2008.08.43

This collection of essays arises from a conference held at Emory University in 2003 focused on the Platonic tradition from classical antiquity through the postmodern world. The essays and authors included are: Thomas Szlezák, "Platonic Dialectic: The Path and the Goal"; Luc Brisson, "What is a God According to Plato"; John D. Turner, "Victorinus, Parmenides Commentaries and the Platonizing Sethian Treatises"; Steven Strange, "Proclus and the Ancients"; Gretchen Reydams-Schils, "Virtue, Marriage, and Parenthood in Simplicius' Commentary on Epictetus' 'Encheiridion'"; Gerald Bechtle, "How to Apply the Modern Concepts of Mathesis Universalis and Scientia Universalis to Ancient Philosophy. Aristotle, Platonisms, Gilbert of Poitiers, and Descartes"; Douglas Hedley, "Real Atheism and Cambridge Platonism: Men of Latitude, Polemics, and the Great Dead Philosophers"; Robert Berchman, "The Language of Metaphysics Ancient and Modern"; John Dillon, "The Platonic Forms as Gesetze : Could Paul Natorp Have Been Right?"; Anthony Cuda, "Crying in Plato's Teeth--W.B. Yeats and Platonic Inspiration"; Kevin Corrigan, "The Face of the Other: A Comparison Between the Thought of Emmanuel Levinas, Plato, and Plotinus"; Stephen Gersh, "Derrida Reads (Neo-) Platonism".

The "Platonisms" of the title of this book is evidently used as equivalent to "varieties of Platonism" or "versions of Platonism," where the "variety" or "version" indicates an interpretation of Plato's dialogues or of the implications of the claims made therein. Usually, though, a variety of Platonism is attributable to a philosopher who is defending that position. Thus, we speak of the Platonism of Speusippus or of Numenius or of Proclus and designate their different doctrines as varieties of Platonism. We usually do not speak of the Platonism of philosophers who are not self-proclaimed followers of Plato in some sense; thus, we do not normally refer to Descartes' Platonism or Levinas' Platonism, even though their engagement with Plato is certain to be an engagement with some variety of Platonism. Nor do we typically designate as a variety of Platonism a philosophical position that either agrees with a variety of Platonism at some very general level or with some relatively remote consequence of a Platonic position. So, philosophers who argue for the existence of a first principle of all or even for the importance of critical reflection in human life are not said thereby to embrace a variety of Platonism. The same is true for philosophers who, for example, argue for a purely remedial theory of punishment. In the present volume, "Platonisms" is a term used with maximal scope, thus justifying the immense range of topics covered as well as methodologies employed. There is no harm in this; indeed, it is a positive step in demonstrating the extraordinary fecundity of Plato's thought. Still, I would be surprised if many individuals would have sufficient interest in enough of the areas covered to want to pay the very considerable price for this book.

The Hegel myths and legends

Platone e i fondamenti della metafisica

The hermeneutics of original argument, demonstration, dialectic, rhetoric

Approaches to Legal Rationality

Dialectical theory of meaning