The Unity of Plato's Sophist: Between the Sophist and the Philosopher

by Noburu Notomi

Overview

Dr. Notomi presents a new interpretation of one of Plato's most important dialogues, the Sophist, addressing both historical context and philosophical content. He shows how important the issues concerning the sophist (professional teacher and rhetorician in ancient Greece) are to the possibility of philosophy. His new approach to the whole dialogue reveals that Plato struggles with difficult philosophical issues in a single line of inquiry; and that Plato shows, in defining the sophist, his conception of the authentic philosopher.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521037327
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/02/2007
Series:	Cambridge Classical Studies
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	372
Product dimensions:	5.43(w) x 8.46(h) x 0.91(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; Notes and abbreviations; Division of the Sophist; 1. How to read the Sophist; 2. The sophist and the philosopher; 3. How the sophist appears; 4. Analysis of the structure of appearance; 5. Appearance and image; 6. The sophistic counter-attack on philosophy; 7. The philosophic defence against sophistry; 8. The final definition of the sophist; Bibliography; Index locorum; General index.

Editorial Reviews

"Notomi's work on the Unity of Plato's Sophist succeeds in providing an appreciation of the dialogue as an organic whole and in answering difficult issues of composition and structure. For this reason and for the author's brave effort to deal with aspects of the dialogue which were previously overlooked by critics, the book will repay careful study." Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"Notomi's book presents a well-argued and persuasive case for its interpretation of the Sophist and has many more or less self-contained accounts of philological and literary matters which will interest philosophers..." International Philosophical Quarterly

"...there is plenty in [Sophist] to reward a student of Athenian cultural history, and Notomi's book, rather than many others, would be a good starting-point for further reflection on this aspect of the dialogue." Ancient History Bulletin

"Noburu Notomi's book offers an exciting new interpretation of one of Plato's most difficult dialogues....a bold and original contirbution to the discussion of the Sophist....supersedes all previous attempts to grasp the overall structure of the Sophist, and thus, is required reading for serious students of the dialogue." Philosophy in Review

"...the book is scholarly, clearly argued, textually supported, and highly recommended...Notomi's book succesfully re-frames the dialogue in terms of its fundamental question; for this it merits the attention of all serious students and scholars of Plato's Sophist." Ancient Philosophy

From the Publisher