1st Edition
Studies on the Reception of Plato and Greek Political Thought in Victorian Britain
By Kyriakos Demetriou
Copyright 2011
294 Pages
by
Routledge
294 Pages
by
Routledge
294 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
This collection of essays focuses on the reception of Plato and Greek political thought in the work of some major (pre)Victorian classical scholars and expands on a remarkable range of hotly debated issues on the interpretation of Greek antiquity. The central figure in this volume is the radical philosopher, utilitarian, and Platonist George Grote, whose works on the history of Greece and Plato... Read more
Contents: Introduction; Part I The History of Ancient Greece: In defence of the British constitution: theoretical implications of the debate over Athenian democracy in Britain, 1770-1850; Bishop Connop Thirlwall: historian of ancient Greece; Victorian classicists and modern Greece: a critical commentary on periodical sources. Part II Platonic Studies: Grote on Socrates: an unpublished essay of the 1820s in its context; The development of Platonic studies in Britain and the role of the utilitarians; George Grote and the Platonic revival in Victorian Britain; Socratic dialect and the exaltation of individuality: J.S. Mill's influence on G. Grote's Platonic interpretation; The revival of a legend: the debate over Plato in 19th-century Britain; The sophists, democracy, and modern interpretation; Supplementary bibliography; Index.
Biography
Dr Kyriakos Demetriou, University of Cyprus, Cyprus
'Demetriou’s essays provide a most useful and nuanced guide to the understanding of the reception and uses made of Plato, Platonisms and Greek History in 19th century Britain... This volume provides an excellent overview of Plato and the Greeks in Victorian Britain, with close attention to detail, especially in light of the still prevalent preponderance of clichés about Plato and Platonism... This is a most useful collection.' International Journal of the Platonic Tradition 'Demetriou [...] portrays not only the contributions made by Grote to Platonic studies in the nineteenth century but also the changing landscape of Platonic interpretation across the whole of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth... indeed the most valuable feature of this volume is the author’s analysis of Victorian Platonism and the central role played by Grote’s Plato in the shaping of this tradition.' Victorian Studies
