Frisbee Sheffield argues that the Symposium has been unduly marginalized by philosophers. Although the topic - eros - and the setting at a symposium have seemed anomalous, she demonstrates that both are intimately related to Plato's preoccupation with the nature of the good life, with virtue, and how it is acquired and transmitted. For Plato, analysing our desires is a way of reflecting on the kind of people we will turn out to be and on our chances of leading a worthwhile and happy life. In its focus on the question why he considered desires to be amenable to this type of reflection, this book explores Plato's ethics of desire.

About the Author
Frisbee Sheffield is Research Fellow, Girton College, Cambridge.

Reviews
the arguments are very clearly presented * Alessandra Fussi, The International Journal of the Platonic Traditin *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199567812
Author Frisbee Sheffield
Format Paperback
Page Count 264
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Dimensions(mm) 215mm * 139mm * 14mm