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Ascent to the Beautiful

Plato the Teacher and the Pre-Republic Dialogues from Protagoras to Symposium

William H. F. Altman

With Ascent to the Beautiful, William H. F. Altman completes his five-volume reconstruction of the Reading Order of the Platonic dialogues. This book covers Plato’s elementary dialogues, grappling from the start with F. D. E. Schleiermacher, who created an enduring prejudice against the works Plato wrote for beginners. Recognized in antiquity as the place to begin, Alcibiades Major was banished from the canon but it was not alone: with the exception of Protagoras and Symposium, Schleiermacher rejected as inauthentic all seven of the dialogues this book places between them. In order to prove their authenticity, Altman illuminates their interconnections and shows how each prepares the student to move beyond self-interest to gallantry, and thus from the doctrinal intellectualism Aristotle found in Protagoras to the emergence of philosophy as intermediate between wisdom and ignorance in Symposium, en route to Diotima’s ascent to the transcendent Beautiful. Based on the hypothesis that it was his own eminently teachable dialogues that Plato taught—and bequeathed to posterity as his Academy’s eternal curriculum—Ascent to the Beautiful helps the reader to imagine the Academy as a school and to find in Plato the brilliant teacher who built on Homer, Thucydides, and Xenophon.

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  • Author
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  • TOC
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  • Reviews
Lexington Books
Pages: 618 • Trim: 6½ x 9
978-1-7936-1595-4 • Hardback • October 2020 • $198.00 • (£154.00)
978-1-7936-1596-1 • eBook • October 2020 • $60.00 • (£46.00)
Subjects: Philosophy / History & Surveys / Ancient & Classical, Philosophy / Essays, History / Ancient / Greece

William H. F. Altman, retired from public education, is an independent scholar working on the continuation of Plato the Teacher.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface: Plato the Teacher and Reading Order

Introduction: Schleiermacher and Plato

1 Protagoras as Gateway

§1. Protagoras before Alcibiades

§2. Xenophon before Plato

§3. Taking the Measure of Protagoras

§4. Interpreting the Misinterpretation of Simonides

2 The Elementary Dialogues: the Alcibiades dyad and Lovers

§5. The Εὖ Πράττειν Fallacy

§6. The More Perfect Mirror

§7. Between Alcibiades and Lovers

3 Hippias Major: Between Protagoras and Symposium

§8. Reading Order and Authenticity

§9. Plato’s pons asinorum

§10. Deceiving with the Double

4 The Musical Dialogues: Hippias Minor, Ion, and Menexenus

§11. Deception Defended?

§12. Inspired Interpretation?

§13. Rhetoric Rejected?

5 Symposium as τέλος

§14. Integrating Symposium

§15. History and Tragedy

§16. Alcestis, Codrus, and Achilles

§17. Catching Sight of the Sea

Epilogue: Imagining Plato’s Academy

Bibliography

Index

Index locorum

Index verborum

About the Author

“Altman’s latest book is creative and ambitious in his ongoing exploration of the pedagogy of Plato’s dialogues. His impressive work is scholarly, detailed, and offers fresh perspectives on how Plato can educate his readers. Altman’s alternative reading to the developmentalist approach is indispensable as a part of the emerging conversation on reading the dialogues as a corpus.”


— Marina McCoy, Boston College


As a true outgrowth of Plato’s thought, Altman’s book is offered to us as the ideal occasion to undertake an ascent to the beauty of the Platonic corpus, represented here by minor dialogues that connect the risky Protagoras to the beautiful Symposium. With this volume, Altman concludes the set of five books dedicated to Plato’s dialogues, although, in a delightful paradox full of teachings, this is just the beginning of a longer way. The reader who starts with Plato will hardly find a better guide than this beginning, which experts will find enlightening as well.


— Alfonso Flórez, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana


‘The single most important thing a Plato scholar needs is a good sense of humor.’ I don’t know about you but a book featuring such an opening sentence is a book that I would definitely want for my personal library. The more so since William Altman has produced, in an intellectually provocative and emotionally engaging manner, a fascinating image of Plato the inspiring teacher of the Academy.


— Nikos G. Charalabopoulos, author of the Platonic Drama and its Ancient Reception


With Ascent to the Beautiful, Altman adds the final entry to his five-volume series Plato the Teacher, an ambitious re-reading of Plato’s work. As the title suggests, Altman interprets Plato—the founder of the Academy—as primarily a teacher, and his written works (the dialogues) as teaching texts. In this series, Altman endeavors to reconstruct the “Eternal Curriculum” of the Academy, a highly sophisticated and intentional educational program he finds in Plato’s surviving written work.


— Bryn Mawr Classical Review


The appearance of The Ascent to the Beautiful should orient significant scholarly attention to Altman’s earlier books and help to uncover their Platonic light.


— The Review of Politics


Ascent to the Beautiful

Plato the Teacher and the Pre-Republic Dialogues from Protagoras to Symposium

Cover Image
Hardback
eBook
Summary
Summary
  • With Ascent to the Beautiful, William H. F. Altman completes his five-volume reconstruction of the Reading Order of the Platonic dialogues. This book covers Plato’s elementary dialogues, grappling from the start with F. D. E. Schleiermacher, who created an enduring prejudice against the works Plato wrote for beginners. Recognized in antiquity as the place to begin, Alcibiades Major was banished from the canon but it was not alone: with the exception of Protagoras and Symposium, Schleiermacher rejected as inauthentic all seven of the dialogues this book places between them. In order to prove their authenticity, Altman illuminates their interconnections and shows how each prepares the student to move beyond self-interest to gallantry, and thus from the doctrinal intellectualism Aristotle found in Protagoras to the emergence of philosophy as intermediate between wisdom and ignorance in Symposium, en route to Diotima’s ascent to the transcendent Beautiful. Based on the hypothesis that it was his own eminently teachable dialogues that Plato taught—and bequeathed to posterity as his Academy’s eternal curriculum—Ascent to the Beautiful helps the reader to imagine the Academy as a school and to find in Plato the brilliant teacher who built on Homer, Thucydides, and Xenophon.

Details
Details
  • Lexington Books
    Pages: 618 • Trim: 6½ x 9
    978-1-7936-1595-4 • Hardback • October 2020 • $198.00 • (£154.00)
    978-1-7936-1596-1 • eBook • October 2020 • $60.00 • (£46.00)
    Subjects: Philosophy / History & Surveys / Ancient & Classical, Philosophy / Essays, History / Ancient / Greece
Author
Author
  • William H. F. Altman, retired from public education, is an independent scholar working on the continuation of Plato the Teacher.

Table of Contents
Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents

    Acknowledgements

    Preface: Plato the Teacher and Reading Order

    Introduction: Schleiermacher and Plato

    1 Protagoras as Gateway

    §1. Protagoras before Alcibiades

    §2. Xenophon before Plato

    §3. Taking the Measure of Protagoras

    §4. Interpreting the Misinterpretation of Simonides

    2 The Elementary Dialogues: the Alcibiades dyad and Lovers

    §5. The Εὖ Πράττειν Fallacy

    §6. The More Perfect Mirror

    §7. Between Alcibiades and Lovers

    3 Hippias Major: Between Protagoras and Symposium

    §8. Reading Order and Authenticity

    §9. Plato’s pons asinorum

    §10. Deceiving with the Double

    4 The Musical Dialogues: Hippias Minor, Ion, and Menexenus

    §11. Deception Defended?

    §12. Inspired Interpretation?

    §13. Rhetoric Rejected?

    5 Symposium as τέλος

    §14. Integrating Symposium

    §15. History and Tragedy

    §16. Alcestis, Codrus, and Achilles

    §17. Catching Sight of the Sea

    Epilogue: Imagining Plato’s Academy

    Bibliography

    Index

    Index locorum

    Index verborum

    About the Author

Reviews
Reviews
  • “Altman’s latest book is creative and ambitious in his ongoing exploration of the pedagogy of Plato’s dialogues. His impressive work is scholarly, detailed, and offers fresh perspectives on how Plato can educate his readers. Altman’s alternative reading to the developmentalist approach is indispensable as a part of the emerging conversation on reading the dialogues as a corpus.”


    — Marina McCoy, Boston College


    As a true outgrowth of Plato’s thought, Altman’s book is offered to us as the ideal occasion to undertake an ascent to the beauty of the Platonic corpus, represented here by minor dialogues that connect the risky Protagoras to the beautiful Symposium. With this volume, Altman concludes the set of five books dedicated to Plato’s dialogues, although, in a delightful paradox full of teachings, this is just the beginning of a longer way. The reader who starts with Plato will hardly find a better guide than this beginning, which experts will find enlightening as well.


    — Alfonso Flórez, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana


    ‘The single most important thing a Plato scholar needs is a good sense of humor.’ I don’t know about you but a book featuring such an opening sentence is a book that I would definitely want for my personal library. The more so since William Altman has produced, in an intellectually provocative and emotionally engaging manner, a fascinating image of Plato the inspiring teacher of the Academy.


    — Nikos G. Charalabopoulos, author of the Platonic Drama and its Ancient Reception


    With Ascent to the Beautiful, Altman adds the final entry to his five-volume series Plato the Teacher, an ambitious re-reading of Plato’s work. As the title suggests, Altman interprets Plato—the founder of the Academy—as primarily a teacher, and his written works (the dialogues) as teaching texts. In this series, Altman endeavors to reconstruct the “Eternal Curriculum” of the Academy, a highly sophisticated and intentional educational program he finds in Plato’s surviving written work.


    — Bryn Mawr Classical Review


    The appearance of The Ascent to the Beautiful should orient significant scholarly attention to Altman’s earlier books and help to uncover their Platonic light.


    — The Review of Politics


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