Plato and the Body: Reconsidering Socratic Asceticism by Coleen P. Zoller

According to a widespread understanding among historians of philosophy, there is within the dialogues of Plato an underlying metaphysical dualism, one that devalues the body and the natural world, promoting, ultimately, an unattractive and repressive asceticism. An obvious support for this “standard” reading is provided by the Phaedo, wherein the soul is depicted as a prisoner in a cage ; but, as many readers would eagerly point out, most of Plato’s dialogues offer robust metaphors, images, or arguments that continuously suggest that acolytes should denounce the body in favor of the soul.Indeed, it is against this background that Zoller’s book should be commended as an impressive endeavor to show just how...