Description
Book SynopsisThe Philosopher's Song explores the complex and fruitful relation between the great poets of Greek culture and Plato's invention of philosophy, especially as this bears on Plato's treatment of justice. The author shows how the poets helped shape the development of Plato's thinking throughout the course of his philosophical career.
Trade ReviewThis book locates the founder of philosophy in the context of his culture, a focus often missing in Platonic scholarship. It should be of great interest both to classicists and to philosophers. Crotty's earlier work on archaic literature enables him to demonstrate the radical divide between Plato's work and a poetic tradition that depicted the tragic failure of human efforts to create a stable and dependable world. Crotty shows the contrasting currents of tragedy and philosophy that intermingle in the narrative of Socrates' death in Phaedo, while his analysis of Sophist and Politicus shows how these dialogues subtly modify the doctrinaire stance of that dialogue and of Republic. -- Ann Michelini, University of Cincinnati
Table of ContentsPart 1 Part One Chapter 2 Chapter 1. Achilles' Insight: Poetic and Moral Consciousness in Homer Chapter 3 Chapter 2. The Poetics of Justice: Aeschylus' Oresteia and Plato's Republic Part 4 Part Two Chapter 5 Chapter 3. Socrates' Intellectual Crisis: The Phaedo Chapter 6 Chapter 4. The Greatest Charge Against Mimetic Poetry Part 7 Part Three Chapter 8 Chapter 5. The Metaphysics of Fallibility: The Sophist Chapter 9 Chapter 6. The Statesman: The Tragedy of Politics and the Shape of Plato's Thought
