It is unfortunate in some respects that I have been obliged to deal with certain parts of the subject in a form which does not admit of detailed argument and still less of controversy. The second edition of my Early Greek Philosophy (referred to as E. Gr. Ph.2) makes this in large measure unnecessary in Book I but there are certain parts of Book III. Where I have had to state my conclusions baldly in the hope that I may have a later opportunity of discussing their grounds. My chief aim for the present has been to assist students who wish to acquire a firsthand knowledge of what Plato actually says in the dialogues of his maturity. So long as they are content to know something of the Republic and the earlier dialogues, Platonism must be a sealed book to them.