Plato on the Limits of Human Life

by Sara Brill

Overview

By focusing on the immortal character of the soul in key Platonic dialogues, Sara Brill shows how Plato thought of the soul as remarkably flexible, complex, and indicative of the inner workings of political life and institutions. As she explores the character of the soul, Brill reveals the corrective function that law and myth serve. If the soul is limitless, she claims, then the city must serve a regulatory or prosthetic function and prop up good political institutions against the threat of the soul's excess. Brill's sensitivity to dramatic elements and discursive strategies in Plato's dialogues illuminates the intimate connection between city and soul.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253008879
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	06/03/2013
Series:	Studies in Continental Thought
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Sara Brill is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Fairfield University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. Phaedo
1 Socratic Prothumia
2 The Body-like Soul
3 Psychic Geography
Part II. Republic
4 City and Soul
5 Psychic Fragmentation
6 Philosophy in the City
7 Politics and Immortality
Part III. Laws
8 Psychology for Legislators
9 Psychology for the Legislated
10 Psychic Excess
Notes
Works Cited
Index

What People are Saying About This

Boston College - Marina McCoy

Sara Brill takes on at least two significant issues in Platonic scholarship: the nature of the soul, and especially the language of immortality in its description, and the relationship between politics and psychology. She treats each one of these topics in a fresh and nuanced way. Her writing is beautiful and fluid.

Editorial Reviews

[This is] a book that is an ambitious, well-researched and provocative scholarly reflection on soul in the Platonic corpus.

Polis

"Sara Brill takes on at least two significant issues in Platonic scholarship: the nature of the soul, and especially the language of immortality in its description, and the relationship between politics and psychology. She treats each one of these topics in a fresh and nuanced way. Her writing is beautiful and fluid." —Marina McCoy, Boston College

Marina McCoy

"Sara Brill takes on at least two significant issues in Platonic scholarship: the nature of the soul, and especially the language of immortality in its description, and the relationship between politics and psychology. She treats each one of these topics in a fresh and nuanced way. Her writing is beautiful and fluid."—Marina McCoy, Boston College

"[This is] a book that is an ambitious, well-researched and provocative scholarly reflection on soul in the Platonic corpus."—Polis

From the Publisher