The Platonic Art of Philosophy is a well-deserved festschrift for Christopher Rowe, whose many contributions to the study of ancient thought and especially (since the 1970s) to the interpretation of Plato have set a remarkable standard for their depth, precision, and originality, especially in making Plato’s literary artistry more central to the understanding of his philosophic thought. Thus his work can be seen as part of a new mode of Plato interpretation that has evolved since the 1960s, characterized by the move away from the developmental model of interpretation, decline of interest in the study of a “Socratic” philosophy distinct from Plato’s and supposedly found in certain “early dialogues,” and relaxation of the more strictly dogmatic focus. This has been correlated with interpretation based increasingly on holistic and contextual study of the dialogues and on features of the dialogues as dramatic and literary texts, in addition to their more narrowly philosophic arguments, that are taken to be determinative of broader philosophic meanings. Awareness of these trends enables us to see interesting enlacements among the book’s chapters.

The papers, originally given at a conference in Rowe’s honor at University College, Durham, in 2010, have grown into a volume both larger and more dialogical in contributors’ conscious interactions both with Rowe’s work and with each other’s contributions, as well by the addition of two “reflective commentaries” by editors.