Overview

In Plato and Aristophanes, Marina Marren contends that our search for communal justice must start with self-examination. The realization that there are things that we cannot know about ourselves unless we become the subject of a joke is integral to such self-scrutiny. Jokes provide a new perspective on our politics and ethics; they are essential to our civic self-awareness.   Marren makes this case by delving into Plato’s Republic, a foundational work of political philosophy. While the Republic straightforwardly condemns the decadence and greed of a tyrant, Plato’s attack on political idealism is both solemn and comedic. In fact, Plato draws on the same comedic stock and tropes as Aristophanes’s plays. Marren’s book strikes up an innovative conversation between three works by Aristophanes—Assembly Women, Knights, and Birds—and Plato’s philosophy, prompting important questions about individual convictions and one’s personal search for justice. These dialogic works offer critiques of tyranny that are by turns brilliant, scathing, and exuberant, making light of faults and ideals alike. Philosophical comedy exposes despotism in individuals as well as systems of government claiming to be just and good. This critique holds as much bite against contemporary injustices as it did at the time of Aristophanes and Plato.   An ingenious new work by an emerging scholar, Plato and Aristophanes shows that comedy—in tandem with philosophy and politics—is essential to self-examination. And without such examination, there is no hope for a just life.

Full Product Details

9780810144194

Table of Contents

Reviews

A fresh and original reading that brings to light some unnoticed aspects of Plato's Republic. By exploring the political potentialities of Aristophanic comedy, Marina Marren shows how Plato exploits the comic tradition to destabilize the apparent solidity and straightforwardness of the text. Laughter undermines the readers' self-confidence; it forces us to reconsider our convictions and to examine ourselves. And this is the first step for those who want to accompany Plato in the search for justice. --Mauro Bonazzi, author of The Sophists This book gives a very detailed and often revelatory account of the similar use of metaphors, themes, arguments in Plato (primarily the Republic) and Aristophanes' plays. To the best of my knowledge, no one has accomplished this with such detail and persuasiveness. Marren employs these numerous connections to draw important conclusions on the role of comedy in politics and in living a just life, according to Plato, Aristophanes, and indeed, as a recommendation for us. --Drew A. Hyland, author of Plato and the Question of Beauty By uncovering previously unrecognized Aristophanic resonances throughout Plato's Republic, Marina Marren provokes her readers to see the dialogue through a comic (rather than tragic) lens, leading to startling new understandings of the dialogue's main themes. Delightful to read, this book illustrates the power of the comedy in the dialogue to make us laugh at ourselves and thereby confront the tyranny to which our idealistic inclinations about politics and the human soul may lead us. --Arlene W. Saxonhouse, author of Fear of Diversity: The Birth of Political Science in Ancient Greek Thought For those of us seeking a prism through which we can gather the various threads that tie our past and our present together, Marina Marren's book is a treasure. Aristophanes and Plato are both taken on their own terms and made contemporary. Marren's unerring ear for comedy, for philosophical argument, and for their interplay constitute a rare and wondrous gift. --Bernard Freydberg, author of The Thought of John Sallis: Phenomenology, Plato, Imagination (Northwestern University Press, 2012) In this masterly study of the relation between Aristophanic comedy and Platonic thought, Marina Marren explores the political principles that come to light when comedic drama and Platonic dialogue are juxtaposed. The sensitivity of her interpretations and the broad perspective of her writing allow her to uncover strata of meaning hitherto unrecognized. This is historical-philosophical work of the highest order. --John Sallis, author of Senses of Landscape (Northwestern University Press, 2015)

Author Information

MARINA MARREN is a postdoctoral teaching fellow in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available