Customer Reviews

Plato's Universe

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The comments I'm about to make come from p.xiv of the Introduction of the book:"Recalling that many important things have come to us from the Greeks--democracy, tragedy, the Olympic Games, mathematics, logic, philosophy--Vlastos wonders... if the Greeks really discovered what we now mean by 'science'. ...Even if they were not able to 'grasp the essential genius of the scientific method', they did 'discover the notion of a cosmos 'that is presupposed by the idea of natural science and by its practice.' In fact, the early Greeks had 'the perception of a rational universe'." Similar to the Greeks, Vlastos accomplishes a logical and impartial description and interpretation of Plato's thought, that so many previous commentators have missed. I recommend this book to anyone that has deep interest in Greek thought in general and Plato in particular.

Anait Keuchguerian

In this absolutely splendid book, Vlastos traces the origins of the idea of the cosmos and, indeed, of nature itself as a subject for intellectual inquiry. He also helps the reader make more sense of Plato's Timaeus than a casual first reading might ever suggest is possible. The book is a perfect melding of scholarship with Vlastos's gift for conveying big ideas to a broad audience.