What do you think?
Rate this book
Plato's Thought
Plato's Thought offers an excellent introduction to Plato, guiding the reader through Plato's Theory of Forms, and examining his views on art, education and statecraft. This edition includes an introduction, bibliographic essay, and bibliography by Donald Zeyl.
- GenresPhilosophy
368 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1962
6 people are currently reading
150 people want to read
About the author
G.M.A. Grube
20 books10 followersGeorge Maximilian Antony Grube (3 August 1899 – 13 December 1982) was a classicist and translator of Plato, Aristotle, Demetrius of Phaleron, Longinus and Marcus Aurelius, as well as a Canadian democratic socialist political activist.
He was born in Antwerp, Belgium, on 3 August 1899, and was educated in the United Kingdom. He served as a translator for the Belgium Army, attached to the British Expeditionary Force during the First World War. He attended Cambridge University's Emmanuel College, where he received his Master's degree in 1925.
He moved to Canada in 1928, to begin his career as a professor of classics at the University of Trinity College in the University of Toronto (UofT). He became the head of the classics department in 1931. Grube was a socialist, and serving in WWI turned him into a passionate pacifist. During his tenure at the UofT, he was involved in the Toronto branch of the League for Social Reconstruction (LSR), serving as president from 1934-1935. When the LSR took control of the nearly bankrupt magazine, Canadian Forum, Grube became its editor from 1937 to 1941. It was during his tenure at the magazine that it became the main media outlet for the LSR's publications.
From 1944 to 1946, Grube was the President of the Ontario Co-operative Commonwealth Federation's (CCF) executive, often acting as the public spokesperson for the party after its leader, Ted Jolliffe, lost his seat in the Ontario general election on 4 June 1945. He also ran unsuccessfully several times for the House of Commons seat in what was then known as the Broadview electoral district during the 1940s.
In August 1961, he was one of the co-chairs presiding over the New Democratic Party's founding convention in Ottawa. In 1968, he won the Award of Merit from the American Philological Association (APA) for his 1965 book The Greek and Roman Critics. The APA gave him the award for "outstanding contribution to classical scholarship." Two-years later, while still the head of the classics department, he retired from UofT in 1970.
He continued writing new translations of Plato's works until his death. In his later years, he had health issues, and he finally succumbed to them in Toronto on 13 December 1982.
He was born in Antwerp, Belgium, on 3 August 1899, and was educated in the United Kingdom. He served as a translator for the Belgium Army, attached to the British Expeditionary Force during the First World War. He attended Cambridge University's Emmanuel College, where he received his Master's degree in 1925.
He moved to Canada in 1928, to begin his career as a professor of classics at the University of Trinity College in the University of Toronto (UofT). He became the head of the classics department in 1931. Grube was a socialist, and serving in WWI turned him into a passionate pacifist. During his tenure at the UofT, he was involved in the Toronto branch of the League for Social Reconstruction (LSR), serving as president from 1934-1935. When the LSR took control of the nearly bankrupt magazine, Canadian Forum, Grube became its editor from 1937 to 1941. It was during his tenure at the magazine that it became the main media outlet for the LSR's publications.
From 1944 to 1946, Grube was the President of the Ontario Co-operative Commonwealth Federation's (CCF) executive, often acting as the public spokesperson for the party after its leader, Ted Jolliffe, lost his seat in the Ontario general election on 4 June 1945. He also ran unsuccessfully several times for the House of Commons seat in what was then known as the Broadview electoral district during the 1940s.
In August 1961, he was one of the co-chairs presiding over the New Democratic Party's founding convention in Ottawa. In 1968, he won the Award of Merit from the American Philological Association (APA) for his 1965 book The Greek and Roman Critics. The APA gave him the award for "outstanding contribution to classical scholarship." Two-years later, while still the head of the classics department, he retired from UofT in 1970.
He continued writing new translations of Plato's works until his death. In his later years, he had health issues, and he finally succumbed to them in Toronto on 13 December 1982.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 20, 2010
This is the best single-volume, not overly-technical survey of Plato's thought available in English. Grube's view that the Ideas are not present in the universals of the early dialogues (such as piety in the Euthyphro) is mistaken, and his view that the Idea of the Good is superior to all of the other Ideas -- a view derived from Plotinus, and popular among the French and Germans -- is inconsistent with what Plato actually says in the Republic, and with the whole underlying logic of the Theory of Ideas. With those two caveats, this book can be very highly recommended for anyone interested in this writer. JMO
June 27, 2011
Grube elegantly and expertly elucidating through exegesis how it was that Plato came to bowl an ideal three hundred*.
*This chuckleheaded review does Grube an immense disservice, not to mention the mind-for-all-ages whose Attic genius will still be interpreted long after my transition into dirt gravy—but at this moment in time, it's all I can muster.
*This chuckleheaded review does Grube an immense disservice, not to mention the mind-for-all-ages whose Attic genius will still be interpreted long after my transition into dirt gravy—but at this moment in time, it's all I can muster.
April 29, 2020
Buen libro para iniciar y tener una mejor orientación respecto a los textos platónicos y los que quería transmitirnos Platón.
August 5, 2014
De lo poco que conozco, es la introducción a Platón que más me ha servido. La versión española es de editorial Gredos.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews