The Unity of Plato's Sophist
Between the Sophist and the Philosopher

An interesting interpretation of Plato's dialogue the Sophist.

Noburu Notomi (Author)

9780521632591, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 April 1999

372 pages
22.3 x 14.6 x 2.8 cm, 0.6 kg

"...the book is scholarly, clearly argued, textually supported, and highly recommended...Notomi's book succesfully re-frames the dialogue in terms of its fundamental question; for this it merits the attention of all serious students and scholars of Plato's Sophist." Ancient Philosophy

Plato's later dialogue, the Sophist, is deemed one of the greatest works in the history of philosophy, but scholars have been shy of confronting the central problem of the dialogue. For Plato, defining the sophist is the basic philosophical problem: any inquirer must face the 'sophist within us' in order to secure the very possibility of dialogue, and of philosophy, against sophistic counterattack. Examining the connection between the large and difficult philosophical issues discussed in the Sophist (appearance, image, falsehood, and 'what is not') in relation to the basic problem of defining the sophist, Dr Notomi shows how Plato struggles with and solves all these problems in a single line of inquiry. His interpretation of the whole dialogue finally reveals how the philosopher should differ from the sophist.

Preface
Notes and abbreviations
Division of the Sophist
1. How to read the Sophist
2. The sophist and the philosopher
3. How the sophist appears
4. Analysis of the structure of appearance
5. Appearance and image
6. The sophistic counter-attack on philosophy
7. The philosophic defence against sophistry
8. The final definition of the sophist
Bibliography
Index locorum
General index.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA]