Russell Winslow teaches philosophy at St. John's College, Santa Fe.

Taking inspiration from a contrast between necessity and philosophy introduced by Adeimantus, Winslow’s exegesis is a tour de force in Platonic interpretation, which investigates necessity wherever it occurs in Plato’s dialogues, bringing other dialogues to bear on encounters with necessity in the Republic … A painstaking and penetrating work of interpretation … The result is a demanding read, but one which promises exactly the kind of turning around that it describes.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1: Philosophical Nature: Natural NecessityChapter 2: The Necessity of the Greatest Study: The GoodChapter 3: Child of the Good: on Light and DesireChapter 4: Necessity in the Intelligible Region of the Divided LineChapter 5: Necessity in the CaveChapter 6: Necessity and the Highest StudiesChapter 7: Necessity and the Song itself: Dialectic Chapter 8: On Bastards and OrphansChapter 9: Necessity and DemocracyChapter 10: The Spindle of NecessityBibliography

Russell Winslow teaches philosophy at St. John's College, Santa Fe.

Taking inspiration from a contrast between necessity and philosophy introduced by Adeimantus, Winslow’s exegesis is a tour de force in Platonic interpretation, which investigates necessity wherever it occurs in Plato’s dialogues, bringing other dialogues to bear on encounters with necessity in the Republic … A painstaking and penetrating work of interpretation … The result is a demanding read, but one which promises exactly the kind of turning around that it describes.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1: Philosophical Nature: Natural NecessityChapter 2: The Necessity of the Greatest Study: The GoodChapter 3: Child of the Good: on Light and DesireChapter 4: Necessity in the Intelligible Region of the Divided LineChapter 5: Necessity in the CaveChapter 6: Necessity and the Highest StudiesChapter 7: Necessity and the Song itself: Dialectic Chapter 8: On Bastards and OrphansChapter 9: Necessity and DemocracyChapter 10: The Spindle of NecessityBibliography

Russell Winslow teaches philosophy at St. John's College, Santa Fe.

Taking inspiration from a contrast between necessity and philosophy introduced by Adeimantus, Winslow’s exegesis is a tour de force in Platonic interpretation, which investigates necessity wherever it occurs in Plato’s dialogues, bringing other dialogues to bear on encounters with necessity in the Republic … A painstaking and penetrating work of interpretation … The result is a demanding read, but one which promises exactly the kind of turning around that it describes.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1: Philosophical Nature: Natural NecessityChapter 2: The Necessity of the Greatest Study: The GoodChapter 3: Child of the Good: on Light and DesireChapter 4: Necessity in the Intelligible Region of the Divided LineChapter 5: Necessity in the CaveChapter 6: Necessity and the Highest StudiesChapter 7: Necessity and the Song itself: Dialectic Chapter 8: On Bastards and OrphansChapter 9: Necessity and DemocracyChapter 10: The Spindle of NecessityBibliography