Ancient Philosophy

Richard Janko’s acclaimed translation of Aristotle’s Poetics is accompanied by the most comprehensive commentary available in English that does not presume knowledge of the original Greek. Two other unique features are Janko’s translations with notes of both the Tractatus Coislinianus, which is argued to be a summary of the lost second book of the Poetics, and fragments of Aristotle’s dialogue On Poets, including recently discovered texts about catharsis, which appear in English for the first time.

“This is an excellent translation. It achieves a very high standard of accuracy and readability, two goals very difficult to attain in combination when it comes to such a master of prose and philosophical argument as Plato. Because of this the book is suitable for courses at all levels in philosophy, from introductory courses on Plato, or problems in Philosophy, to graduate seminars.” —Gerasimos Santas, Teaching Philosophy

“Reason and Human Good in Aristotle opens up issues of interpretation which are as alive today as when it originally appeared. After almost two decades of extraordinary influence, this succinct book remains a ‘must’ for any serious bibliography of Aristotle’s Ethics.”
     —Sarah Broadie, Princeton University

A literal translation, allowing the simplicity and vigor of the Greek diction to shine through.

“Judicious in every respect: selection, translation and structuring of the texts, footnotes, bibliography, and index. . . . The book of choice for undergraduate courses.”
    —Edward M. Galligan, University of North Carolina

Includes an introduction, bibliography, On the Sects for Beginners, An Outline of Empiricism, On Medical Experience, an index of the persons mentioned in the text, and an index of the subjects mentioned in the texts.

“About as close to Aristotle’s Greek, syntax and all, as one can get in English.”
     —Arthur Madigan, S.J., Boston College

Reading the Republic without reference to the less familiar Laws can lead to a distorted view of Plato's political theory.  In the Republic the philosopher describes his ideal city; in his last and longest work he deals with the more detailed considerations involved in setting up a second-best 'practical utopia.'  The relative neglect of the Laws has stemmed largely from the obscurity of its style and the apparent chaos of its organization so that, although good translations now exist, students of philosophy and political science still find the text inaccessible. This first full-length philosophical introduction to the Laws will therefore prove invaluable.

Together these two dialogues contain Plato’s most important work on poetry and beauty.

Plato's Thought offers an excellent introduction to Plato, guiding the reader through Plato's Theory of Forms, and examining his views on art, education and statecraft. This edition includes an introduction, bibliographic essay, and bibliography by Donald Zeyl.

“Fine translation, good notes—inexpensive, too!”
     —D.A. Rohatyn, University of San Diego

A step by step, passage by passage analysis of the complete Republic. White shows how the argument of the book is articulated, the important interconnections among its elements, and the coherent and carefully developed train of though which motivates its complex philosophical reasoning. In his extensive introduction, White describes Plato’s aims, introduces the argument, and discusses the major philosophical and ethical theories embodied in the Republic. He then summarizes each of its ten books and provides substantial explanatory and interpretive notes.

“The Essential Plotinus is a lifesaver. For many years my students in Greek and Roman Religion have depended on it to understand the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages. The translation is crisp and clear, and the excerpts are just right for an introduction to Plotionus’s many-layered view of the world and humankind’s place in it.”
     —F. E. Romer, University of Arizona

"A complete and unified account of Plato’s epistemology . . . scholarly, historically sensitive, and philosophically sophisticated. Above all it is sensible. . . . White’s strength is that he places Plato’s preoccupation in careful historical perspective, without belittling the intrinsic difficulties of the problems he tackled. . . . White’s project is to find a continuous argument running through Plato’s various attacks on epistemological problems. No summary can do justice to his remarkable success . . . "
     —Ronald B. De Sousa, University of Toronto, in Phoenix

“It is great news that this book is available again. It deserves to be better known, both for its pioneering methods of linguistic analysis and for the results to which they lead. It transforms our understanding of the all-important Greek verb ‘to be.’”
     —Myles Burnyeat, All Souls College, University of Oxford