What is the nature of norms and values for the constitution of human society and culture? In this groundbreaking work, T. K. Seung shows that this was the ultimate question for Plato throughout his life, and that he gave not one but two answers, thus twice inventing political philosophy as the science of all sciences. Providing a thematically unified interpretation of his dialogues on the grand scale, Seung retraces Plato's journey of invention. Plato Rediscovered extends the project Seung began in Intuition and Construction (1993) and Kant's Platonic Revolution (1994). A work that will radically alter our understanding of the philosopher.

In a long-forgotten era - an age of slavery, of glorious new scientific innovations, revolutionary wonders, warrior heroes, Titans, Druids and bards, magicians, dragons and serpents, of angels and gods; an age of immortality and sacrificial death, of oppression, exploitation, social upheaval, indeed the age of the catastrophic biblical flood and, the fulcrum to social structure, of the struggle for control of the closely guarded secret and eternal wisdom of the undying Holy Elect of Paradise - in a long forgotten era, a man, just a mortal man, may have escaped his death by usurping the power of the goddess and her people to his own ends in a political coup that changed his world, and produced ours... Join Dr Michael Cahill as he explores the origins of civilisation, using information from history, archaeology, mythology, linguistics, geology, astronomy and philosophy to learn more about who we are. Paradise Rediscovered will challenge your intellect and spur your imagination, as you journey with him to uncover secrets, solve mysteries and consider the foundations that shaped our modern society and may yet change its face again. Note: This title is published as a two volume work in its physical edition, and as a complete work in its digital editions.

Socrates’ ancient words are still true, and the ideas found in Plato’s Dialogues still form the foundation of a thinking person’s education. This superb collection contains excellent contemporary translations selected for their clarity and accessibility to today’s reader, as well as an incisive introduction by Erich Segal, which reveals Plato’s life and clarifies the philosophical issues examined in each dialogue. The first four dialogues recount the trial and execution of Socrates–the extraordinary tragedy that changed Plato’s life and forever altered the course of Western thought. Other dialogues create a rich tableau of intellectual life in Athens in the fourth century b.c., and examine such timeless–and timely–issues as the nature of virtue and love, knowledge and truth, society and the individual. Resounding with the humor and astounding brilliance of Socrates, the immortal iconoclast, these great works remain powerful, probing, and essential.

A landmark defense of democracy that has been hailed as one of the most important books of the twentieth century One of the most important books of the twentieth century, The Open Society and Its Enemies is an uncompromising defense of liberal democracy and a powerful attack on the intellectual origins of totalitarianism. An immediate sensation when it was first published, Karl Popper’s monumental achievement has attained legendary status on both the Left and Right. Tracing the roots of an authoritarian tradition represented by Plato, Marx, and Hegel, Popper argues that the spirit of free, critical inquiry that governs scientific investigation should also apply to politics. In a new foreword, George Soros, who was a student of Popper, describes the “revelation” of first reading the book and how it helped inspire his philanthropic Open Society Foundations.

The Heirs of Plato is the first book exclusively devoted to an in-depth study of the various directions in philosophy taken by Plato's followers in the first seventy years or so following his death in 347 BC. - the period generally known as 'The Old Academy'. Speusippus, Xenocrates, and Polemon, the three successive heads of the Academy in this period, though personally devoted to the memory of Plato, were independent philosophers in their own right, and felt free to develop his heritage in individual directions. This is also true of other personalities attached to the school, such as Philippus of Opus, Heraclides of Pontus, and Crantor of Soli. After an introductory chapter on the school itself, and a summary of Plato's philosophical heritage, John Dillon devotes a chapter to each of the school heads, and another to the other chief characters, exploring both what holds them together and what sets them apart. There is a final short chapter devoted to the turn away from dogmatism to scepticism under Arcesilaus in the 270s, and some reflections on the intellectual debt of Stoicism to the thought of Polemon, in particular. Dillon's clear and accessible book fills a significant gap in our understanding of Plato's immediate philosophical influence, and will be of great value to scholars and historians of ancient philosophy.

This book demonstrates the complex unity of Plato's Gorgias, showing how seemingly disparate themes are woven together.