b The letter "b" is a printer’s signature, a mark used by early bookbinders to ensure the large sheets of paper were folded and assembled in the correct sequence.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

THE PHILOSOPHY AND WRITINGS

P L A T O .

Plato (c. 427–347 BC) was a foundational Greek philosopher. This introduction likely serves Thomas Taylor’s famous English translation, which sought to revive Platonic thought during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Philosophy Literally "the love of wisdom." In this context, it refers to the systematic study of reality, ethics, and the soul as established by Plato and his successors.