Past Masters

by R.M. Hare

Book Overview

Even after twenty-three centuries Plato's work remains the starting-point for the study of logic, metaphysics, and moral and political philosophy. But though his dialogues retain their freshness and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192875868
• ISBN13: 9780192875860
• Release Date: January 1983
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 82 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A good introduction

This is a good introduction. It has chapters on Plato's 'Life and times, on 'His forbearers, a chapter on' How Plato became a philosopher' one on ' Understanding Plato' one on 'Knowing Things' on 'Definition, dialectic and the good,' on 'Education and the Good Life' on' The Divided Mind' on 'The Authoritarian State' on 'Plato's achievement'. Hare apologizes for not having had the space to really consider Plato's views on Art, and on Love. I found especially interesting his background description of the Greek world of Plato's time, and their attitude toward 'power' and 'violence'. This background really helps the reader understand Plato's search for a kind of ideal social order. And this when his absolutist solution is of course strongly rejected by the Western liberal democratic political tradition. Many of us first learned our Plato with Whitehead's famous remark that all Western philosophy is a footnote to him. Hare does do a bit toward showing how Plato is at the foundation of many philosophical dilemnas , metaphysical , ethical and political which still concern us today. He also provides a brief description and periodization of the Dialogues. What is missing from the work is the feeling of the Platonic dialogues themselves. They have a dramatic and aesthetic power that is unique in the philosophical literature. I would just add to this review one point Hare makes not especially related to Plato which seemed especially interesting and important .He writes," Originality in philosophy often consists not in having new thoughts, but in making clear what was not clear before" It seems to me that it also consists in what Hare does indicate Plato often does , raising questions of such great significance that coming generations take them up again and again.

Well written!

I'd read summaries of Plato's philosophy before in other books: "The Story of Philosophy" by Durant has 40 pp. on Plato and "From Socrates to Sartre: the Philosophical Quest" by Lavine has 59 pp. on Plato. Richard Hare gives a much fuller introduction with just a few more pages (75 pp.). I learned so much more about Plato from this book, I was amazed at what I was missing from other introductions. Concise and well written. A pleasure to read.

excellent, understandable introduction

Everyone who thinks that philosophy in general and Plato in particular is dry and cryptic should try this book. In only about 80 pages, R.M.Hare, a distinguished philosopher himself, manages to give an account of the entire scope of Plato's work without relying on the sophisticated apparatus of modern philosophical terminology. This not only makes the book accessible for a wider audience but also provides a better understanding of some of Plato's philosophical problems, since he did not have that apparatus at hand either. The book gives biographical information on Plato, outlines his views on epistemology, ethics and the state and finally looks at the influence of Platonist philosophy, which can be found throughout the history of human thought. The main feature, in my view, of the work is the explanation of Plato's Theory of Ideas in terms of logic rather than esoteric. This interpretation has long been known among experts but here it is laid out for a more general public. One should also take a close look at the examination of Plato's "Republic" and find out that it is not an early version of "1984". "Plato" by R.M.Hare will thus be an excellent choice for anyone interested in the foundations of western thought or the history of ideas and also for experts as a concise summary.