Plato in 60 Minutes

Great Thinkers in 60 Minutes

Walther Ziegler (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

108 Seiten

2016
BoD – Books on Demand (Verlag)
978-3-7412-2761-5 (ISBN)

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Plato's great discovery was radically new but has echoed down the ages. His "theory of Ideas" has shaped the whole of Western culture and his name is known worldwide. More than 2000 years ago Plato used his "allegory of the cave" - which envisaged people looking at shadows on a cavern wall and taking them for realities - to express a terrible suspicion. He saw his fellow Athenians living in a manipulated world of appearances - cut off from reality and put to sleep by material pleasures, wealth and demagogic politicians - and hoped, with this image, to shake them out of this sleep. Plato's suspicions here are astonishingly relevant still in our Digital Age. Do we not also risk getting entirely lost in the shadows and projections of our TV-, Internet- and mobile-phone-dominated lives? To know truth, argued Plato, Man must learn to see again with his "inner eye". We are able to sense the truth if we succeed in looking beyond the mere appearances. For behind the everyday objects and the immediately visible world, there is another invisible reality, a sort of higher level of Being, which can reveal to us the world as it truly is. This second, higher reality is the realm of the "Ideas": above all the Ideas of the Good, the True and the Beautiful by which we must be guided in our lives. But what exactly are these Ideas? What does Plato mean when he speaks of "the Good"? And, most importantly, how can we know this "Good" and live a life in accordance with it? The book Plato in 60 Minutes uses three of Plato's marvellous allegories - "the chariot", "the sun", and "the cave" - to explain the philosopher's fascinating vision of the Ideas. But it also presents, citing key passages, Plato's great political vision of an ideal state ruled by philosopher-kings. Finally, in a chapter on "what use Plato's discovery is for us today", it is shown how burningly relevant the ancient philosopher's thoughts still are. The book forms part of the popular series Great Thinkers in 60 Minutes.

Dr. Walther Ziegler ist promovierter Philosoph, Journalist und Hochschullehrer. Als Auslandskorrespondent, Reporter und Nachrichtenchef des Fernsehsenders ProSieben produzierte er Filme auf allen Kontinenten. Seine Reportagen wurden mehrfach preisgekrönt. Von 2007-2016 leitet er eine University of Applied Sciences und unterrichtet seine Studentinnen und Studenten in den Fächern TV-Journalismus, Dramaturgie und Philosophie. Er ist Autor zahlreicher philosophischer Bücher. Als langjährigem Journalisten gelingt es ihm, das komplexe Wissen der großen Philosophen spannend und verständlich auf den Punkt zu bringen. Seine Buchreihe "Große Denker in 60 Minuten" wird in sechs Sprachen übersetzt und findet weltweit begeisterte Leserinnen und Leser.

Erscheinungsdatum	12.07.2016
Sprache	englisch
Maße	148 x 210 mm
Gewicht	167 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Philosophie Altertum / Antike
Themenwelt	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung
Schlagworte	Analogy of the Cave • Antike Philosophie • Introduction Plato • Philosophy • Plato • Plato Introduction • Platonic Love • Platonic' Love • Platonic’ Love • Plato Philosopher • Politik und Staat • Republic • Vorzeit, Frühgeschichte vor Christi Geburt
ISBN-10	3-7412-2761-7 / 3741227617
ISBN-13	978-3-7412-2761-5 / 9783741227615
Zustand	Neuware