Abstract

This attractively printed book is primarily a study of Plato's notion of immortality in the Phaedo; it attempts to unravel the various arguments and objections in that dialogue. For this reason the author pays relatively little attention to dramatic and dialectical structure, but concentrates on isolating the different points developed in hopes of clarifying them, frequently with reference to later philosophers. While this clarification helps to understand some of the arguments themselves, it tends to lose track of the unity of the dialogue. The author's conclusion is that Plato does hold a theory of personal immortality—as opposed to one of immortality of soul in general—and that this has significant consequences for Plato's understanding of universals and of values, that is, of Platonic Forms.—D. H.