The development of Plato's political theory /

Klosko's point of departure in this essay, as he calls it, is the observation that the last comprehensive treatment of Plato's political theory appeared almost 70 years ago in Sir Ernest Barker's Greek Political Theory: Plato and His Predecessors (1918). Setting out to remedy the situation, Klosko announces that he will ``attempt to pull together the main themes of Plato's political theory'' while taking account of changes in political thought since 1918. Klosko announces that he intends neither to be comprehensive nor to be ``highly original,'' and, in these latter respects, he indeed has attained his goal. His volume is neither a useful introduction for those first engaging to read Plato nor a searching commentary for those seeking suggestive insight or reflection on the great themes in Plato's political philosophy. Klosko manages to miss commentary on a good deal of contemporary interpretation, and in his own brief remarks on Plato's program for political reform, refuses to pursue the subject beyond routine outline. Libraries in possession of Barker's work and with access to the great overview presented by William Keith Chambers Guthrie in A History of Greek Philosophy (v.1, 1962; v.2, CH, Feb '66; v.3, CH, Sep '70; v.4 CH, Mar '76; v.5, CH, Jun '79; v.6, CH, Feb '82) will add nothing of worth by adding Klosko's book to their holdings. Furthermore, the easily available translations of Plato's chief ``political'' dialogues contain introductory commentaries far more useful than the commentary in this disappointing academic potboiler.-L. Weinstein, Smith College