition. For these reasons alone, Plato's works should be read carefully and often. The fact that you get all of them here in one relatively inexpensive book (at least in terms of price per work) should be incentive enough to buy it.

I have not read every narration and account in this huge book yet but so far I am extremely happy with it. First, Plato's works are wonderful and somehow maintain a freshness even after reading through several in a row. The threads of logic woven through these works are a delight and I have found myself laughing aloud occasionally at the near sarcasm I feel I'm reading - Socrates often comes across as a quick-tongued smart-A**.

The translation is free-flowing and up-to-date. If you can read English, buy this book. If not, learn to and then buy this or have someone read it to you. It is that good and that important.