In the complex and often violent political arena of ancient Greece, ideals of civic engagement and self-determination mingled ...

While much of Plato’s work has survived in the intervening millennia since his death, it has been impossible to produce a complete biography of his life. He was taught by Socrates, who serves as ...

Carol Atack’s “Plato: A Civic Life” traces Plato’s philosophy back to his biography. Philosophy, Ms. Atack writes, prefers to “extract arguments from the text and remove them from their ...