The tragedy and comedy of life : Plato's Philebus

Bibliographic Information

The tragedy and comedy of life : Plato's Philebus

translated and with commentary by Seth Benardete

University of Chicago Press, 1993

Other Title

Philebus

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 243-245) and index

Translation of: Philebus

Description and Table of Contents

Description

In "The Tragedy and Comedy of Life", Seth Benardete focuses on the idea of the good in what is widely regarded as one of Plato's most challenging and complex dialogs, the Philebus. Traditionally the Philebus is interpreted as affirming the doctrine that the good resides in thought and mind rather than in pleasure or the body. Benardete challenges this view, arguing that Socrates vindicates the life of the mind over the life of pleasure not by separating the two and advocating a strict asceticism, but by mixing pleasure and pain with mind in such a way that the philosophic life emerges as the only possible human life. Benardete combines a probing and challenging commentary that subtly mirrors and illuminates the complexities of this dialog with the finest English translation of the Philebus yet available. The result is a work that will be of great value to classicists, philosophers, and political theorists alike.

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