h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thanks Gnomon I'm sure you will have had a good evening at the concert tonight

In post 12, I meant the introductory paragraph of the Entry

In the Lysis section, how about?:

"Socrates tries various arguments, thinking about whether lovers and their beloveds are friends, then considering whether friendship arises from like-mindedness or from opposites attracting, but he is dissatisfied with all the results."

Thanks Sashs, thanks for remembering about my concert. Yes, the concert was this evening, and it went well. Having drunk a few glasses of wine to relax afterwards, I'm not now in a state to make any more changes to the entries. I'll look at them tomorrow,

Do you agree with Tav that there should be a footnote about the method of execution in Athens?

Yes, I do agree with Tav that there needs to be some explanation of the penalty imposed on Socrates.

I did a more detailed search, and found better information, so the last paragraph needs to be amended as follows:

"As sunset approached, Socrates bathed, said farewell to his children and Xanthippe, and then took a fatal dose of hemlockThe usual death penalty for Athenians was to be strangled but convicts were also given the options to leave Athens and go into exile or to poison themselves. with his friends around him."

~~~

Nice project. I'll work through them in order.

Points on - A87808008 Introduction :

No problems with the content as such, but the following sentence I found a bit self-evident:

{Plato's childhood was an important time for him and his development.}


In addition, I found this closing paragraph a bit weak in the context of what has come before.

{Plato was an innovative and thought-provoking philosopher who is still studied today for his views. Many people think he was very important to the subject, even if they disagree with his ideas, so he is a famous name in philosophy and always will be.}

Icy

Thanks Icy North - very true.

The sentence can be deleted.

The introduction and concluding paragraph both need strengthening, somehow...

*ponders*

Yes, it's not always easy to write a strong conclusion. I suggest you consider the three main reasons *why* people thought he was important, and write that instead.

I think what will work best is if the last paragraph is deleted and the paragraph about Meno is moved up one place to make the last paragraph as follows:

"The concept of 'Platonic Friendship' evolved from consideration of discussions of love and friendship in his works such as The Symposium and Lysis. Plato's writing about the life and death of Socrates, in the Apology and related books, is hugely important to history as well as to philosophy. His influence is broad, extending into the realms of the sciences and the arts, and his ideas still have relevance today."

The first paragraph could be tweaked to:

"Although there have been many philosophers worthy of note, Plato is the most influential person in Western philosophy - his successors may not always agree with everything he wrote, but they almost certainly make reference to him in their own work. Plato covered a wide variety of human experiences in his books, so his work continues to provide fascination to philosophers and general readers alike."

I hope that helps

Yes, that sounds good.

A87810447 On Socrates

Content is clear and understandable. Only one point:

{Socrates was the principal person in most of the dialogues written by the Greek philosopher Plato.}

I would say "principal character"

- A87809575 On Love

Nothing to add - seems fine to me

Sub-editing is up to date, up to this posting.

General note: it is easier giving short but separate reviews / synopses on each work specifying major themes covered & conclusions drawn (if any), than to cover themes (as done here) trying to integrate the different works & including only those elements relevant to the theme.

- A87809584 On Atlantis
- A87810456 On Politics

I've read these and have nothing to add, thanks

Thanks Icy North

Thanks Stone Aart - good to see you here in Peer Review.

My aim with the Project was to look at Plato's life and his most well-known works, plus some of his less well-known works, and hopefully create a series of Entries to give a flavour of the variety of topics he wrote about.

I see your point that some are OK grouped together, like the Socrates ones, but the "Philosopher - On Politics" Entry is perhaps not so well grouped. I tried to focus the discussion on how Plato wrote about subjects that have relevance to politics, and education of people who would go on to enter politics. Maybe a title change would help, I don't know - perhaps "On Education and Politics"?

Hi, my view is that you should split the Plato project into "themes" and "works" (works = individual dialogues). Entries in the "works" section can mention the major (& minor) themes of the dialogue, then a synopsis / linear summary, then any links to other works.

In this way I think it will be easier for you to write and manage. I also think rather than try to get everything through peer review all at once you can focus on those entries more easy to write and finish - rather than to complete the project "all at once". With something like a Themes & Works division it will be maybe easier to write, to add to, and to edit / modify individual entries. Maybe in time other people could be inspired to write & add their own Plato entries to either the "Themes" or "Works" section.

It is normal practice to complete Projects all at once. This offers a number of advantages:

1. A single sub-editor is assigned, so that all entries in the project are edited to the same style.

2. Links between entries can be arranged since all the entries go live together. Links in Edited Entries to unedited entries are no allowed, so if the entries are put live one at a time, the links between then have to be disabled, and then enabled when the entries go live. This is extra work for curators / editors, but has been done on occasion.

3. Because the sub-editor edits the entries before they're put into Peer Review, the reviewers can concentrate on content, rather than being distracted by choice of words, grammar errors and typos.

But there's no time limit. So if SashaQ wants to make major changes based on suggestions in Peer Review, she can do it, and the entries can sit here for as long as it takes.

ps otherwise as you suggest relabel the "on politics" section to "on education & politics". Also if not already done, give a very brief summary to the entry describing what you will be covering & the works involved.

pps Entries covering practical issues such as "politics" also need some context: in this case a brief description of the politics during Plato's time so the viewer has some understanding as to why this was an important issue for Plato.

Thanks for your thoughts, Stone Aart - I appreciate your input.

I'm happy with the other 4 entries in my Project and I don't want to go into any more detail of the Later Works myself, as I don't like them. I think my Project does allow for other people to write more detailed Entries on specific works if they want, like the Entry on The Republic that I have linked to.

I therefore accept your suggestions in Posts 38 and 39, and shall amend On Politics to explain more about Plato's motivation for thinking about such things - please Gnomon amend the title to On Education and Politics as well.

Updated paragraphs to follow