Related Subjects: Author Index Reviews Page 1 2
Book reviews for "Vlastos,_Gregory" sorted by average review score:

Socrates : Ironist and Moral Philosopher
Published in Paperback by Cambridge University Press (1991)
Author: Gregory Vlastos
Amazon base price: $26.00
Average review score:

vlastos rides again
This is a superb book on the philosophy of Socrates. You may not agree with Vlastos point by point; but if you disagree, you will have to work out your objections very carefully. One minor quibble: Vlastos seems to determined to defend whatever Socrates does and however he argues. This sometimes leads to (what looks very much like) special pleading. But the book is a masterpiece of readable, analytic philosophy.

A classic whether you agree with Vlastos' views or not
A deeply profound scholarly work that is both well-written and a pleasure to read is hard to find, but Vlastos achieves this in this wonderful book. Although i do not agree with some of Vlastos' points concerning Plato, i must acknowledge the fact that most, if not all, of my ideas on Plato were either improved or disproved by either agreeing or disagreeing with Vlastos' interpretation of Plato. This book is one of the best ways for any reader of the Plato to be initiated into the various interpretations of his thought. The various theses raised by most scholarly works on Plato today can be traced to have developed either in agreement or in disagreement to this book. Some ideas that you will find in this work are: -a theory on how to chronologically arrange the Platonic corpus -an influential approach to understanding the reasons behind and the limits of the Socratic method -a theory on how to separate Plato's thought from Socrates' thought


Plato: Protagoras
Published in Paperback by Prentice Hall (01 January, 1956)
Authors: Martin Ostwald, Gregory Vlastos, Benjamin E. Jowett, and Martin Oswald
Amazon base price: $5.33
Average review score:

Dense and inconclusive
In this Protagoras dialogue, the conversation is about virtue--what it is and if it can be taught. The text consists of several speeches in conjunction with the familiar Socratic method of dialogue. Protagoras, whom Socrates does treat with a good bit of respect, declares that he teaches the art of politics and makes of his students better citizens. Socrates voices his opinion that virtue cannot in fact be taught. The conversation basically revolves around these two questions. In the middle of the debate, Socrates declares his intention to leave for an appointment if Protagoras does not stop answering his questions with long speeches, and a compromise must be struck before the debate continues. Socrates himself, though, often makes long speeches of his own, one example being a lengthy discussion of his interpretation of a poem. I found this to be a rather difficult text to understand, and its effectiveness is further hampered by the fact that too many lengthy speeches constantly upset the balance and blur the focus of the debate. There is also little sense of accomplishment at the conclusion because no conclusive truths are agreed upon by the two adversaries.

Several core Socratic ideas are incorporated into his arguments--e.g., no man does evil willingly but only out of ignorance. Protagoras contends that all men have a share in justice and virtue, for these qualities were given to man by the gods in order that man might live communally for self-protection against nature; all but the thoroughly unredeemable thus have the right and ability to speak of virtue, and all men are actually teachers of virtue--punishment itself is intended as a means for correcting the evil in an individual. Still, the natural ability of each individual in this regard determines his ability to act justly--this is how Protagoras explains the fact that the sons of good men sometimes turn out bad. Socrates doesn't buy this argument. In the argument's "second round," he tries to determine whether virtue is one thing in itself or if there are distinct parts to it such as piety, self-control, justice, wisdom, and courage. This question was never sufficiently dealt with in my mind. Basically, we end the debate back where we started, with Socrates stating that virtue cannot be taught and that human nature dictates that the individual chooses what he believes to be good and/or what he believes to be the lesser of two evils.

My 1956 Library of Liberal Arts edition contains a lengthy introduction by Gretory Vlastos. This introduction may be appreciated by individuals with some formal knowledge about philosophy, but I found it a dense jungle of words that often required a number of machete hacks of effort to get through. It is far more complicated than Plato's dialogue itself. Vlastos does seek to show some of the methodological problems of Socrates' method, but I found his discussion of this enticing subject very hard to follow. He also reminds me of Socrates in that he seems to take some joy in saying other academic writers have been dead wrong about certain things and then concludes by saying that the individuals he criticizes so forthrightly are actually good men whom he has learned a great deal from.

If you are unfamiliar with Plato's philosophy, you certainly do not want to start your study with this particular dialogue. As someone with very little philosophical training, I found myself confused on more than one occasion, despite the fact that I have only recently read again a number of Plato's more reader-friendly writings. When I picked this particular edition of the book up, I was unsure if I should read the lengthy introduction before or after the dialogue itself, and I now can say that the introduction is so dense that I would be no worse off had I not read it at all.


Agraphcs Nomos and Der Charakter in Der Sprache Der Fruhgriechischen Dichtung
Published in Library Binding by Beaufort Books Inc (1979)
Authors: Rudolf Hirzel, Walter Marg, and Gregory Vlastos
Amazon base price: $21.95
Average review score:
No reviews found.

Demosthenes Against Androtion and Against Timocrates (Morals and Law in Ancient Greece)
Published in Hardcover by Ayer Co Pub (1979)
Authors: Demosthenes and Gregory Vlastos
Amazon base price: $25.95
Average review score:
No reviews found.

Exegesis and argument; studies in Greek philosophy presented to Gregory Vlastos
Published in Unknown Binding by Van Gorcum ()
Amazon base price: $
Average review score:
No reviews found.

The Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle
Published in Hardcover by Ayer Co Pub (1973)
Author: Gregory Vlastos
Amazon base price: $777.50
Average review score:
No reviews found.

Philosophy of Socrates: A Collection of Critical Essays
Published in Paperback by Univ of Notre Dame Pr (1980)
Author: Gregory Vlastos
Amazon base price: $19.95
Average review score:
No reviews found.

Plato I: Metaphysics and Epistemology ; A Collection of Critical Essays
Published in Textbook Binding by Univ of Notre Dame Pr (1978)
Author: Gregory, Comp. Vlastos
Amazon base price: $18.95
Average review score:
No reviews found.

Plato II: Ethics, Politics, and Philosophy of Art, Religion: A Collection of Critical Essays
Published in Paperback by Univ of Notre Dame Pr (1978)
Author: Gregory Vlastos
Amazon base price: $14.95
Average review score:
No reviews found.

Plato's universe
Published in Unknown Binding by University of Washington Press ()
Author: Gregory Vlastos
Amazon base price: $
Average review score:
No reviews found.

Related Subjects: Author Index Reviews Page 1 2

Reviews are from readers at Amazon.com. To add a review, follow the Amazon buy link above.