The Pseudo-Platonic Seventh Letter - Hardcover

Burnyeat, Myles; Frede, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198733658 ISBN 13: 9780198733652

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2015

Synopsis

The Seventh Platonic Letter describes Plato's attempts to turn the ruler of Sicily, Dionysius II, into a philosopher ruler along the lines of the Republic. It explains why Plato turned from politics to philosophy in his youth and how he then tried to apply his ideas to actual politics later on. It also sets out his views about language, writing and philosophy. As such, it represents a potentially crucial source of information about Plato, who tells us almost nothing about himself in his dialogues. But is it genuine? Scholars have debated the issue for centuries, although recent opinion has moved in its favour. The origin of this book was a seminar given in Oxford in 2001 by Myles Burnyeat and Michael Frede, two of the most eminent scholars of ancient philosophy in recent decades. Michael Frede begins by casting doubt on the Letter by looking at it from the general perspective of letter writing in antiquity, when it was quite normal to fabricate letters by famous figures from the past. Both then attack the authenticity of the letter head-on by showing how its philosophical content conflicts with what we find in the Platonic dialogues. They also reflect on the question of why the Letter was written, whether as an attempt to exculpate Plato from the charge of meddling in politics (Frede), or as an attempt to portray, through literary means, the ways in which human weakness and emotions can lead to disasters in political life (Burnyeat).

About this title

About the Author:

Myles Burnyeat, Robinson College, Cambridge,Michael Frede, formerly Keble College, Oxford

Myles Burnyeat is Emeritus Professor of Ancient Philosophy at Cambridge, and Honorary Fellow of Robinson College.

Michael Frede was formerly Professor of the History of Philosophy at Oxford University.

Dominic Scott is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Kent.

Review:

"Turning Fredeās files into a publishable text was no easy task, but Scott did a wonderful job..."--Catalin Partenie, National School of Political Studies and Administration, Bucharest

"...we must be grateful to Burnyeat for this line-by-line commentary, which provides a major aid for all readers of this difficult text..." -- Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Online

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0198733658
• ISBN 13: 9780198733652
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208
• Editor: Scott Dominic