Plato's Sophist: The Drama of Original and Image
Plato's Sophist: The Drama of Original and Image
PlatoÔÇÖs great attempt to define the nature of the sophist - the false image of the philosopher- has perplexed readers from classical times to the present. The dialogue has been central in the ongoing debate about the theory of forms, and it remains a crucial text for Plato scholars in both the analytical and the phenomenological traditions.
Stanley RosenÔÇÖs book is the first full-length study of the
Sophist in English and one of the most complete in any language. He follows the stages of the dialogue in sequence and offers an exhaustive analysis of the philosophical questions that come to light as Theaetetus and the Eleatic Stranger pursue the sophist through philosophical debate.Rosen finds the central problem of the dialogue in the relation between original and image; he shows how this distinction underlies all subsequent technical themes and analyzes in detail such problems as non-being or negation and false statement. Arguing that the dialogue must be treated as a dramatic unity, he pays careful attention throughout to the setting, the events, the language used, and the relations between the natures of the speakers and the topics under discussion. RosenÔÇÖs new approach to the technical issues in the dialogue will be of interest to Plato scholars of all schools, and his analysis of the sophistical dimension of the world will engage all who have puzzled over what it means to be a philosopher.
"A masterly study . . . [that] has served both scholarship and philosophy well." -James L. Wiser, Review of Politics
"This work is the most complete study of the
"In a book that is both rich in analysis and stimulating in its conjectures, Stanley Rosen tackles the difficult task of giving a comprehensive interpretation of PlatoÔÇÖs Sophist as a dramatic whole." - John J. Cleary, Canadian Philosophical Review
"RosenÔÇÖs study of the
Sophist is a challenging example of the newer ÔÇÿcontextualÔÇÖ style of commentary, all the more striking since the dialogue has suffered so extensively from philosophical plum-picking. There is nothing wooly-minded about his procedure: the arguments are detailed and cogent." - Andrew Barker, Times Higher Education Supplement
Author
Rosen, Stanley
Publisher
St Augustine's Press
Related Collections:
Rosen, Stanley
St Augustine's Press
Bookshelf:
7C
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ISBN/Code: 1890318639
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