1. Allen, Michael J. B. The Platonism of Marsilio Ficino: A Study of His Phaedrus Commentary, Its Sources and Genesis. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.
A study of the Phaedrus commentary by the fifteenth century Neo-Platonist, Marsilio Ficino. Intended as a complementary work to Paul Oskar Kristeller's book, The Philosophy of Marsilio Ficino. Examination of: the Myth of the Charioteer, Plato's enumeration of the gods, the ascent of the soul, the relationship of the Ideas, the Good, Beauty, the One, poetic madness. Also discusses the influence of Plotinus and the Neo-Platonists on Ficino's thought.
B380.A9 F573 1984.
2. Beckman, James. The Religious Dimensions of Socrates' Thought. [Toronto?]: Published for the Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion, 1979.
Focus on the religious elements in the thought of Socrates and how the Socratic method continues or transmutes the fundamental Greek religious attitude toward life. Includes accounts of Socrates by Plato, Aristophanes, Xenophon and Aristotle, with the later interpretations of Socrates by Hegel and Kierkegaard. Discussion of Homeric religion, Athenian culture, and the nature of dialectic.
B318.R45 B42.
3. Burger, Ronna. Plato's Phaedrus: A Defense of a Philosophic Art of Writing. University, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 1980.
Studies the art of writing as discussed in the Phaedrus; presents the dialogue as a self-reflection of its nature as imitation. Discussion of: rhetoric, dialectic, Eros, divine madness, the art of speaking, the relationship of the written word and verbal speech, the Logos, the principles of motion and rest.
B380. B86.
4. Eckstein, Jerome. The Deathday of Socrates: Living, Dying, and Immortality- The Theatre of Ideas in Plato's Phaedo. Frenchtown, New Jersey: Columbia Publishing Co., 1981.
Primary attention given to the dramatic importance of Plato's style of writing; perveives Plato as the creator of romantic irony in literature. Presents Socrates as tragic hero, with Plato intellectually as well as emotionally opposed to his suicide. Includes the full translation of the dialogue by Jowett.
B379. E28.
5. ________. The Platonic Method: An Interpretation of the Dramatic-Philosophic Aspects of the Meno. New York: Greenwood Publishing Corporation, 1968.
Emphasis on the artistry of Plato's philosophy; argues that neither Plato nor Socrates took seriously the Doctrine of Recollection. Examination of the "active functions" of the dialogue, its dramatic and farcical elements, and the synthesis of myth and dialectic. Discussion of the Republic.
B377. E25.
6. Else, Gerald Frank. Plato and Arsitotle on Poetry. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Peter Burias. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986.
Focuses on Aristotle's reaction to Plato's aesthetic theory and challenge. Looks at Plato's view of the poets, Aristotle's theories of literature and poetry, background to the concept of mimesis, tragedy, comedy, and catharsis.
PN1035. E47 1986.
7. Ficino, Marsilio. Commentary on Plato's Symposium on Love., Translated by Sears Jayne. Dallas: Spring Publications, 1985.
Ficino's fictional conversation by nine fifteenth-century Florentines on the Symposium. Expansive discussion on the subject of love, including discussion of cosmic love, human love, beauty, the soul, divinity, and the passion of lovers. [Ficino was head of the Platonic Academy of Florence and produced the first translation ever of the complete works of Plato; his commentary on the Symposium inspired many artists such as Michelangelo and Botticelli.]
B785.F43 D3913 1985.
8. Lodge, Rupert C. Plato's Theory of Art. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1953.
Focuses on Plato's idea of Mimesis in Book X of the Republic, with discussion of Hellenic aesthetics prior to Plato. Examines the concepts of Flux and Transitoriness and Becoming in relation to art, the concepts of Motion and Rhythm and Chaos as the starting points for art, the nature and function of art, theories of the Eleatics and Pythagoreans, the idea of geometry as a mirror of the Divine, and the relationship of art to society.
B398.A4 L6.
9. Moravcsik, Julius and Philip Temko. Plato on Beauty, Wisdom and the Arts. Totowa, N. J.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1982.
Published essays from an interdisciplinary conference in 1979 on Plato's theories of art and beauty, with emphasis on Plato's synthesis of rationality and poetic form, why art must be evaluated from a moral point of view, and his explicit acknowledgement of the importance of beauty. Contributions include: Julia Annas, "Plato on the Triviality of Literature;" Julius Moravcsik, "Noetic Aspiration and Artistic Inspiration;" Alexander Nehamas, "Plato on Imitation and Poetry in Republic X;" Martha Craven Nussbaum, "This Story Isn't True: Poetry, Goodness, and Understanding in Plato's Phaedrus;" and James O. Urmson, "Plato and the Poets."
B398.A4 P55 c.2
10. Murdoch, Iris. The Fire and the Sun: Why Plato Banished the Artists.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977.
A General treatment of Platonic philosophy with special attention given to the Laws and Books II and III of the Republic; focuses on the central idea of beauty being too important to be left to only artists. Discusses also the religious elements in Plato's thought and the later aesthetic theories of Kant and Hegel.
B398.A4 M87.
11. Pieper, Josef. Enthusiasm and Divine Madness. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1964.
Commentary on the Phaedrus; argues against theories that assert a systematic and logical unity throughout Plato's philosophy. Discussion of Socrates' daimonion, the link between mania and love in the creation of great poetry, Socrates' concern with myth, divine inspiration, and Socrates' final prayer for "beauty within."
B380. P513.
12. Rosen, Stanley. Plato's Symposium. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968.
A rigorous study of the Symposium, with emphasis on treating both the scientific and artistic aspects to Plato's thought. Focuses on the recognition of irony in the dialogue as its interpretative key.
B385. R6.
13. Schaper, Eva. Prelude to Aesthetics. London: Allen & Unwin,
1968.
Presents Plato and Aristotle as the first thinkers to seriously consider certain questions about artists, such as their special gifts, their relationship to society, and how spectators and audiences experience them. Also discusses the relation of life to art, mimesis, aesthetic transposition and catharsis.
B491.A4 S3.
14. Stokes, Michael C. Plato's Socratic Conversations. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1986.
An examination of the Socratic method in the Laches, Symposium, and Protagoras; emphasizes a classical interpretation as well as philosophical criticism of Plato's work. Raises the question of whether Socrates always put forth his own views, and to what extent he was committed to them in his line of questioning and propositions; also whether Socrates was actually constructive or destructive.
B395. S76 1986
15. Verdenius, Willen Jacob. Mimesis: Plato's Doctrine of Artistic Imitation and Its Meaning to Us. Leiden: Brill, 1962.
Treats the concept of Mimesis as the most vexed problem in Plato's aesthetics. Examines the limitations of art, the question of whether theoretical consciousness is a precondition for the appreciation of art, whether art can be autonomous, poetic inspiration, the dangers of art.
B395. V4.
16. Warry, J. G. Greek Aesthetic Theory: A Study of Callistic and Aesthetic Concepts in the Works of Plato and Aristotle. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1962.
Emphasis on how ancient aesthetics may be applied to present-day problems. Examines the dichotomy of formal/ intellectual/ functional beauty and passionate/ romantic/ sublime beauty; also looks at inanimate beauty contrasted with moral beauty, harmony, the poetic process, catharsis, mimesis, and rhythm.
B398.A4 W3.