Why Plato Wrote

Why Plato Wrote argues that Plato was not only the world’s first systematic political philosopher, but also the western world’s first think-tank activist and message man. Shows that Plato wrote to change Athenian society and thereby transform Athenian politics Offers accessible discussions of Plato’s philosophy of language and political theory Selected by Choice as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2011

Acknowledgments ix Abbreviations xi Prologue: Why Think about Plato? 1 Part I: Why Plato Wrote 9 Chapter 1: Who Was Plato? 11 Chapter 2: The Importance of Symbols in Human Life 24 Chapter 3: The Philosopher as Model-Maker 38 Chapter 4: The Philosopher as Shadow-Maker 55 Chapter 5: What Plato Wrote 70 Chapter 6: How Plato Lived 79 Part II: What Plato Did 87 Chapter 7: The Case for Influence 89 Chapter 8: Culture War Emergent 108 Chapter 9: Culture War Concluded 122 Epilogue: And to My Colleagues 143 Appendix 1: The Relationship between Paradigms and Forms 148 Appendix 2: A Second Tri-partite Division of the Soul? 154 Appendix 3: Miso- Compounds in Greek Literature 158 Notes 161 References 206 Further Reading 215 Index 219