Volume 7, Number 2 · August 18, 1966
Greek to Him
By M.I. Finley
Enter Plato
by Alvin W. Gouldner
Basic Books, 407 pp., $8.50
Plato's Thought in the Making
by J.E. Raven
Cambridge University Press, 256 pp., $2.25 (paper)
In recent years there has been a call to re-examine the classical world by employing the tools of analysis made available by sociology and social psychology. We classicists and classical historians are asked to mend our ways, with no little justice, but it ought not go unnoticed that sociologists can do with some re-thinking, too, for they seem to have fallen into the habit of narrowing their field of vision to today and yesterday afternoon, ignoring the whole of history. Enter Plato, subtitled 'Classical Greece and the Origins of Social Theory,' can therefore count on a considerable fund of goodwill at the outset. Professor Gouldner, a well-known and enterprising sociologist, proposed to 'consolidate the sociologically relevant aspect of Plato's work and to formulate a coherent outline of his contribution to social theory.' This is a pioneering effort, as he himself proclaims in the language of a manifesto.
Review, 2864 words
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