Plato and Nietzsche - by Mark Anderson (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

It is commonly known that Nietzsche is one of Plato's primary philosophical antagonists, yet there is no full-length treatment in English of their ideas in dialogue and debate.

Plato and Nietzsche is an advanced introduction to these two thinkers, with original insights and arguments interspersed throughout the text. Through a rigorous exploration of their ideas on art, metaphysics, ethics, and the nature of philosophy, and by explaining and analyzing each man's distinctive approach, Mark Anderson demonstrates the many and varied ways they play off against one another. This book provides the background necessary to understanding the principle matters at issue between these two philosophers and to developing an awareness that Nietzsche's engagement with Plato is deeper and more nuanced than it is often presented as being.

Review Quotes

According to Nietzsche, a philosophical system can be "refuted and dead, but the person behind it is irrefutable, the person aways remains immortal - for instance, Plato.+? Mark Anderson's study of how Nietzsche reacts and responds to the irrefutable Plato can be recommended to philosophers, classicsts, and intellectual historians alike. It will be welcomed by anyone interested in the filiation of ideas who is prepared to think afresh about the real aims of Nietzsche's project.
Paul Bishop, William Jacks Chair in Modern Languages, University of Glasgow, UK

This is a comprehensive, elegant, and meticulous study of Nietzsche's attempt to challenge and supersede Plato's profound legacy. Mark Anderson's ambitious goal, which is both personal and scholarly, is to explore the creative artistry that binds these two thinkers together in an eternal and unresolved struggle. I think he succeeds to a remarkable degree.
Paul Loeb, Professor of Philosophy, University of Puget Sound, USA.

Written with knowledge, wit, skill and profound love for philosophy as a way of life, this beautiful introduction to the intellectual adventures of Plato and Nietzsche is also an authentic philosophical achievement on its own right.
Niketas Siniossoglou, author of "Radical Platonism in Byzantium: Illumination and Utopia in Gemistos Plethon"

About the Author

Mark Anderson is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Director of Classics at Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. He is the author of Pure: Modernity, Philosophy, and the One (2009) and translator of selections from Plato's "myths" in Gods, Heroes, and Monsters: A Sourcebook of Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern Myths in Translation, edited by Carolina López-Ruiz (2013).