Truth and Wonder

<p><em>Truth and Wonder</em> is an accessible introduction to Plato and Aristotle, showing their crucial influence for literary and cultural studies, modern languages and related disciplines. It focusses on both <i>what</i> Plato and Aristotle say about literature and <i>how</i> they say it, and so demonstrates the ways their philosophies still shape our reading, thinking and living.</p><p>In the clear and engaging style for which he has become known, Robert Eaglestone uses Plato and Aristotle’s literary qualities to explain their thought. He presents Plato’s ideas through the metaphors, stories and style of his dialogues, and Aristotle’s ideas through the significance of narrative. <i>Truth and Wonder</i> draws on a wide range of thinkers including Hannah Arendt, Martin Heidegger, Jacques Derrida and Martha Nussbaum, and a number of canonical writers including Phillip Sidney, Percy Shelley, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and Iris Murdoch with examples that will be familiar to students.</p><p>The ideas of Plato and Aristotle underlie much of Western culture, continue to inspire contemporary literary and philosophical work and shape the case for the central importance of the humanities today. <i>Truth and Wonder</i> is essential reading for students and researchers in the study of literature, theory and criticism as well as for those wishing to understand the foundations of the field. It will also be of interest to those studying philosophy, classics and political theory. Its accessible style and approach also mean it’s a perfect starting point for any literary-minded person who wants to know more about these two foundational thinkers.</p> <p>Introduction: Plato and Aristotle <i>for</i> and <i>as</i> literature 1. Three words: <i>Polis</i> and <i>Logos </i><b>Part One: ‘WHat is truly written in the soul’: Plato </b>2. Plato’s literary devices 3. Watching <em>The Republic </em>4. Responding to <em>The Republic </em>5. Living and dead words: <em>Phaedrus </em>6. A hermeneutic dialectic? <i>Ion, Protagoras </i><strong>Part Two: ‘The lover of stories is a lover of wisdom’: Aristotle </strong>7. Reading Aristotle, from beginnings to ends 8. How to live: happiness, the virtues and literature: <em>Nicomachean Ethics </em>9. Everyday People: The <em>Rhetoric </em>10. Patterns of Literature, patterns of life: the <em>Poetics </em>11. But what, after all, is entertainment? The pleasures of literature: The <i>Poetics </i>Conclusion: Starting</p>