Philosophy Audiobooks

Statesman (Greek: ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΟΣ Latin: POLITICUS) discusses God's role in maintaining the Universe and describes the statesman as a good shepherd who promotes intermarriage between the orderly (rich) and courageous (poor). Painting: Eighty and Eighteen by John William Godward. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. Audiobook read by Geoffrey Edwards.

Parmenides (ΠΑΡΜΕΝΙΔΗΣ) recounts a meeting between Socrates, Zeno and Parmenides. Topics discussed include universals, plurality and the One. Photograph: Cotton-Mill Worker, North Carolina by Lewis W. Hine. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. Audiobook read by Geoffrey Edwards.

Olympiodorus the Younger (ΟΛΥΜΠΙΟΔΩΡΟΣ Ο ΝΕΩΤΕΡΟΣ) was a Neoplatonist philosopher who lived in the early years of the Byzantine Empire. Justinian's Decree of 529 AD closed Plato's Academy in Athens and other Pagan schools but Olympiodorus avoided persecution in part because the Alexandrian School was less involved in politics. At his death the School passed into the hands of Christian Aristotelians. Painting: La fábula de Leda (The Fable of Leda) by Eugenio Cajés (1575-1634) and based off of a painting by Antonio da Correggio (1489-1534). Translated by George Burges. Audiobook read by Geoffrey Edwards.

The Life of Plato was written by Hesychius of Miletus who lived in Constantinople and flourished during the reign of Saint Justinian the Great. Painting: Femme nue au chien by Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet. Translated by George Burges. Audiobook read by Geoffrey Edwards.

Apuleius on the Doctrines of Plato which is also known as On Plato and his Doctrine (Latin: De Dogmate Platonis) is divided into three parts. Book I: On Natural Philosophy. Book II: On Moral Philosophy. Book III: On the Philosophy of Reasoning. Painting: Cupid and Psyche by François Pascal Simon. Translated by George Burges. Audiobook read by Geoffrey Edwards.

The Introduction of Alcinous to the Doctrines of Plato which is also known as The Handbook of Platonism (ΕΠΙΤΟΜΗ ΤΩΝ ΠΛΑΤΩΝΟΣ ΔΟΓΜΑΤΩΝ) is attributed to the Middle Platonist philosopher Alcinous (ΑΛΚΙΝΟΥΣ) who lived around the 2nd century AD. Painting: The Birth of Bacchus by Giulio Romano (Giulio Pippi) and Workshop. Scanned by The J. Paul Getty Museum. Translated by George Burges. Audiobook read by Geoffrey Edwards.

The Introduction of Albinus to the Dialogues of Plato was written in the 2nd Century CE by Albinus (ΑΛΒΙΝΟΣ) the teacher of Galen (ΚΛΑΥΔΙΟΣ ΓΑΛΗΝΟΣ). Painting: The Triumph of Death by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Translated by George Burges. Audiobook read by Geoffrey Edwards.

Cratylus (ΚΡΑΤΥΛΟΣ) discusses whether things have names by mere convention or have true names which can only be correctly applied to the object named and may have originated from God. Painting: Oedipus and the Sphinx by Gustave Moreau. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. Audiobook read by Geoffrey Edwards.

Axiochus (ΑΞΙΟΧΟΣ) may not have been written by Plato. Socrates presents various arguments to the gravely ill Axiochus for why he should not fear death. The first is that the dead experience nothing because they do not exist and so by definition can not suffer from death. When this argument fails Socrates discusses the immortality of the soul, predestination, the final judgement, the joys of the afterlife for the good and the sufferings of the damned. Photograph: Moki Girls by John K. Hillers.

The Treatise of Timaeus the Locrian on the Soul of the World and Nature (Ancient Greek: ΠΕΡΙ ΦΥΣΙΟΣ ΚΟΣΜΩ ΚΑΙ ΨΥΧΑΣ; Latin: Timaeus Locrus) may not have been written by Plato. The Pythagorean philosopher Timaeus describes the creation of the world by God and the Demiurge using the eternal forms as guides and matter composed of Platonic solids. Painting: The Magic Circle by John William Waterhouse.