Books like The Works of Plato

I was gifted my copy of this book by my Philosophy professor back in college. He was a character: he'd ride a bike to work, could discuss theories for hours and he would go to used bookstores to pick up the great journals for less than a dollar and give them the students based on the type of beliefs they exhibited in class. If you were a Utilitarian he gave you a book by Bentham or Mill, if you expressed a Libertarian outlook, he'd present you with Thoreau or Nietzsche. When he handed me my book I thought he was just loaning me his copy to read for class. "No, Shelley--it's for you to keep--it was only 50 cents."I smiled when I read the cover. "The Works of Plato," I read out loud. "Yes, I think that is what you should explore." I don't think I've ever received higher praise since, and I've never forgotten any of my ethics teachers. Thier instruction led me out of the cave of shadows and into the realm of ideas. For that, I am eternally grateful, and I will never forget what I learned.