Plato the myth maker / Luc Brisson ; translated, edited, and with an introduction by Gerard Naddaf.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brisson, Luc.

Contributor:

Naddaf, Gerard, 1950-

Standardized Title:

Platon, les mots et les mythes. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Plato.

Myth.

Physical Description:

lv, 188 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

Paperback edition.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2000.

Summary:

The word myth is commonly thought to mean a fictional story, but few know that Plato was the first to use the term muthos in that sense. He also used muthos to describe the practice of making and telling stories, the oral transmission of all that a community keeps in its collective memory. In the first part of Plato the Myth Maker, Luc Brisson reconstructs Plato's multifaceted description of muthos in light of the latter's Atlantis story. The second part of the book contrasts this sense of myth with another form of speech that Plato believed was far superior: the logos of philosophy.

Contents:

PART I: PLATO'S TESTIMONY: The Communication of the Memorable: 1. Information

2. Means of Transmission

3. Fabrication

4. Narration

5. Reception

6. Imitation

7. Persuasion

PART II: PLATO'S CRITIQUE: The Discourse of and for the Other: 8. Myth as Discourse

9. The Opposition between Myth and Falsifiable Discourse

10. The Opposition between Myth and Argumentative Discourse

11. The Utility of Myth

12. The Repudiation of Allegorical Interpretation

13. Plato's Derivative Use of the Term "Muthos."

Notes:

Originally published: 1998.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 159-168) and indexes.

ISBN:

0226075192

9780226075198

OCLC:

46310193