The goal of Exploring Plato’s Dialogues is to “create a quality‐controlled region of cyberspace” consisting of materials “carefully selected on the basis of their relevance” to the study of Plato’s Dialogues. The scope of this project was originally limited to four middle dialogues: the Phaedo, Phaedrus, Symposium, and Republic. Information on the Crito has recently been added; and work is under way on eight more dialogues: Apology, Euthyphro, Meno, Parmenides, Sophist, Statesman and, Theaetetus. The project is currently maintained by a staff that includes graduate assistants, programmers, and scholars in the areas of classical studies and philosophy.
For each of the individual dialogues, Exploring Plato’s Dialogues provides links not only to several translations, but also to related articles, essays, and bibliographies about individual dialogues. Exploring Plato’s Dialogues contains additional material about Plato’s life and work. A brief biographical sketch of Plato’s life provides a helpful overview for those not familiar with background information. A bibliography of print resources and a collection of links to background information direct site users to further resources. To encourage discussion on Plato, the editors of this project sponsor an e‐mail list intended for students at all levels as well as scholars. The site also provides subscription information and list guidelines. Finally, this site is rounded out by a search engine designed to “make accessible to the wide range of resources related to Plato that are already available on the Internet and potentially enhance the study of Plato for anyone with an Internet connection”.
Links to translations, bibliographies, and related resources are germane to the topic. The two translations provided (the Fowler and the Jowett) are by no means recent; but they are venerable and widely used in print. A hyperlinked table of contents for each dialogue allows users to navigate these translations easily. Although the inclusion of links to texts in the original Greek might not be helpful for all users, it is unfortunate they are not included for the benefit of those users who wish to consult the text.
Although there is some overlap between citations in Exploring Plato’s Dialogues and those appearing in Guthrie’s History of Greek Philosophy ‐ up to a 20 per cent overlap in one category ‐ there are also many other resources as well. The bibliography in Exploring Plato’s Dialogues is up to date, with approximately 10 per cent of most bibliographies comprising citations to works published since 1990.
Exploring Plato’s Dialogues aspires to develop a collection of online papers and essays by undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty. The goal of “providing glimpses of people trying to come to terms with Plato” is admirable; but the collection only consists of two essays. One hopes that this collection will grow, so that it can provide the perspectives of more people attempting to come to terms with aspects of Plato’s thought.
Perhaps the most impressive feature of this site is its search engine which is a modified version of the limited area search engine used to power Argo: Limited Area Search of the Ancient and Medieval Internet. Exploring Plato’s Dialogues employs a search engine which allows users to search by key word, to take advantage of Boolean operators, and to specify the type of material which interests them (options for material type include “articles/essays”, “bibliographies”, “book reviews”, “lecture notes”, “maps/images”, and “primary texts”). In addition, after entering a search, users have the option of adding an additional term and limiting the search to include only those items already retrieved. Including a searchable archive of the electronic discussion group on Plato, either separately or bundled together with the search engine, would make this site even more helpful.
The materials retrieved by the search tool include entries from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, lecture notes from faculty members at more than a dozen universities and colleges, freely available electronic publications such as the Bryn Mawr Book Review and several student papers. However, materials published in subscription‐based products such as Project Muse’s American Journal of Philology, Arethusa, and Philosophy and Literature do not appear; and links to articles appearing in these publications are not included.
Exploring Plato’s Dialogues succeeds as a clearinghouse for information about Plato and the Platonic dialogues on the Internet. Although background materials such as biographical sketches, bibliographies, and translations are not unparalleled, they are an essential part of a Web site of this scope. The search engine featured on this site ensures that users can easily gain access to a breadth of Internet resources about Plato and his thought. Even more useful are the attempts to disseminate unpublished information. The discussion lists and collection of essays help to make available perspectives on Plato’s works that might otherwise be unavailable. One looks forward to this site’s continuing growth as it attempts to provide resources for eight more dialogues.
