The works of Plato (ca. 427-347 B.c.) have long been considered among the most influential in Western philosophy. Born into the Athenian aristocracy during a period of political unrest, Plato strove to reconcile the political and moral; his writings reflect his twin concerns of reform in both the city-state and in men's ideas about the whole nature of realitv. There could not be one without the other.

Two major dialogues by one of historys best known and most widely read and studied philosophers appear in this volume: Gorgias, which addresses the temptations of worldly success and the rewards of amoral life; and Timaeus, an explanation of the world in terms not only of physical laws but also of metaphysical and religious principles.

In Gorgias, an exploration of the proposition that it is better to suffer wrong than do wrong, Socrates debates with Callicles, an amoral young sophist. Callicles favors the primacy of his own enjoyment,and Socrates counters with a poetic argument denying the ultimate value of physical pleasure, asserting that it is preferable to endure someone else"s bad conduct than to be the source of bad behavior.

Timaeus relates a creation myth that concludes with the birth of humanity, in which Socrates demonstrates that morality is based on cosmic order. True morality, he maintains, is neither the product of human evolution nor an exercise of will, but an external manifestation of the soul"s order and harmony. This dialogue is of particular historical interest for its allusion to Atlantis--the earliest known reference to the mythical lost island.

GORGIAS

TIMAEUS