Uses and Abuses of the Classics Western Interpretations of Greek Philosophy

From very early on, Western philosophers have been obsessed with the understanding of a relatively few works of philosophy which have played a disproportionately large and fundamental role in developing the Western philosophical canon, dominating the curriculum in the past and in the present; there is no indication that they will not do so in the future. Uses and Abuses of the Classics examines the various ways in which the different periods of the history of philosophy have approached these texts. The editors have chosen for analysis some of the major philosophers from periods of the history of philosophy in which the interpretation of the classics has been particularly significant. Contributions to this book include entries on: Aristotle's reading of Plato; Averroes on Aristotle; Nietzsche on the Beginnings of Western Philosophy; and Thomas Aquinas's Commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics.

Contents: Preface; Interpretation of the philosophical classics, Jorge J.E. Gracia; Plato on the Pre-Socratics, Livio Rossetti; Aristotle and the Pre-Socratics, Thomas M. Robinson; Neitzsche on the beginnings of western philosophy, Gareth B. Matthews; Aristotle's reading of Plato, Daniel W. Graham; Augustine and Platonism: the rejection of divided-soul accounts of Akrasia, Scott MacDonald; Heidegger's hermeneutic reading of Plato, Kah Kyung Cho; Maimonides on Aristotle: Judaism and science reconsidered, Tamar M. Rudavsky; Averroës on Aristotle, Alfred Ivry; Thomas Aquinas' commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics, John F. Wippel; MacIntyre's interpretation of Aristotle's ethics, Jiyuan Yu; Bibliography; Indexes.

Jorge J. E. Gracia, Jiyuan Yu