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Leo Tolstoy and Platonic inspiration / Dominic Scott

Cambridge eBooks: Frontlist 2026 Available online

View online
Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
Scott, Dominic, author.
Series:
Cambridge elements. Elements in ancient philosophy
Cambridge elements. Elements in ancient philosophy, 2631-4118
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828-1910--Criticism and interpretation.
Tolstoy, Leo.
Philosophy in literature.
Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828-1910. Voĭna i mir.
Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828-1910. Anna Karenina.
Plato.
Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828-1910.
Anna Karenina (Tolstoy, Leo, graf).
Voĭna i mir (Tolstoy, Leo, graf).
Genre:
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Physical Description:
1 online resource
Place of Publication:
Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2026
Summary:
"Leo Tolstoy had a deep and long-lasting interest in Plato. This study looks at the way some particularly well-known Platonic themes can be found in War and Peace and Anna Karenina. The themes in question include the journey between the mundane and the eternal (most famously represented in the allegory of the cave), the theory of recollection, and the need to purify the soul of bodily passions. The study begins with an account of Tolstoy's interest in Plato and an overview of the three central themes as they appear in the Phaedo, Republic, Symposium and Phaedrus. It then turns to specific episodes in War and Peace and Anna Karenina where a central character experiences an epiphany or a similar process of inspiration. Cathartic in nature, these episodes show the character rising from a mundane level of experience towards an entirely new level, variously described as infinite, eternal or divine"-- Cambridge Core
Contents:
Tolstoy’s interest in Plato
The Platonic background
War and Peace
Anna Karenina
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references
Online resource; title from PDF title page (Cambridge Core, viewed July 30, 2026)
Other Format:
Print version: Scott, Dominic Leo Tolstoy and Platonic inspiration
ISBN:
9781009697224
1009697226
9781009697248
1009697242
OCLC:
1596765035
Publisher Number:
CIPO000406790
Access Restriction:
Restricted for use by site license

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