Why Plato Matters Now
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Professor Angie Hobbs proves in this persuasive and intelligent book that Plato is more relevant than ever.
Does Plato matter? An ancient philosopher whose work has inspired and informed countless thinkers and poets across the centuries, his ideas are no longer taught as widely as they once were. But, as Angie Hobbs argues in this clear-sighted book, that is a mistake.
If we want to understand the world we live in – from democracy, autocracy and fake news to celebrity, cancel culture and what money can and cannot do – there is no better place to start than Plato. Exploring the intersection between the ancient and the modern, Professor Hobbs shows how Plato can help us address key questions concerning the nature of a flourishing life and community, healthcare, love and friendship, heroism, reality, art and myth-making. She also shows us how Plato's adaptation of the Socratic method and dialogue form can enable us to deal with contested issues more constructively.
Plato's methodology, arguments, ideas and vivid images are explained with a clarity suitable both for readers familiar with his work and for those approaching Plato for the first time. This book shows why Plato really matters, now more than ever.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The ancient Greek philosopher has much to say about contemporary issues relating to politics, speech, knowledge, and living well, according to this stimulating exploration. University of Sheffield philosophy professor Hobbs (Plato's Republic) revisits key arguments from Plato's fourth-century BCE dialogues, wherein Socrates and his interlocutors hash out philosophical conundrums—a dramatic way of drawing readers in and modeling the sort of honest debate that's sorely lacking today, the author notes. Topics covered include Plato's theory of ideal forms—of goodness, beauty, even couches—that exist independently of physical reality (and help thinkers seek objective truth that facilitates mutual understanding), and Plato's model of the mind as a balance between reason, glory-seeking, and materialism. Though Plato's antipathy to democracy and free artistic expression seems an affront to modern values, Hobbs credits him with a spot-on critique of democracy's vulnerability to populism (he dreaded, Hobbs writes, the "opportunistic demagogue... pretending to be the people's champion" who rises on the strength of "extravagant promises" that "intoxicate" supporters). Hobbs's Plato is complex, ironic, and cagey, sometimes obscuring his real views to force readers to exercise their own interpretive muscles, and deeply informed by his sometimes hair-raising life (which included almost being killed by rulers he tried to counsel). Even those who may have yawned their way through Plato's writings in the past will be captivated.
