The Transformation of Plato's Republic

The Transformation of Plato's Republic PDF Author: Kenneth Dorter
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780739111871
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 395

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Book Description
Author Ken Dorter, in a passage-by-passage analysis traces Plato's depiction of how the most basic forms of human functioning and social justice contain the seed of their evolution into increasingly complex structures, as well as the seed of their degeneration. Dorter also traces Plato's tendency to begin an investigation with models based on rigid distinctions for the sake of clarity, which are subsequently transformed into more fluid conceptions that no longer sacrifice complexity and subtlety for clarity. It's the author's claim that virtually every positive doctrine put forward in the dialogue is problematized somewhere else in the dialogue. This accounts for the apparent incoherence among various parts of the Republic. The dramatic changes of style and content after Books 1, 4, 7, and 9 give it an appearance of being a pastiche of material written at different times, as it is often interpreted. Dorter locates an underlying structure that explains these changes. It is widely recognized that the dialogue is organized symmetrically in the form of an arch, with the beginning and end sharing related themes, the second and penultimate sections sharing other related themes, and so on until the forward series and the reverse series meet in the middle of the dialogue. Dorter's original claim is that the symmetrical segments of the arch reflect the levels of the "Divided Line." Dorter contends that the overall organization of the Republic can be seen to illustrate and imitate the philosophers' ascent from the cave, and their subsequent return to it with altered perspectives. This erudite, salient, and expansive new look at Plato's Republic is essential for philosophy, political theorists, and anyone interested in Plato scholarship.

The Transformation of Plato's Republic

The Transformation of Plato's Republic PDF Author: Kenneth Dorter
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 9780739111888
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 410

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Book Description
My name is Dennis McKenna. I am a Physician Assistant and have been practicing as such for over 40 years. This book - Where Do Doctors Hide Their Wings - is a recap of my training and my first years in the field of medicine. The book consists of 27 chapters. Some may make you laugh while others make you cry. As incredulous and unbelievable as some of the chapters may seem - the stories and experiences are all true. These are real people - real events - and real stories of the care they received- along with a couple stories of my life as I progressed through this journey. The people, the patients, and my teachers and superiors have had an immeasurable influence on who I have become and how I practice as a PA. My mentors (doctors with wings) have taught me to love their craft and to continually hunger for ever-expanding depths of knowledge. It was at their sides that I grew to love my patients as persons. They taught me how to distinguish the person from the malady, honoring the best in each of them so that they may, in turn, contribute to others. Medicine is an art of restoring health, dignity, and value to all humanity. The laying on of hands to assess one's ills has a function of discovery and diagnostic value, but it is also an imparting of energy from the practitioner to the patient. I'm hoping this book will start a conversation between doctors and patients and once again we will all recognize each other as humans.

The Transformation of Plato's Republic

The Transformation of Plato's Republic PDF Author: Kenneth Dorter
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780739111871
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 395

Get Book

Book Description
Author Ken Dorter, in a passage-by-passage analysis traces Plato's depiction of how the most basic forms of human functioning and social justice contain the seed of their evolution into increasingly complex structures, as well as the seed of their degeneration. Dorter also traces Plato's tendency to begin an investigation with models based on rigid distinctions for the sake of clarity, which are subsequently transformed into more fluid conceptions that no longer sacrifice complexity and subtlety for clarity. It's the author's claim that virtually every positive doctrine put forward in the dialogue is problematized somewhere else in the dialogue. This accounts for the apparent incoherence among various parts of the Republic. The dramatic changes of style and content after Books 1, 4, 7, and 9 give it an appearance of being a pastiche of material written at different times, as it is often interpreted. Dorter locates an underlying structure that explains these changes. It is widely recognized that the dialogue is organized symmetrically in the form of an arch, with the beginning and end sharing related themes, the second and penultimate sections sharing other related themes, and so on until the forward series and the reverse series meet in the middle of the dialogue. Dorter's original claim is that the symmetrical segments of the arch reflect the levels of the "Divided Line." Dorter contends that the overall organization of the Republic can be seen to illustrate and imitate the philosophers' ascent from the cave, and their subsequent return to it with altered perspectives. This erudite, salient, and expansive new look at Plato's Republic is essential for philosophy, political theorists, and anyone interested in Plato scholarship.

Blindness and Reorientation

Blindness and Reorientation PDF Author: C.D.C. Reeve
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199934436
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 231

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Book Description
C. D. C. Reeve develops a powerful new account of the age-old argument over whether the just are happier than the unjust, drawing from a new understanding of Plato's conception of philosophy.

Plato's Republic

Plato's Republic PDF Author: Alain Badiou
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0745663516
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Plato's Republic is one of the most well-known and widely discussed texts in the history of philosophy, but how might we get to the heart of this work today, 2500 years after it was originally composed? Alain Badiou invents a new genre in order to breathe fresh life into Plato's text and restore its universality. Rather than producing yet another critical commentary, he has retranslated the work from the original Greek and, by making various changes, adapted it for our times. In this innovative reimagining of a classic text, Badiou has removed all references specific to ancient Greek society, from the endless exchanges about the moral courage of poets to those political considerations that were only of interest to the aristocratic elite. On the other hand, Badiou has expanded the range of cultural references: here philosophy is firing on all cylinders, and Socrates and his companions are joined by Beckett, Pessoa, Freud and Hegel. They demonstrate the enduring nature of true philosophy, always ready to move with the times. Moreover, Badiou the dramatist has made the Socratic dialogue a true oratorial contest: in his version of the Republic, the interlocutors have more in mind than merely agreeing with the Master. They stand up to him, put him on the spot and thereby show thought in motion. Through this work of writing, scholarship and philosophy, we are able, for the first time, to read a version of Plato's text which is alive, stimulating and directly relevant to our world today.

The Rhetoric of Plato's Republic

The Rhetoric of Plato's Republic PDF Author: James L. Kastely
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022627876X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
Plato isn’t exactly thought of as a champion of democracy, and perhaps even less as an important rhetorical theorist. In this book, James L. Kastely recasts Plato in just these lights, offering a vivid new reading of one of Plato’s most important works: the Republic. At heart, Kastely demonstrates, the Republic is a democratic epic poem and pioneering work in rhetorical theory. Examining issues of justice, communication, persuasion, and audience, he uncovers a seedbed of theoretical ideas that resonate all the way up to our contemporary democratic practices. As Kastely shows, the Republic begins with two interrelated crises: one rhetorical, one philosophical. In the first, democracy is defended by a discourse of justice, but no one can take this discourse seriously because no one can see—in a world where the powerful dominate the weak—how justice is a value in itself. That value must be found philosophically, but philosophy, as Plato and Socrates understand it, can reach only the very few. In order to reach its larger political audience, it must become rhetoric; it must become a persuasive part of the larger culture—which, at that time, meant epic poetry. Tracing how Plato and Socrates formulate this transformation in the Republic, Kastely isolates a crucial theory of persuasion that is central to how we talk together about justice and organize ourselves according to democratic principles.

The Republic

The Republic PDF Author: Plato
Publisher: DigiCat
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
"The Republic" is Plato's most famous work and one of the most important books ever written on the subject of philosophy and political theory. The work presents a fictional dialogue between Socrates and other various Athenians and foreigners, which examine the meaning of justice.

Eco-Republic

Eco-Republic PDF Author: Melissa Lane
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691162204
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
An ecologically sustainable society cannot be achieved without citizens who possess the virtues and values that will foster it, and who believe that individual actions can indeed make a difference. Eco-Republic draws on ancient Greek thought--and Plato's Republic in particular--to put forward a new vision of citizenship that can make such a society a reality. Melissa Lane develops a model of a society whose health and sustainability depend on all its citizens recognizing a shared standard of value and shaping their personal goals and habits accordingly. Bringing together the moral and political ideas of the ancients with the latest social and psychological theory, Lane illuminates the individual's vital role in social change, and articulates new ways of understanding what is harmful and what is valuable, what is a benefit and what is a cost, and what the relationship between public and private well-being ought to be. Eco-Republic reveals why we must rethink our political imagination if we are to meet the challenges of climate change and other urgent environmental concerns. Offering a unique reflection on the ethics and politics of sustainability, the book goes beyond standard approaches to virtue ethics in philosophy and current debates about happiness in economics and psychology. Eco-Republic explains why health is a better standard than happiness for capturing the important links between individual action and social good, and diagnoses the reasons why the ancient concept of virtue has been sorely neglected yet is more relevant today than ever.

The Continuum Companion to Plato

The Continuum Companion to Plato PDF Author: Gerald A. Press
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1441161414
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description
Plato, mathematician, philosopher and founder of the Academy in Athens, is, together with his teacher, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, universally considered to have laid the foundations of Western philosophy. His philosophical dialogues remain among the most widely read and influential of all philosophical texts and his enduring influence on virtually every area of philosophical enterprise cannot be exaggerated. This comprehensive and accessible guide to Plato's life and times includes more than 140 entries, written by a team of leading experts in the field of ancient philosophy, covering every aspect of Plato's thought. The Companion presents details of Plato's life, historical, philosophical and literary context, synopses of all the dialogues attributed to Plato, a comprehensive overview of the various features, themes and topics apparent in the dialogues, and a thorough account of his enduring influence and the various interpretative approaches applied to his thought throughout the history of philosophy. This is an essential reference tool for anyone working in the field of ancient philosophy.

Republic

Republic PDF Author: Plato
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199535760
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 561

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Book Description
A model for the ideal state includes discussion of the nature and application of justice, the role of the philosopher in society, the goals of education, and the effects of art upon character.

Of Myth, Life, and War in Plato's Republic

Of Myth, Life, and War in Plato's Republic PDF Author: Claudia Baracchi
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253214858
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
This reading of Plato's Republic illuminates the power of myth in the shaping of history. It demonstrates the pervasiveness of myth in Plato's dialogues as well as within philosophy generally.