Phaedrus

by Plato

Overview

Phaedrus is widely recognized as one of Plato's most profound and beautiful works. It takes the form of a dialogue between Socrates and Phaedrus and its ostensible subject is love, especially homoerotic love. Socrates reveals it to be a kind of divine madness that can allow our souls to grow wings and soar to their greatest heights. Then the conversation changes direction and turns to a discussion of rhetoric, which must be based on truth passionately sought, thus allying it to philosophy. The dialogue closes by denigrating the value of the written word in any context, compared to the living teaching of a Socratic philosopher. The shifts of topic and register have given rise to doubts about the unity of the dialogue, doubts which are addressed in the introduction to this volume. Full explanatory notes also elucidate issues throughout the dialogue that might puzzle a modern reader.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781605125114
Publisher:	Akasha Classics
Publication date:	11/12/2009
Pages:	118
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.44(d)

About the Author

Paul Woodruff is Professor of Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	ix
	Note on the Text	l
	Select Bibliography	li
	Phaedrus	1
	Explanatory Notes	76
	Textual Notes	106
	Index of Names	107

Editorial Reviews

This is a fine translation, both fluent and accurate. It captures the range of tonalities of the original in elegant English that is neither stiffly formal nor cheaply colloquial….The supplementary matter is appropriate and useful. The introduction is crisp and clear, the interpretive essay illuminating…Scully has done a sound and serious job of translating and annotating for the general reader. Above all, his translation is excellent in respect to style and clarity: really a pleasure to read.

— David Konstan, Brown University

From the Publisher