Three classic Platonic dialogues in the most authoritative translation available Theaetetus  is the first of a trilogy of Platonic dialogues that show Socrates formulating his conception of philosophy as he prepares the defense for his trial. This translation is particularly faithful to the original Greek, and it is accompanied by an introduction, extensive notes, and comprehensive commentary that puts the dialogue in context with Plato's thought and its influence over the centuries. Seth Benardete (1930-2001) was professor of classics at New York University.  "Seth Benardete is one of the very few contemporary classicists who combine the highest philological competence with a subtlety and taste that approximate that of the ancients. At the same time, he as set himself the entirely modern hermeneutical task of uncovering what the ancients preferred to keep veiled, of making explicit what they indicated, and hence...of showing the naked ugliness of artificial beauty." -- Stanley Rose ― Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal Plato (c. 427-347 BC) was an Athenian philosopher during the Classical period of Greece and a student of Socrates. Thirty-five dialogues and thirteen letters have traditionally been ascribed to Plato. He founded the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world.