James M. Redfield, Plato's Seventh Letter. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2026. Pp. 128. ISBN 9781647922566.Not PaleoJudaica's usual fare, but of background interest for the recently recovered biography of Plato at Herculaneum, which I noted here (cf. here, here, and here).Review by
Colin C. Smith, Creighton University. colinsmith2@creighton.edu... The Seventh Letter is the longest and most significant of the 13 letters attributed to Plato in Thrasyllus’ canon. In it, an author writing in Plato’s voice tells the tale of his (?) ill-fated trips to Syracuse in Sicily during the rulerships of Dionysius the Elder and Younger in cooperation with the politician Dion, indirectly leading to Dion’s execution. Spanning just under 30 Stephanus pages, the dense narrative touches on key themes like Plato’s biography, connections between philosophy and political rule, the problem of faction, some complexities of moral psychology, the nature of the virtuous life, and technical ways in which a philosophical education grants non-propositional insight into truth that seem crucial for understanding the esoteric aspects of Platonic philosophy. ...
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.