Readings In Ancient Greek Philosophy: From Thales To Aristotle by S. Marc Cohen

by C.D.C. Reeve

The second edition of this comprehensive anthology of ancient philosophy fetures 100 extra pages of Presocratic fragments, testimonia and dialogues of Plato. Republic is also featured in its entirety.

Genres: Philosophy, History, Nonfiction, Classics, Reference, Textbooks, Greece

Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

C. D. C. Reeve is a philosophy professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He works primarily in Ancient Greek philosophy, especially Plato and Aristotle. He is also interested in philosophy generally, and has published work in the philosophy of sex and love, and on film. He has also translated many Ancient Greek texts, mostly by Plato and Aristotle.

Reviews

[نورا · Rating 5 out of 5]

I once had the description of that book in my mind , not quite aware that something like that existed , till my Mom surprised me one day and bought it for me . I think now my collection is complete. I am fascinated with Greek mythology and philosophy, and I am a great fan of Plato . That may be one day I ll name my children Plato and Socrates :) I especially love The Meno , and The symposium the most .

[Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first taste of original source (or fragments of) material from the ancient philosophers. I have the 4th edition and it is a wonderful way to begin philosophy.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Translated Original philosophic documents from ancient Greece. I used this along side of an audio course called "Introduction to ancient Greek philosophy." I like the translations in general, and found some of the thinkers to be really interesting. Lots of Plato was translated well, but the Aristotle selections were hit and miss for me. Good source of "primary" documents without much commentary, not really a book to just pick up and read on your own.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

In which I proceed to mix up a lot of dead Greek guys who may or may not have just been full of hot air.

ETA:
It seems weird to rate a book that is really just a compilation of a lot of really important people's really important ideas. But yeah. It's a mixed bag.

The Pre-Socratics: Generally really dull and confusing, mostly because what survives of their writings is really just a bunch of fragments. Sorry, guys.

Socrates: Cool dude. Seemed like kind of a know-it-all asshole though, so I totally understand why he was pissing off the Athenians.

Plato: I liked reading his works the best. He did have some really weird (and just plain messed-up) ideas, along with the really good ones. See his noble lie in The Republic.

Aristotle: Gets a bit technical to read sometimes, especially when he talks about nature. I liked his Nicomachean Ethics, but not so much the other stuff.

One of the really interesting aspects of my ancient philosophy class (for me at least) was discussing how the difficulties in translating ancient Greek to English sometimes distort the meaning of the text. For example, in Greek, "virtue" literally means "to do well". So you have to keep that kind of stuff in mind when you're reading before you dismiss ideas altogether.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Think ancient Greek philosophy is opaque and difficult to understand? Think again. These translations are *extremely* readable. Much more so than, for example, the works of Shakespeare. This is a very handy (and super cheap -I paid less than 5 bucks including shipping!) resource for learning about the foundations of Western philosophical thought. The translations are good, within the limits that any translation faces. Highly recommended.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

If only the professor for this class had been as interesting as the text...

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this entire course.

[Renee Is A Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a college textbook...
Woo hoo?

[Wesley]

Used this book for school way back when at Berkeley philosophy summer course. Just wanted to pull it out to read the section on Empedocles

[Jordan Litts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read most of this for my introduction to ancient philosophy class. Great texts by Presocratics, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Unlike in my Hume class, I tried really hard to learn from this one because it was awesome.

Presocratics--Where the hell are we/Who the hell are we?
Socrates--You'll never know but I'll keep buggin' you about it cuz it's good for you.
Plato--The world of ideal forms is where the party's at.
Aristotle--Let me just beast this and give an explanation of how everything is caused y'all. Let me just give you my categories for y'all to use at your own benefit too. Basically, we Greek philosophers are boss, listen to us and you're welcome ye bozos.

Me--Uh wait, mhm, let me figure out what y'all just said. Alright, thanks.

[Northpapers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in conjunction with Anthony Kenny's New History of Western Philosophy, and it took me eight months to make my way through it.

The time was well spent. I'm glad to have so many of the foundational ideas of philosophy collected and translated here.

This will be a great resource when I need to go back and revisit certain quotes and ideas as I move forward with my chronological study of philosophy.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

It served a purpose as the module reader for one of my final year philosophy modules. Trying to collate such a broad range of works is always going to be a challenge, especially when a large number of the original texts do not remain - i.e for the work of the three Milesians at the beginning of the textbook.

[Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This excellent edition provides a large sampling of material concerning ancient philosophy. It was used in an introduction course that I took, and it includes the Pre-Socratics though it focuses on Plato and Aristotle.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference, have used countless times

[sologdin · Rating 2 out of 5]

competent collection of ancient texts. has the fragments then available for the pre-socratics. after that, the question becomes which platos and aristotles to include?

[Lance McMurchy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish Plato would just say what he meant.
Good book, only if you are interested in the anicent thinkers. not that I read the whole thing, only that which was needed to do the paper.

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a very detailed works of the ancient philosophers. Doesn't have my favorite works, but I suggest reading it nonetheless.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Republic is easily one of the most beautiful texts I've ever read; the ability to construct such an extended metaphor is so very impressive.

[Jono · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only read the sections required for my university course in Ancient Philosophy. Really enjoyed the Phaedo.

[Mary Webber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent anthology of the key readings in Ancient Greek philosophy

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to read sections from this for an upper division philosophy class. Wonderful anthology, nothing like it.

[Karl Hallbjörnsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A huge lump of a book! It contains a lot of ancient fragments and texts — this is definitely a good spot to "Start with the Greeks"!

[Savanna Wimer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would be better without the compiler commentary.