Download or read book Plato Rediscovered written by T. K. Seung and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 1996 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is the nature of norms and values for the constitution of human society and culture? In this groundbreaking work, T. K. Seung shows that this was the ultimate question for Plato throughout his life, and that he gave not one but two answers, thus twice inventing political philosophy as the science of all sciences. Providing a thematically unified interpretation of his dialogues on the grand scale, Seung retraces Plato's journey of invention. Plato Rediscovered extends the project Seung began in Intuition and Construction (1993) and Kant's Platonic Revolution (1994). A work that will radically alter our understanding of the philosopher.
Download or read book The Dialogues of Plato written by Plato and published by Bantam Classics. This book was released on 2006-04-25 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Socrates’ ancient words are still true, and the ideas found in Plato’s Dialogues still form the foundation of a thinking person’s education. This superb collection contains excellent contemporary translations selected for their clarity and accessibility to today’s reader, as well as an incisive introduction by Erich Segal, which reveals Plato’s life and clarifies the philosophical issues examined in each dialogue. The first four dialogues recount the trial and execution of Socrates–the extraordinary tragedy that changed Plato’s life and forever altered the course of Western thought. Other dialogues create a rich tableau of intellectual life in Athens in the fourth century b.c., and examine such timeless–and timely–issues as the nature of virtue and love, knowledge and truth, society and the individual. Resounding with the humor and astounding brilliance of Socrates, the immortal iconoclast, these great works remain powerful, probing, and essential.
Download or read book Paradise Rediscovered written by Michael A. Cahill and published by Interactive Publications. This book was released on 2012-06-08 with total page 1106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a long-forgotten era - an age of slavery, of glorious new scientific innovations, revolutionary wonders, warrior heroes, Titans, Druids and bards, magicians, dragons and serpents, of angels and gods; an age of immortality and sacrificial death, of oppression, exploitation, social upheaval, indeed the age of the catastrophic biblical flood and, the fulcrum to social structure, of the struggle for control of the closely guarded secret and eternal wisdom of the undying Holy Elect of Paradise - in a long forgotten era, a man, just a mortal man, may have escaped his death by usurping the power of the goddess and her people to his own ends in a political coup that changed his world, and produced ours... Join Dr Michael Cahill as he explores the origins of civilisation, using information from history, archaeology, mythology, linguistics, geology, astronomy and philosophy to learn more about who we are. Paradise Rediscovered will challenge your intellect and spur your imagination, as you journey with him to uncover secrets, solve mysteries and consider the foundations that shaped our modern society and may yet change its face again. Note: This title is published as a two volume work in its physical edition, and as a complete work in its digital editions.
Download or read book The Great Philosophers Plato written by Bernard Williams and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2011-09-14 with total page 55 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Courage is knowing what not to fear' Plato 'One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors' Without the work of Plato, western thought is, quite literally, unthinkable. No single influence has been greater, in every age and in every philosophic field. Even those thinkers who have rejected Plato's views have found themselves working to an agenda he set. Yet between the neo-platonist interpretations and the anti-platonist reactions, the stuff of 'Platonism' proper has often been obscured. The philosopher himself has not necessarily helped in the matter: at times disconcertingly difficult, at other disarmingly simple, Plato can be an elusive thinker, his meanings hard to pin down. His dialogues are complex and often ironically constructed and do not simply expand his views - which in any case changed and developed over a long life. In this lucid and exciting introductory guide, Bernard Williams takes his reader back to first principles, re-reading the key texts to reveal what the philosopher actually said. The result is a rediscovered Plato: often unexpected, always fascinating and rewarding.
Download or read book Plato written by Robin Barrow and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2014-10-23 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Plato was the first and most formidable thinker to recognise that education is a fiercely contested concept, and to point out what great social and personal issues are at stake in education. He articulated a compelling argument for a liberal arts education as something peculiarly befitting free and autonomous beings. He understood the centrality of education for human well-being and flourishing. And he was the first to set forth a systematic theory of education. In this text, Robin Barrow concisely and convincingly establishes the continuing relevance of Plato's views to debates on such issues as nature vs. nurture (or genetic inheritance vs. social background), philosophy vs. sophistry (or the pursuit of true understanding vs. the pursuit of reputation, or perhaps simply truth vs. politics and the media). Questions concerning the fair distribution of education, moral education, value judgments and human nature are explored along with themes more specifically associated with Plato's philosophy such as the Theory of Ideas. The whole is embedded in a clearly presented account of the historical background to Plato's thought.
Download or read book The Open Society and Its Enemies written by Karl R. Popper and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-15 with total page 804 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A landmark defense of democracy that has been hailed as one of the most important books of the twentieth century One of the most important books of the twentieth century, The Open Society and Its Enemies is an uncompromising defense of liberal democracy and a powerful attack on the intellectual origins of totalitarianism. An immediate sensation when it was first published, Karl Popper’s monumental achievement has attained legendary status on both the Left and Right. Tracing the roots of an authoritarian tradition represented by Plato, Marx, and Hegel, Popper argues that the spirit of free, critical inquiry that governs scientific investigation should also apply to politics. In a new foreword, George Soros, who was a student of Popper, describes the “revelation” of first reading the book and how it helped inspire his philanthropic Open Society Foundations.
Download or read book The Republic written by Thomas Taylor and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-05-30 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present edition of Plato's "Republic" is a reproduction of the translation completed by Thomas Taylor. Stephanus numbers have been added to the original text for easy reference. Also included are Taylor's introduction, copious notes, and an Apology for the Fables of Homer by Proclus, introducing the 2nd and 3rd Books of the Republic. This is the third book in a series of publications reproducing the Works of Plato. The first volume in this series reproduced Taylor's "General Introduction to the Philosophy and Writings of Plato" (ISBN: 9781530752379) and the second reproduced Taylor's translation of the "First Alcibiades" (ISBN: 9781530843312) From the Foreword: The topic of discussion, throughout all ten books of the Republic, is Justice-justice in the polity of the city-state, and justice as a virtue of our soul. The key feature of this dialogue, the thread that binds it together from beginning to end, is the correspondence between these two. "The design of Plato, says Proclus, in this dialogue, is both concerning a polity and true justice, not as two distinct things, but as the same with each other. For what justice is in one soul, that such a polity as is delineated by Plato is in a well inhabited city." (Taylor) The Republic opens with an exploration of what is best or most beneficial for man: to be just or to be unjust. While on the surface this may seem, morally at least, to be a simple question with a simple answer, strong arguments are made for the benefits of acting unjustly, especially if one is able to simultaneously act unjustly and gain the reputation of a just man: for in such a case, one will procure all that can be gained from unjust actions (increased wealth, position, power, etc.) while facing none or very few of the common disadvantages of being unjust (punishments, low public opinion, etc.). It is argued, one might say quite fairly based on common experience, that justice is rarely pursued for the sake of justice itself, but rather for the perceived benefit to the individual, i.e. the common man only seeks justice if they find there to be some personal advantage in doing so. Socrates addresses these fundamental questions and the several arguments levelled against justice in the opening book of the Republic, and demonstrates, with clear and detailed reasonings, several of the glaring deficiencies in these arguments. The question of whether justice is truly better than injustice is not left to such initial reasonings, however, as Socrates's companions urge him into the greater depths of the subject. This naturally opens the dialogue to a fuller exploration of the nature of justice: what it is, what relation is has to our soul, to our city, and so on. The dialogue thus treads through much territory, centering initially around an ideal construction of a just city, while using the knowledge gained through its analysis to shed light on the role of justice in each individual. It passes on to a definition and unveiling of the nature of a true philosopher, and their proper role in such a just city, and from there to an exploration of the forms of polity and their correspondence with types of men (i.e. Timocratic, Oligarchic, Democratic, Tyrannic), relating the conditions and attitudes of each polity to the same conditions and attitudes within the corresponding man. Book 9 provides what may be viewed as a conclusion on what is better: justice or injustice, covering three major points of argument. The close of the dialogue (Book 10) presents us with something a little different: a view of the immortality of the soul and a vision of death and rebirth, complete with postmortem judgment and necessity, corresponding with the common "eastern" notions of karma and reincarnation. Here we see justice and injustice dealt with in direct relation to the immortal soul, beyond the realm of worldly utilitarianism.
Download or read book Platonic Engagements written by M. Francis Reeves and published by University Press of America. This book was released on 2004 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Platonic Engagements, Helen, a college senior majoring in business and philosophy, raises central questions about ideal individual morality, social justice, education, political philosophies and management based on Plato's principles in the Republic. Plato's moral relevance to current issues in democratic capitalism is put to the test in this contemporary philosophical dialogue.
Download or read book Laws written by Plato and published by DigiCat. This book was released on 2022-05-28 with total page 573 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Laws is Plato's last, longest, and perhaps, most famous work. It presents a conversation on political philosophy between three elderly men: an unnamed Athenian, a Spartan named Megillus, and a Cretan named Clinias. They worked to create a constitution for Magnesia, a new Cretan colony that would make all of its citizens happy and virtuous. In this work, Plato combines political philosophy with applied legislation, going into great detail concerning what laws and procedures should be in the state. For example, they consider whether drunkenness should be allowed in the city, how citizens should hunt, and how to punish suicide. The principles of this book have entered the legislation of many modern countries and provoke a great interest of philosophers even in the 21st century.
Download or read book The Heirs of Plato written by John Dillon and published by Clarendon Press. This book was released on 2003-01-30 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Heirs of Plato is the first book exclusively devoted to an in-depth study of the various directions in philosophy taken by Plato's followers in the first seventy years or so following his death in 347 BC. - the period generally known as 'The Old Academy'. Speusippus, Xenocrates, and Polemon, the three successive heads of the Academy in this period, though personally devoted to the memory of Plato, were independent philosophers in their own right, and felt free to develop his heritage in individual directions. This is also true of other personalities attached to the school, such as Philippus of Opus, Heraclides of Pontus, and Crantor of Soli. After an introductory chapter on the school itself, and a summary of Plato's philosophical heritage, John Dillon devotes a chapter to each of the school heads, and another to the other chief characters, exploring both what holds them together and what sets them apart. There is a final short chapter devoted to the turn away from dogmatism to scepticism under Arcesilaus in the 270s, and some reflections on the intellectual debt of Stoicism to the thought of Polemon, in particular. Dillon's clear and accessible book fills a significant gap in our understanding of Plato's immediate philosophical influence, and will be of great value to scholars and historians of ancient philosophy.
Download or read book The Ancient Quarrel Between Philosophy and Poetry written by Raymond Barfield and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-01-31 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From its beginnings, philosophy's language, concepts and imaginative growth have been heavily influenced by poetry and poets. Drawing on the work of a wide range of thinkers throughout the history of Western philosophy, Raymond Barfield explores the pervasiveness of poetry's impact on philosophy and, conversely, how philosophy has sometimes resisted or denied poetry's influence. Although some thinkers, like Giambatista Vico and Nietzsche, praised the wisdom of poets, and saw poetry and philosophy as mutually beneficial pursuits, others resented, diminished or eliminated the importance of poetry in philosophy. Beginning with the famous passage in Plato's Republic in which Socrates exiles the poets from the city, this book traces the history of the ancient quarrel between philosophy and poetry through the works of thinkers in the Western tradition ranging from Plato to the work of the contemporary thinker Mikhail Bakhtin.
Download or read book Poet and Orator written by Andreas Markantonatos and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2019-04-01 with total page 463 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This multiauthored volume, as well as bringing into clearer focus the notion of drama and oratory as important media of public inquiry and critique, aims to generate significant attention to the unified intentions of the dramatist and the orator to establish favourable conditions of internal stability in democratic Athens. We hope that readers both enjoy and find valuable their engagement with these ideas and beliefs regarding the indissoluble bond between oratorical expertise and dramatic artistry. This exciting collection of studies by worldwide acclaimed classicists and acute younger Hellenists is envisaged as part of the general effort, almost unanimously acknowledged as valid and productive, to explore the impact of formalized speech in particular and craftsmanship rhetoric in general upon Attic drama as a moral and educational force in the Athenian city-state. Both poet and orator seek to deepen the central tensions of their work and to enlarge the main themes of their texts to even broader terms by investing in the art of rhetoric, whilst at the same time, through a skillful handling of events, evaluating the past and establishing standards or ideology.
Download or read book Plato Philosophy in an Hour written by Paul Strathern and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2012-03-01 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Philosophy for busy people. Read a succinct account of the philosophy of Plato in just one hour.
Download or read book Plato s Late Ontology written by Kenneth M. Sayre and published by Parmenides Publishing. This book was released on 2005-01-12 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prior to the publication of Plato's Later Ontology in 1983, there was general agreement among Plato scholars that the theses attributed to Plato in Book A of Aristotle's Metaphysics can not be found in the dialogues. Plato's Late Ontology presented a textually based argument that in fact these theses appear both in the Philebus and in the second part of the Parmenides. The pivotal point of the argument is a number of synonyms for the expressions used by Aristotle in reporting Plato's views, found in the Greek commentators on Aristotle writing during the 3rd to the 5th Century A.D. These synonyms are also used by Plato himself in discussing the theses in question. The present book is a reprint of Plato's Late Ontology along with a recent article showing that a subset of these theses can also be found in the section of measurement appearing in the middle of the Statesman. The argument to this effect is an extension of that in Plato's Late Ontology, but is supported by a much expanded list of synonyms from the Greek Commentators. The appearance of the theses in question in the Statesman augments the original argument for their presence in the Parmenides and the Philebus.
Download or read book The Message of Plato written by Edward Johns Urwick and published by . This book was released on 1920 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Interpreting Plato s Dialogues written by Angelo J. Corlett and published by Parmenides Publishing. This book was released on 2005-12-01 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new way of approaching Plato neither sees Plato's words as doctrines according to which the dialogues are to be interpreted, nor does it reduce Plato's dialogues to dramatic literature. Rather, it seeks to interpret the primary aim of Plato's writings as being influenced primarily by Plato's respect for his teacher, Socrates, and the manner in which Socrates engaged others in philosophical discourse. It places the focus of philosophical investigation of Plato's dialogues on the content of the dialogues themselves, and on the Socratic way of doing philosophy.
Download or read book The Open Society and Its Enemies written by Karl Popper and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-11-12 with total page 802 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘If in this book harsh words are spoken about some of the greatest among the intellectual leaders of mankind, my motive is not, I hope, to belittle them. It springs rather from my conviction that, if our civilization is to survive, we must break with the habit of deference to great men.’ - Karl Popper, from the Preface Written in political exile during the Second World War and first published in two volumes in 1945, Karl Popper’s The Open Society and Its Enemies is one of the most influential books of all time. Hailed by Bertrand Russell as a ‘vigorous and profound defence of democracy’, its now legendary attack on the philosophies of Plato, Hegel and Marx exposed the dangers inherent in centrally planned political systems and through underground editions become an inspiration to lovers of freedom living under communism in Eastern Europe. Popper’s highly accessible style, his erudite and lucid explanations of the thoughts of great philosophers and the recent resurgence of totalitarian regimes around the world are just three of the reasons for the enduring popularity of The Open Society and Its Enemies and why it demands to be read today and in years to come.
