ABSTRACT
In Plato’s Laws is the earliest surviving fully developed cosmological argument. His influence on the philosophy of religion is wide ranging and this book examines both that and the influence of religion on Plato.
Central to Plato’s thought is the theory of forms, which holds that there exists a realm of forms, perfect ideals of which things in this world are but imperfect copies. In this book, originally published in 1959, Feibleman finds two diverse strands in Plato’s philosophy: an idealism centered upon the Forms denying full ontological status to the realm of becoming, and a moderate realism granting actuality equal reality with Forms. For each strand Plato developed a conception of religion: a supernatural one derived from Orphism, and a naturalistic religion revering the traditional Olympian deities.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part One|70 pages
Plato's Religious Philosophy
chapter |5 pages
Argument
chapter Chapter I|4 pages
Plato's Method
chapter Chapter II|9 pages
Plato's Two Philosophies
chapter Chapter III|13 pages
The Greek Religious Inheritance
chapter Chapter IV|20 pages
The Influence of Orphism
chapter Chapter V|16 pages
Plato's Two Religions
part Two|142 pages
The Religious Influence of Plato