Symposia: Plato, the Erotic, and Moral Value [Paperback]

Louis A., Jr. Ruprecht (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1999

Socrates was wise, because he knew that he did not know anything; this has long been the prevailing wisdom of the Socratic-Platonic tradition. In Plato's Middle Period --spanning dialogues such as Phaedo, Symposium, Republic, and Phaedrus--Socrates consistently claims to have knowledge in one area: the erotic. This book argues that the underlining of erotic matters --in what it refers to as Plato's Erotic Period --marks the most significant and dramatic moment in Plato's career. Plato's attention to the erotic in this period calls for a fundamental reassessment of many of the most important Platonic ideas: his complicated quarrel with poetry, his dubious doctrine of forms, his alleged hostility to the body and embodiment. In the Erotic Period, Plato's views are much richer, and infinitely more complex, than the many caricatures of his thought allow.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Louis A. Ruprecht, Jr. is Visiting Professor of Religion at Duke University. His first book, Tragic Posture and Tragic Vision: Against the Modern Failure of Nerve, won the Conference on Christianity and Literature's award. He has also written the SUNY Press book Afterwords: Hellenism, Modernism, and the Myth of Decadence. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr (August 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791442640
• ISBN-13: 978-0791442647
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,943,821 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fields of Eros, August 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Symposia: Plato, the Erotic, and Moral Value (Paperback)

The best contemporary treatment of the erotic in Plato, in part because of the author's subtle ability to bridge between classical homoerotic philosophy and modern love. Ruprecht's writing is captivating, and his use of Platonic number theory to help explain the often paradoxical nature of love is inspired. A highly enjoyable scholarly jaunt through the fields of eros.

5.0 out of 5 stars just so smart, March 11, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Symposia: Plato, the Erotic, and Moral Value (Hardcover)

This tome gave voice and form to so much of my own response to (and love for) Plato. It also brilliantly engages the reductive readings of Plato popularized by the "Aristotle boom" in philosophy and rhetoric departments over the past thirty years or so(a la Martha Nussbaum and Ed Corbett), and is clearly well-informed by--though not as directly addressing--feminist and queer critiques of Western culture more generally. Quite simply, the best contemporary work on ethics and love I've encountered.