Commentary Resources On Plato's Ion, Meno, Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito
23 videos and 23 podcast episodes designed to help learners better understand five Platonic dialogues
Over the course of my now 25 years teaching philosophy, I have led learners through certain Platonic dialogues many times over. Certain of his texts prove particularly suitable for beginner-level students, particularly for introducing key concepts of Platonic philosophy, or the features of the “Socratic method”. In these dialogues, we get to see Plato’s teacher Socrates practicing his craft of philosophy with other interlocutors about things that really matter, including whether he will live or die. More importantly, though, what kind of life Socrates will choose to live.
I began producing short lecture videos on certain of these dialogues years back as resources for students enrolled in my classes, adding to them over time. Each of them focuses on one key idea, distinction, or argument worked out in one of Plato’s dialogues. You’ll also find some of these themes repeated from time to time, referenced and illustrated in different manners. These videos have also been used as supplementary resources, and in some cases incorporated into the curriculum, by other professors for their own classes, and even into entire online academic programs.
As many of you readers many know, I take these lecture videos and also convert them into podcast episodes that people can download and listen to anywhere. My editing of them improves the sound, removes filler words, and eliminates long pauses, so they end up being a bit shorter than the corresponding videos. But they provide precisely the same content, just in audio, rather than video, format.
Below, you will find links to all of the core concept videos and Sadler’s Lectures podcast episodes on five short but important Platonic dialogues. They might prove useful as resources for you in your own study of Plato and Socrates. So here they are:
The Ion
"Speaking Well" and Knowledge | watch video | listen to podcast
Do Poets Have Knowledge? | watch video | listen to podcast
Poetry and Divine Inspiration | watch video | listen to podcast
The Meno
Attempts to Define Virtue | watch video | listen to podcast
Goods, Desires, and Knowledge | watch video | listen to podcast
Socrates the "Stingray" and Aporia | watch video | listen to podcast
Plato's Articulation of The Meno Paradox | watch video | listen to podcast
The Doctrine of Recollection | watch video | listen to podcast
Can Virtue Be Taught? | watch video | listen to podcast
Knowledge and Right Opinion | watch video | listen to podcast
The Euthyphro
What Gods and Humans Disagree About | watch video | listen to podcast
The Euthyphro Dilemma | watch video | listen to podcast
Piety as a Part of Justice | watch video | listen to podcast
The Apology
Socrates' Older Accusers | watch video | listen to podcast
Socrates' Divine Mission | watch video | listen to podcast
Socrates' Defense Against Corrupting the Young | watch video | listen to podcast
Socrates' Defense Against Charges of Impiety | watch video | listen to podcast
Socrates' Gadfly Analogy | watch video | listen to podcast
Why Socrates Does Not Fear Death | watch video | listen to podcast
The Crito
Crito's Arguments with Socrates | watch video | listen to podcast
Socrates on Living According to Principle | watch video | listen to podcast
Socrates on The Many and the Wise | watch video | listen to podcast
The Laws' Arguments | watch video | listen to podcast
There you have them. 23 lecture videos and 23 corresponding podcast episodes, all intended to help learners better understand these five Platonic dialogues. I hope that you find them useful!