Dialogue and Dialectic: Eight Hermeneutical Studies on Plato [Paperback]

Hans-Georg Gadamer (Author), P. Christopher Smith (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0300029837 | ISBN-13: 978-0300029833 | Publication Date: September 10, 1983

"This book is a virtual case study in the application of hermeneutical principles to illuminate philosophical texts. The book contains translations of eight of Gadamer's best known essays on Plato....These studies, spanning a period of almost fifty years, are important not only for what they have to say concerning Plato, but also for what they reveal about the development and insightfulness of Gadamer's hermeneutical theory of interpretation....[He] aims at dialogue with Plato and achieves it."-Jeremiah P. Conway, International Philosophical Quarterly "A remarkable felicitous set of translations."-Martin Warner, Times Higher Education Supplement "Gadamer is among the most eminent followers of Heidegger and rather more accessible that most. It is therefore a service to have these eight essays on Plato, dating from 1934 to 1974, translated competently into English."-Choice "May be the best introduction to Gadamer yet published in this country."-W.G. Regier, Modern Language Notes

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Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (September 10, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300029837
• ISBN-13: 978-0300029833
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #851,776 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Treat Plato with the respect he deserves, October 22, 2010

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Ben Brewer (the Best Coast) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Dialogue and Dialectic: Eight Hermeneutical Studies on Plato (Paperback)

One of the greatest intellectual injustices in the history of philosophy is the standard treatment of Plato and Platonism more broadly. Gadamer reads the dialogues as what they are--dialogues, not treatises. Carefully reading the context, mythos, and logos of the dialogues, Gadamer not only understands Plato better than the majority of 20th century thinkers, he also provides an exemplary account of what it would like to perform the kind of rigorous hermeneutics he lays out in Truth and Method (Continuum Impacts).
A must-have for anyone interested in either Plato or Gadamer--this is one of those wonderful texts is equal parts theory and commentary.