“A handbook on Plato could be organized in different ways. One might have chapters just on individual dialogues, just on particular topics, or chapters of both sorts. This volume favors the last of these three options. This makes the volume richer and more varied than it would otherwise have been, providing different angles from which to view Plato’s multi-textured thought. Each dialogue is an integral whole and should be read as such, with proper attention to and appreciation of its overall structure and the interconnections among its various themes and arguments; one also needs to pay attention to the dialectical and dramatic context. If one focuses just on what is said on a given topic, abstracting it from its context, one runs the risk of misinterpretation. On the other hand, Plato discusses the same topics in many dialogues. Some dialogues seem to have the same, or similar, views; by considering them together, we can paint a fuller picture of Plato’s thought” (Gail Fine, in Chapter 1. Introduction, p. 1).