Plato's Democratic Entanglements : : Athenian Politics and the Practice of Philosophy / / S. Sara Monoson.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Monoson, S. Sara,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2000]; ©2000
• Year of Publication: 2000
• Edition: Course Book
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (264 p.)

In this book, Sara Monoson challenges the longstanding and widely held view that Plato is a virulent opponent of all things democratic. She does not, however, offer in its place the equally mistaken idea that he is somehow a partisan of democracy. Instead, she argues that we should attend more closely to Plato's suggestion that democracy is horrifying and exciting, and she seeks to explain why he found it morally and politically intriguing. Monoson focuses on Plato's engagement with democracy as he knew it: a cluster of cultural practices that reach into private and public life, as well as a set of governing institutions. She proposes that while Plato charts tensions between the claims of democratic legitimacy and philosophical truth, he also exhibits a striking attraction to four practices central to Athenian democratic politics: intense antityrantism, frank speaking, public funeral oratory, and theater-going. By juxtaposing detailed examination of these aspects of Athenian democracy with analysis of the figurative language, dramatic structure, and arguments of the dialogues, she shows that Plato systematically links democratic ideals and activities to philosophic labor. Monoson finds that Plato's political thought exposes intimate connections between Athenian democratic politics and the practice of philosophy. Situating Plato's political thought in the context of the Athenian democratic imaginary, Monoson develops a new, textured way of thinking of the relationship between Plato's thought and the politics of his city.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction. Siting Plato -- Part One. Aspects of the Athenian Civic Self-Image -- CHAPTER ONE. The Allure of Harmodius and Aristogeiton: Public/Private Relations in the Athenian Democratic Imaginary -- CHAPTER TWO. Citizen as Parrhe¯siaste¯s (Frank Speaker) -- CHAPTER THREE. Citizen as Erastēs (Lover): Erotic Imagery and the Idea of Reciprocity in the Periclean Funeral Oration -- CHAPTER FOUR. Citizen as Theate¯s (Theater-Goer): Performing Unity, Reciprocity, and Strong-Mindedness in the City Dionysia -- Part Two. Plato’s Democratic Entanglements -- CHAPTER FIVE. Unsettling the Orthodoxy -- CHAPTER SIX. Philosopher as Parrhe¯siaste¯s (Frank Speaker) -- CHAPTER SEVEN. Remembering Pericles: The Political and Theoretical Import of Plato’s Menexenus -- CHAPTER EIGHT. Theory and Theatricality -- Citation Index -- General Index