{"product_id":"9780674417229-platos-four-muses","title":"Plato’s Four Muses","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Phaedrus and the Poetics of Philosophy\u003cbr\u003eAndrea Capra reconstructs Plato’s authorial self-portrait through a fresh reading of the \u003ci\u003ePhaedrus\u003c\/i\u003e. Capra maintains that Socrates’s conversion to “demotic” music in the \u003ci\u003ePhaedo\u003c\/i\u003e closely parallels the \u003ci\u003ePhaedrus\u003c\/i\u003e and is apologetic in character, since Socrates was held responsible for dismissing traditional \u003ci\u003emousikê\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003ePlato’s Four Muses\u003c\/i\u003e reconstructs Plato’s authorial self-portrait through a fresh reading of the \u003ci\u003ePhaedrus\u003c\/i\u003e, with an Introduction and Conclusion that contextualize the construction more broadly. The \u003ci\u003ePhaedrus\u003c\/i\u003e, it is argued, is Plato’s most self-referential dialogue, and Plato’s reference to four Muses in \u003ci\u003ePhaedrus\u003c\/i\u003e 259c–d is read as a hint at the “ingredients” of philosophical discourse, which turns out to be a form of provocatively old-fashioned \u003ci\u003emousikê\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAndrea Capra maintains that Socrates’s conversion to “demotic”—as opposed to metaphorical—music in the \u003ci\u003ePhaedo\u003c\/i\u003e closely parallels the \u003ci\u003ePhaedrus\u003c\/i\u003e and is apologetic in character, since Socrates was held responsible for dismissing traditional \u003ci\u003emousikê\u003c\/i\u003e. This parallelism reveals three surprising features that define Plato’s works: first, a measure of anti-intellectualism (Plato counters the rationalistic excesses of other forms of discourse, thus distinguishing it from both prose and poetry); second, a new beginning for philosophy (Plato conceptualizes the birth of Socratic dialogue in, and against, the Pythagorean tradition, with an emphasis on the new role of writing); and finally, a self-consciously ambivalent attitude with respect to the social function of the dialogues, which are conceived both as a kind of “resistance literature” and as a preliminary move toward the new poetry of the Kallipolis.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56450563899766,"sku":"9780674417229","price":17.77,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_28980017.jpg?v=1760453443","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9780674417229-platos-four-muses","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}