Description
Book SynopsisJohn Palmer presents a new and original account of Plato''s uses and understanding of his most important Presocratic predecessor, Parmenides. Adopting an innovative approach to the appraisal of intellectual influence, Palmer first explores the Eleatic underpinnings of central elements in Plato''s middle-period epistemology and metaphysics. He then shows how in the later dialogues Plato confronts various sophistic appropriations of Parmenides while simultaneously developing his own deepened understanding. Along the way Palmer gives fresh readings of Parmenides'' poem in the light of the Platonic reception, and discusses Plato''s view of Parmenides'' relation to such key figures as Xenophanes, Zeno, and Gorgias. By tracing connections among the uses of Parmenides over the course of several dialogues, Palmer both demonstrates his fundamental importance to the development of Plato''s thought and furthers understanding of central problems in Plato''s own philosophy.
Trade ReviewPalmer presents detailed and convincing readings of some of the most difficult passages in the Platonic corpus. * Owen Goldin, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
Palmer has found a new angle from which to tell the story of the development of the metaphysics of the later dialogues. His analyses of Plato's arguments are careful and sober, and his tracing of their antecedents in Plato's reading of Parmenides is innovative and valuable. * Owen Goldin, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
challenging and interesting ... every serious student of ancient philosophy will want to read it. * Heythrop Journal *
This excellent and extensive survey is valuable reading for scholars and graduate students interested in Plato's metaphysics and epistemology. * N. D. Smith, Choice *
This is a learned book and there is much that is both new and valuable. The discussion of the sight-lovers of Republic 5 ... is very good, and the accounts of Gorgia's influence on the arguments of the Parmenides and the Sophist are particularly insightful. Palmer has read widely and critically, and he engages with much modern and contemporary scholarship. * Patricia Curd, The Classical Review *
Table of Contents1. Plato's Middle-Period Reception of Parmenides ; 2. Plato and the Sophisti Appropriations of Parmenides ; 3. Plato's Parmenides in the Later Dialogues ; Appendices; Bibliography; Index locorum; General Index
