Includes bibliographical references (p. 231-234) and index.

Plato's life and works -- The contexts for interpreting Plato's Dial ogues -- Sources of perplexity : change -- A brief history of platonism and Plato interpretation -- Dialogue form -- Arguments and ideas, visi on and doctrines -- Fables, myths, and stories -- Irony and other forms of humour -- Play and seriousness -- Paradox -- Plato's philosophy : p ermanence -- Platonic anonymity and the nature of Plato's philosophy -- Persistent themes and Plato's vision -- The platonic path to wisdom -- Help in reading and understanding Plato's Dialogues and his philosophy -- How to read a platonic dialogue -- Summaries of the Dialogues.