Plato: Letters to my Son, Plato's Shadow, & Aristotle's Universe
For more on Plato: Letters to my Son, visit www.neelburton.com
Plato’s Shadow – A Primer on Plato, by Neel Burton
ISBN 978-0-9560353-2-5, RPR £14.99
Published July 2009
Buy it here
Tweet
Plato thought that only philosophy can bring true understanding, since it alone examines the presuppositions and assumptions that other subjects merely take for granted. He conceived of philosophy as a single discipline defined by a distinctive intellectual method, and capable of carrying human thought far beyond the realms of common sense or everyday experience. The unrivalled scope and incisiveness of his writings as well as their enduring aesthetic and emotional appeal have captured the hearts and minds of generation after generation of readers. Unlike the thinkers who came before him, Plato never spoke with his own voice. Instead, he presented readers with a variety of perspectives to engage with, leaving them free to reach their own, sometimes radically different, conclusions. ‘No one,’ he said, ‘ever teaches well who wants to teach, or governs well who wants to govern.’
This book aims to provide the student and general reader with a comprehensive overview of Plato’s thought. It includes an introduction to the life and times of Plato and a précis of each of his dialogues, amongst which The Apology, Laches, Gorgias, Symposium, Phaedrus, Phaedo, Meno, Timaeus, Theaetetus, Republic, and 17 others.
Reviews
A succinct précis of the work of one of the world's greatest thinkers ... For the newcomer or undergraduate it's a great resource, being both a celebration of and an introduction to some of the most remarkable, beautiful, provocative, powerful and vital writings in Western literature.
- The Good Web Guide
This book provides a tremendously useful service to anyone studying Plato, or to the more general reader who might otherwise struggle to make headway unaided ... [It is] an essential addition to the library of any serious student of Plato's philosophy - which, given his undiminished importance, should be every philosopher!
- PhilosophyOnline
A student encountering Plato on a Philosophy or a Classics course would undoubtedly benefit from having this book to reach for as a preliminary step before reading one of the dialogues for the first time. A general reader would also find this a useful reference book because of the way it treats each dialogue separately – something you don’t usually find in such a short and accessible paperback.
- Ptolemy.co.uk
Aristotle’s Universe – A Primer on Aristotle, by Neel Burton
ISBN 978-0-9560353-5-6, RPR £14.99
Published July 2011
Buy it here
Live and die in Aristotle's works.
- Christopher Marlowe
Aristotle is without doubt one of the most influential people in history. His belief that philosophy should be grounded in observation laid the foundation for the scientific method. His moral philosophy exerted a profound influence on religious thinking and has recently returned to prominence with the resurgence of virtue ethics. His works are so wide-ranging as to constitute a quasi encyclopaedia of Greek knowledge. Some of the most important are Physics, Metaphysics, Nicomachean Ethics, Politics, On the Soul, Politics, and the Organon, with which he created the field of logic and dominated it so thoroughly and for so long that even Kant thought that he had said the last word upon it.
This book aims to provide the student and general reader with a comprehensive overview of Aristotle's thought. It includes an introduction to the life of Aristotle, and - for the first time - a précis of each of his works, including the Organon, Physics, Metaphysics, Nicomachean Ethics, Politics, On the Soul, Poetics, and several others.
