Plato's great attempt to define the nature of the sophist -- the false
image of the philosopher -- has perplexed readers from classical times
to the present. The dialogue has been central in the ongoing debate
about the theory of forms, and it remains a crucial text for Plato
scholars in both the analytical and the phenomenological traditions.
Stanley Rosen's book is the first full-length study of the Sophist in
English and one of the most complete in any language. He follows the
stages of the dialogue in sequence and offers an exhaustive analysis of
the philosophical questions that come to light as Theaetetus and the
Eleatic Stranger pursue the sophist through philosophical debate.
Rosen finds the central problem of the dialogue in the relation between
original and image; he shows how this distinction underlies all
subsequent technical themes and analyzes in detail such problems as
non-being or negation and false statement. Arguing that the dialogue
must be treated as a dramatic unity, he pays careful attention
throughout to the setting, the events, the language used, and the
relations between the natures of the speakers and the topics under
discussion.
Rosen's new approach to the technical issues in the dialogue will be of
interest to Plato scholars of all schools, and his analysis of the
sophistical dimension of the world will engage all who have puzzled over
what it means to be a philosopher.
