Plato

by John Dunn, Ian Harris, G. Fine, C. H. Kahn, G. Klosko

Overview

Plato of Athens (c 429-347 BC) is the earliest European thinker whose thoughts on politics survive to any great extent. His work, contained in The Republic, the Statesman, the Laws and the unfinished Critias, amongst other works, has made major contributions to the agenda of Western Political thought and its content.

[In The Republic, Plato’s preoccupation was the concept of the just individual and the just state.] His view that intellect and political authority should be correlated has been a major theme of political thought down the centuries, influencing both authoritarian and egalitarian attitudes to government and democracy. In his later work Plato’s concern shifted from the question of justice to questions of the competence of rulers, which in The Statesman he treated as of the first importance, and eventually to the role of law and a mixed constitution, along with religion, in guaranteeing political order.

The papers in this authoritative selection explore various aspects of Plato’s thought including social structure, education, freedom, property, the status of women, human motivation and racism in addition to his views on law, reason and justice. The vast array of topics covered shows how Plato’s work adumbrates many of the concerns of political thought up to the present day and indeed is still relevant in our modern age.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781858980973
Publisher:	Edward Elgar Publishing
Publication date:	11/18/1997
Series:	Great Political Thinkers series , #1
Pages:	1088
Product dimensions:	6.62(w) x 9.62(h) x (d)

About the Author

Edited by John Dunn, Fellow, Kings College and Professor of Political Theory, University of Cambridge, UK and Ian Harris, Department of Politics, University of Leicester, UK

Editorial Reviews

Fifty-two journal articles published between 1882 and 1993 exclude items that primarily concern the historical Socrates, focusing instead on Plato's contributions to Western political thought: his preoccupation with justice, which bespoke a harmony between the character of the individual and the social and political order in which the individual is located; and the view that intellect and political authority should be correlated. The collection is intended to serve audiences in areas where the relevent academic journals are unavailable, or not easily available. Articles represent leading schools of opinion, while also covering Plato's principle concerns. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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