THIS is a book of great length (444 pages of text), great learning (168 pages of notes), but not of commensurate understanding. It is a pity, because its defects may conceal its undoubted merits. When Dr. Popper is not caricaturing writers whose views he dislikes-and he dislikes a great many-he has a useful contribution to make to political thought, and his general moral theory (mainly to be found in the notes) is eminently sane and sensible. But for his passion for tilting at windmills he would have written a better and shorter book. The Open Society and its Enemies By K. R. Popper. Vol. 1: The Spell of Plato. Pp. vii + 268. Vol. 2: The High Tide of Prophecy—Hegel, Marx and the Aftermath. Pp. v + 352. (London: George Koutledge and Sons, Ltd., 1945.) 2 vols., 42s. net.

The Open Society and its Enemies

A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy

This interpretation of Aristotle's "Poetics" seeks to demonstrate that it is a coherent statement of a challenging theory of poetic art and that it hints towards a theory of mimetic art in general. Assessing this theory against the background of earlier Greek views on poetry and art, particularly Plato's, Stephen Halliwell sets Aristotle's ideas in the wider context of his philosophical system. The core of the book is an appraisal of Aristotle's view of tragic drama, in which Halliwell contends that at the heart of the "Poetics" lies a philosophical urge to instill a secularized understanding of Greek tragedy.

Aristotle's Poetics

An Introduction to Plato’s Republic

In fourth-century Greece (BCE), the debate over the nature of philosophy generated a novel claim: that the highest form of wisdom is theoria, the rational 'vision' of metaphysical truths (the 'spectator theory of knowledge'). This 2004 book offers an original analysis of the construction of 'theoretical' philosophy in fourth-century Greece. In the effort to conceptualise and legitimise theoretical philosophy, the philosophers turned to a venerable cultural practice: theoria (state pilgrimage). In this practice, an individual journeyed abroad as an official witness of sacralized spectacles. This book examines the philosophic appropriation and transformation of theoria, and analyses the competing conceptions of theoretical wisdom in fourth-century philosophy. By tracing the link between traditional and philosophic theoria, this book locates the creation of theoretical philosophy in its historical context, analysing theoria as a cultural and an intellectual practice. It develops a new, interdisciplinary approach, drawing on philosophy, history and literary studies.

Spectacles of Truth in Classical Greek Philosophy: Theoria in its Cultural Context

Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Introduction Chapter 3 Theories of Justice Chapter 4 The Origin of the City Chapter 5 Education of the Guardians Chapter 6 The Rationally Self-Controlled City Chapter 7 The Three Waves Chapter 8 The Sun, Line, and Cave Chapter 9 Philosopher-Rulers Chapter 10 Decline and Fall Chapter 11 The Superiority of Justice Chapter 12 Art and Death Chapter 13 The Limits of the Timaeus Chapter 14 Conclusion Chapter 15 Bibliography Chapter 16 Index Chapter 17 About the Author

The transformation of Plato's Republic

Plato's Phaedo : an interpretation

The Ion: Plato's Characterization of Art

In this analysis, Plato's four eleatic dialogues are treated as a continuous argument. In Kenneth Dorter's view, Plato reconsiders the theory of forms propounded in his earlier dialogues and through an examination of the theory's limitations, reaffirms and proves it essential. Contradicted are both those philosophers who argue that Plato espoused his theory of forms uncritically, and those who argue that Plato in some sense rejected the theory and moved toward the categorical analysis developed by Aristotle. Dorter's re-examination of Plato's insights implies an important new direction for modern philosophical inquiry.

Kenneth Dorter

Papers

The transformation of Plato's Republic

Plato's Phaedo : an interpretation

The Ion: Plato's Characterization of Art

Form and good in Plato's Eleatic dialogues : the Parmenides, Theaetetus, Sophist, and Statesman

Conceptual Truth and Aesthetic Truth