It is surprising that Plotinus should have been neglected and underestimated, comparatively speaking, until the nineteenth century. It is more surprising still that the first really successful attempt to translate and interpret the Enneads intelligently should have been made by an Irishman who was neither a professional classical scholar nor philosopher, who had no university degree, who had, in fact, never even crossed the threshold of a university. That this translation should now be reissued after the lapse of nearly thirty (...) years, and despite the appearance in the meantime of two authoritative and scholarly translations, Harder’s German and Cilento’s Italian, is a tribute to the all-round excellence of MacKenna’s work. (shrink)

It is surprising that Plotinus should have been neglected and underestimated, comparatively speaking, until the nineteenth century. It is more surprising still that the first really successful attempt to translate and interpret the Enneads intelligently should have been made by an Irishman who was neither a professional classical scholar nor philosopher, who had no university degree, who had, in fact, never even crossed the threshold of a university. That this translation should now be reissued after the lapse of nearly thirty (...) years, and despite the appearance in the meantime of two authoritative and scholarly translations, Harder’s German and Cilento’s Italian, is a tribute to the all-round excellence of MacKenna’s work. (shrink)

Attempts to interpret and expound the thought of Plato have been numerous. Probably no other thinker of the ancient world has had so many books written about him as this Greek philosopher who, it has been said, laid the foundation of all our finer thoughts. To anyone acquainted even superficially with Plato this comes as no surprise. The penetrating sweep of his mind must have astounded all his reflecting contemporaries, grown tired, no doubt, of the bewildering theorizings of the early (...) cosmologists. With Socrates and Plato the centre of gravity shifted suddenly from the Cosmos to Man himself, and as a result philosophy became much more interesting and profound. Though it is easy to find flaws in Plato, his system, taken as a whole, still retains, after the lapse of well over two thousand years, the power to interest and stimulate us. Hence there will nearly always be a potential market for a new work on Plato. (shrink)

Attempts to interpret and expound the thought of Plato have been numerous. Probably no other thinker of the ancient world has had so many books written about him as this Greek philosopher who, it has been said, laid the foundation of all our finer thoughts. To anyone acquainted even superficially with Plato this comes as no surprise. The penetrating sweep of his mind must have astounded all his reflecting contemporaries, grown tired, no doubt, of the bewildering theorizings of the early (...) cosmologists. With Socrates and Plato the centre of gravity shifted suddenly from the Cosmos to Man himself, and as a result philosophy became much more interesting and profound. Though it is easy to find flaws in Plato, his system, taken as a whole, still retains, after the lapse of well over two thousand years, the power to interest and stimulate us. Hence there will nearly always be a potential market for a new work on Plato. (shrink)