The Play of the Platonic Dialogues traces the prominent role of play, both as a general philosophical characteristic and as influencing the treatment of key issues. The nature of the forms, of the city, of virtue, of the soul and its immortality - these and others have been shaped by play. This book shows how Platonic playfulness is joined with the deepest seriousness throughout the dialogues.
This work offers a bold and thorough reevaluation of David Hume, challenging traditional interpretations and classifications of his philosophy. It delves into Hume's ideas with a fresh perspective, aiming to reshape the understanding of his contributions to philosophy. The author meticulously analyzes Hume's arguments and context, inviting readers to reconsider his significance and influence in the realm of thought. This reappraisal promises to engage both scholars and enthusiasts of philosophy alike.
John Sallis is recognized as a leading contemporary philosopher, and this comprehensive work addresses the lack of scholarly resources on his ideas. It serves as both an introduction for newcomers and a thorough resource for scholars, systematically exploring Sallis's diverse philosophical contributions.
Provocative Philosophy Then and Now
Delving into Schelling's thoughts on freedom, evil, and love, this work examines the intricate connections between his philosophy and that of Plato and Kant. It highlights how these themes interweave to shape our understanding of human existence and moral responsibility, offering a deep analysis of Schelling's impact on philosophical discourse. The exploration invites readers to reflect on the nature of freedom in relation to ethical considerations and the human experience.
Delving beneath the principal discourses of philosophy from Descartes through Kant, Bernard Freydberg plumbs the previously concealed dark forces that ignite the inner power of modern thought. He contends that reason itself issues from an implicit and unconscious suppression of the nonrational. Even the modern philosophical concerns of nature and limits are undergirded by a dark side that dwells in them and makes them possible. Freydberg traces these dark sources to the poetry of Hesiod, the fragments of Heraclitus and Parmenides, and the Platonic dialogues and claims that they rear their heads again in the work of Spinoza, Schelling, and Nietzsche. Freydberg does not set forth a critique of modern philosophy but explores its intrinsic continuity with its ancient roots.
Provocative Form in Plato, Kant, Nietzsche (and Others) seeks (1) to liberate form from its primary affiliation with intellect and with its putative structural function; and (2) to relocate it as the correlate of imagination and desire. Through careful analyses of key texts in Plato, Kant, Nietzsche, Schelling, and others, the originary (but largely concealed) sense of form presents itself as shot through with darkness and play even as it illuminates and orders experience. Far from being secondary or settled, philosophical form is provocative by its very nature.
Explores Schelling’s Essay on Human Freedom, focusing on the themes of freedom, evil, and love, and the relationship between his ideas and those of Plato and Kant.