Description

Book Synopsis
This 1995 study investigates how Plato 'invented' the discipline of philosophy. In order to define and legitimise philosophy, Dr Nightingale maintains, Plato had to match it against genres of discourse that had authority and currency in democratic Athens.

Trade Review
'… [a] brilliantly suggestive book, giving us … ways of locating the dialogues in their 'socio-political' context, and of thinking about Plato as a philosophical writer.' Phronesis
'The merits of Nightingale's book are considerable. It deals with many questions of language and discourse that are dear to postmodernists, but it treats them with clarity which an analytic philosopher will appreciate.' Review of Metaphysics

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements; Abbreviations and texts; Introduction; 1. Plato, Isocrates and the property of philosophy; 2. Use and abuse of Athenian tragedy; 3. Eulogy, irony, parody; 4. Alien and authentic discourse; 5. Philosophy and comedy; Conclusion; Bibliography; General index; Index of passages from Plato.

Genres in Dialogue

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    A Paperback by Andrea Wilson Nightingale

    £47.26

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      Book details

      Publisher Cambridge University Press
      Published 4/13/2000 12:00:00 AM
      ISBN-13 9780521774338
      978-0521774338
      ISBN-10 0521774330
      Also in:
      Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      This 1995 study investigates how Plato 'invented' the discipline of philosophy. In order to define and legitimise philosophy, Dr Nightingale maintains, Plato had to match it against genres of discourse that had authority and currency in democratic Athens.

      Trade Review
      '… [a] brilliantly suggestive book, giving us … ways of locating the dialogues in their 'socio-political' context, and of thinking about Plato as a philosophical writer.' Phronesis
      'The merits of Nightingale's book are considerable. It deals with many questions of language and discourse that are dear to postmodernists, but it treats them with clarity which an analytic philosopher will appreciate.' Review of Metaphysics

      Table of Contents
      Acknowledgements; Abbreviations and texts; Introduction; 1. Plato, Isocrates and the property of philosophy; 2. Use and abuse of Athenian tragedy; 3. Eulogy, irony, parody; 4. Alien and authentic discourse; 5. Philosophy and comedy; Conclusion; Bibliography; General index; Index of passages from Plato.

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