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 | | The Play of Character in Plato's Dialogues by Ruby Blondell ISBN-10: 9780521793001 ISBN-10: 0-521-79300-9 ISBN-13: 9780521793001 ISBN-13: 978-0-521-79300-1 Hardcover 2002-08-26 Cambridge University Press Find Lowest Price |
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Product Description This book is an interpretation of Plato in general, and several dialogues in particular, from the point of view of dramatic characterization. It thus forms part of the growing movement towards reading Plato "dramatically", as opposed to reading him as if he wrote treatises like most philosophers. At the same time, it is intended to show traditional "analytical" philosophical interpreters the significance of such "literary" features for understanding the philosophical issues at stake. Its overall goal is to bridge the gulf still existing between such interpreters and more "literary" readers. | ||
Book Description This book is an interpretation of Plato in general, and several dialogues in particular, from the point of view of dramatic characterization. It thus forms part of the growing movement towards reading Plato 'dramatically', as opposed to reading him as if he wrote treatises like most philosophers. At the same time, it is intended to show traditional 'analytical' philosophical interpreters the significance of such 'literary' features for understanding the philosophical issues at stake. Its overall goal is to bridge the gulf still existing between such interpreters and more 'literary' readers. | ||
Download Description This book attempts to bridge the gulf that still exists between 'literary' and 'philosophical' interpreters of Plato by looking at his use of characterization. Characterization is intrinsic to dramatic form, and a concern with human character in an ethical sense pervades the dialogues on the discursive level. Form and content are further reciprocally related through Plato's discursive preoccupation with literary characterization. Two opening chapters examine the methodological issues involved in reading Plato 'as drama' and a set of questions surrounding Greek 'character' words (especially ethos), including ancient Greek views about the influence of dramatic character on an audience. The figure of Sokrates qua Platonic 'hero' also receives preliminary discussion. The remaining chapters offer close readings of select dialogues, chosen to show the wide range of ways in which Plato uses his characters, with special emphasis on the kaleidoscopic figure of Sokrates and on Plato's own relationship to his 'dramatic' hero. | ||