Plato and the Art of Philosophical Writing

Description

Plato's dialogues are usually understood as simple examples of philosophy in action. In this book Professor Rowe treats them rather as literary-philosophical artefacts, shaped by Plato's desire to persuade his readers to exchange their view of life and the universe for a different view which, from their present perspective, they will barely begin to comprehend. What emerges is a radically new Plato: a Socratic throughout, who even in the late dialogues is still essentially the Plato (and the Socrates) of the Apology and the so-called 'Socratic' dialogues. This book aims to understand Plato both as a philosopher and as a writer, on the assumption that neither of these aspects of the dialogues can be understood without the other. The argument of the book is closely based in Plato's text, but should be accessible to any serious reader of Plato, whether professional philosopher, classicist, or student.

CHRISTOPHER ROWE is Professor of Greek in the Department of Classics & Ancient History at Durham University.

"Rowe...displays an impressive grasp of a wide rage of literature. ...His book offers a penetrating analysis... ." --BMCR "Plato and the Art of Philosophical Writing is an engaging and well-argued book that focuses on both Socratic epistemology and the nature of Platonic argument." --Ancient Philosophy