The fourth volume of Professor Guthrie’s History, dealing with Plato’s life and with eighteen of his dialogues, is as welcome as its three predecessors. In keeping with the nature of a history of this sort, the picture of Plato’s life and thought presented here is judicious and non-controversial in its outlines. There are many helpful references both to the ancient and to the modern literature, and a vast amount of information is transmitted with surprising painlessness. For the facts of Plato’s (...) life, Guthrie relies on the traditional sources, especially on Epistle VII, the authenticity of which he accepts. His reconstruction is, therefore, itself quite traditional; little direct attention is given to Ryle’s attempt to undermine that view. The volume covers the following dialogues, listed here in the order of their presentation: Apology, Crito, Euthyphro, Laches, Lysis, Charmides, Hippias Major, Hippias Minor, Ion, Protagoras, Meno, Euthydemus, Gorgias, Menexenus, Phaedo, Symposium, Phaedrus, and Republic. No section is devoted in this volume to the first Alcibiades; Guthrie is noncommittal on its authenticity. The Cratylus and the Timaeus are also passed over because of difficulties in dating them. Somewhat questionable is the inclusion of the Phaedrus: Guthrie argues that it belongs among the middle dialogues, mainly on account of his view that the method of collection and division does not constitute a major discontinuity in Plato’s way of doing dialectic. On the question of Plato’s development, Guthrie follows most contemporary scholars in rejecting the unitarian view, according to which Plato held the theory of Forms, essentially unrevised, throughout his life. Rather, he leans towards the idea that the theory of Forms emerged out of Socrates’ concern with definition, bloomed in the middle dialogues, and came to be more critically examined in Plato’s later works. Guthrie deals with each dialogue separately: he examines each dialogue’s date, characters, and setting, presents a useful summary, and discusses a number of philosophically interesting questions. The section devoted to the Republic is a monograph in its own right and combines summary and discussion. The great virtues of this book are its level tone, its painstaking presentation of alternative views, and its scope. Though not always conclusive in its discussions of specific philosophical issues, it is a true labor of love, and unlikely to be superceded, as a reference work, in the near future.—A.N. (shrink)

The third volume of The History of European Philosophy in the Fifteenth Century deals with the question of "being." In the closing paragraph, Stefan Swiezawski remarks: "Studies on the transformation and distortion of St. Thomas's doctrine on being, especially in regard to its existential element, are fundamentally important for understanding the factual historical development of Thomism as well as for understanding modern Christian thought. They are also of utmost importance for understanding the mainspring and resultant trends which have shaped the (...) direction of philosophical reflection in Europe during the last several centuries". The fourth volume of his opus magnum under review here, touches upon the problematics of God. It is this volume which serves as the best example of all those deviations and distortions which come from a mistreatment of the philosophy of being. Moreover, fifteenth century philosophy, in the disguise of metaphysics, can be seen as "a century of theology which in a more differentiated form and restless way" professed and used "pluralism of the conception of theology as a science". (shrink)

This is the third volume in the Clarendon Plato Series, which already includes good translations and commentaries on the Theaetetus and the Philebus. Like its companions, this book concentrates mainly on the philosophical interpretation of the dialogue and is "intended primarily for those who do not read Greek". A separate section, for example, is devoted to textual issues, and the commentary, which takes up the largest part of the volume, does not presuppose knowledge of Greek. In principle, then, one can (...) follow and appreciate Professor Gallop’s careful notes without being able to read Plato’s original text. But this is not simply an elementary introduction to the Phaedo and, in practice, knowledge of Greek would be quite useful in attending to the argument and in keeping clearly in mind the significance of alternative translations as well as the different interpretations which these can involve. The work’s task is a difficult one: it is intended to be a sophisticated and detailed presentation of Plato’s views, but also capable of being read independently of Plato’s text. Given these constraints, Gallop has written an excellent book. His readers will have to work hard, but, if they do, they will find their efforts rewarded. The commentary includes clear presentations of the background necessary for following and appreciating the detailed discussions of particular and controversial problems which Gallop painstakingly pursues. He refers broadly to the secondary literature on Plato and gives exhaustive cross-references to the text of the Phaedo. Passages central to recent philosophical debates are discussed extensively, but equally interesting sections are devoted to less popular, though equally important, parts of the dialogue; for instance, Gallop’s comments on Socrates’ apology for the life of the philosopher constitute a serious and rather elegant essay in their own right. The translation is faithful and often, though not always, idiomatic. Gallop offers a number of original and controversial interpretations, and "though in view of the size of the subject under discussion... [one] is bound to retain some doubt in [one’s] mind about what’s been said", this book cannot fail to be extremely valuable to any serious reader of Plato.—A.N. (shrink)