Description:
Opening an entirely new dimension of Platonic studies, this volume addresses major themes: the nature of law, property, and acquisitiveness; Socrates' famous "demonic voice"; the poetic claim to inspiration; and the psychology of the tyrannic.
Brief description: Thomas L. Pangle is Joe R. Long Chair in Democratic Studies in the Department of Government and Co-Director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Study of Core Texts and Ideas at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of many books, most recently Aristotle's Teaching in The Politics, and editor of books including The Roots of Political Philosophy: Ten Forgotten Socratic Dialogues, also from Cornell. Ahrensdorf and Pangle are coauthors of Justice among Nations: On the Moral Basis of Power and Peace.
Review Quotes:
The [commentaries] are not line-by-line explanations of the text, but essays which explain the dialogues, closely following the development of arguments and comparing similar ideas found elsewhere in the Platonic corpus. They are insightful and thought-provoking...The editorial purpose is clearly to present a modern translation for readers with no Greek and a dependable translation for scholars unwilling or unable to deal always with the original text. Footnotes explain significant text variants and provide helpful historical information. An especially good introduction by the editor deals with the authenticity of the opuscula. Roots is a valuable document for both serious and casual students of Platonic philosophy. --Religious Studies Review