Why Plato Wrote argues that Plato was not only the
world’s first systematic political philosopher, but also the
western world’s first think-tank activist and message man.
* Shows that Plato wrote to change Athenian society and thereby
transform Athenian politics
* Offers accessible discussions of Plato’s philosophy of
language and political theory
* Selected by Choice as an Outstanding Academic Title for
2011
Table des matières
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
Prologue: Why Think about Plato? 1
Part I: Why Plato Wrote 9
Chapter 1: Who Was Plato? 11
Chapter 2: The Importance of Symbols in Human Life 24
Chapter 3: The Philosopher as Model-Maker 38
Chapter 4: The Philosopher as Shadow-Maker 55
Chapter 5: What Plato Wrote 70
Chapter 6: How Plato Lived 79
Part II: What Plato Did 87
Chapter 7: The Case for Influence 89
Chapter 8: Culture War Emergent 108
Chapter 9: Culture War Concluded 122
Epilogue: And to My Colleagues 143
Appendix 1: The Relationship between Paradigms and Forms 148
Appendix 2: A Second Tri-partite Division of the Soul? 154
Appendix 3: Miso- Compounds in Greek Literature 158
Notes 161
References 206
Further Reading 215
Index 219
A propos de l’auteur
Danielle S. Allen is UPS Foundation Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. She is the author of The World of Prometheus: The Politics of Punishing in Democratic Athens (2000) and Talking to Strangers: Anxieties of Citizenship Since Brown vs. the Board of Education (2004).