Greek Philosophy: Thales to Plato

by John Burnet

Excerpt from Greek Thales to Plato The preparation of this volume was undertaken some years ago, but was interrupted by my work on the Lexicon Platonicum, which has proved a more formidable task than was at first anticipated. I have to thank the editor of this series and the publishers for their generous indulgence in the circumstances. It is unfortunate in some respects that I have been obliged to deal with certain parts of the subject in a form which does not admit of detailed argument and still less of controversy. The second edition of my Early Greek Philosophy (referred to as E. Gr. Ph.2) makes this in large measure unnecessary in Book I., but there are certain parts of Book III. where I have had to state my conclusions baldly in the hope that I may have a later opportunity of discussing their grounds. My chief aim for the present has been to assist students who wish to acquire a firsthand knowledge of what Plato actually says in the dialogues of his maturity. So long as they are content to know something of the Republic and the earlier dialogues, Platonism must be a sealed book to them. I have not thought it well to present Greek names in a Latin dress. I see no advantage, and many disadvantages, in writing Herakleitos as Heraclitus. It often leads to his being called out of his name, as the Emperor Herakleios usually is when disguised as Heraclius. On the other hand, the Latin titles of Plato's dialogues are English words. Theaitetos of Athens is best left with the beautiful name chosen for him by his father Euphronios, but 'the' Theaetetus is as much English as Thessalonians. We shall never, it seems, reach agreement on this matter; I only wish to explain my own practice. I have to thank my friend and former colleague, Sir Henry Jones, for many valuable suggestions and, above all, for his constant encouragement. Mr. Hetherington of Glasgow University was good enough to verify most of my references, and the proofs have been carefully read by Mr. W. L. Lorimer, Lecturer in Greek at the University of St. Andrews. For the imperfections which remain I am solely responsible. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Genres: Philosophy

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1914

About the author

John Burnet, FBA was a Scottish classicist. He was born in Edinburgh and died in St. Andrews.

Burnet was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, the University of Edinburgh, and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he obtained first-class honours in Classical Moderations (Greek and Latin) in 1885 and in Literae Humaniores in 1887.

Reviews

[Zahraa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s filled with origins, history backgrounds and unnecessary details than actual philosophy content.

[Arnar Styr · Rating 2 out of 5]

While reading this book you always feel you are wasting your time. There are along digressions where the author is trying to ground his opinions about what some philosopher might have thoughtor said but didn't actually say. It reminds one of those books who are based on a doctorate thesis. One gets the sense that he is answering some debates in the 1920s, so much of the book is of no lasting interest.