Lloyd P. Gerson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including, most recently, From Plato to Platonism.

• Introduction2. Platonism vs. Naturalism2.1. What Is Platonism?2.2. What Is Naturalism?2.3. Methodological, Philosophical Naturalism2.4. A Rapprochement?3. Plato's Critique of Naturalism3.1. Some Hermeneutical Assumptions3.2. The Turn from Naturalism to Metaphysics3.3. Socrates's "Autobiography" in Phaedo3.4. Republic on the Subject Matter of Philosophy3.5. Theaetetus and Sophist on the Subject Matter of Philosophy4. Plato on Being and Knowing4.1. Forms as Explanatory Entities4.2. Eternity and Time4.3. Nominalism and Its Connection to Relativism4.4. The Nature and the Possibility of Knowledge4.5. Some Exigencies of Knowledge and Belief5. The Centrality of the Idea of the Good in the Platonic System (1)5.1. The Idea of the Good, Unhypothetical First Principle of All5.2. First Principles in Parmenides5.3. First Principles in Sophist5.4. First Principles in Philebus5.5. First Principles in Timaeus5.6. Aristotle's Account of First Principles in Plato6. The Centrality of the Idea of the Good in the Platonic System (2)6.1. The Form of the Good and the Idea of the Good6.2. Virtue, Knowledge, and the Good6.3. Platonic Ethics without the Idea of the Good6.4. The Good, Ethical Prescriptions, and Integrative Unity6.5. Eros and the Good7. Aristotle the Platonist7.1. Introduction7.2. Aristotle on the Subject Matter of Philosophy7.3. The Immateriality of Thought7.4. The Causality of the First Principle8. Plotinus the Platonist8.1. The Platonic System8.2. Critique of Stoicism8.3. Platonic and Stoic Wisdom9. Proclus and Trouble in Paradise9.1. The Dynamics of the Platonic System9.2. A Crack in the System?9.3. Damascius10. Concluding Reflections

Both excellent intellectual history and sharp contemporary philosophy, this book will be of great interest to historians of philosophy and naturalistic philosophers alike. Exceptional.(Choice) The significance of this monograph cannot be overestimated. Not only is it a highly original and fresh account of the historical odyssey of Platonism from Plato to Damascius (with Aristotle, like it or not, taken on board and, occasionally, tied to the mast), but it is also an attempt to bring back philosophy, as it was conceived of until quite recently, to the late modern intellectual and spiritual milieu.(The Classical Review) A short review hardly does justice to this formidable book... I applaud his synoptic approach and admire his effort to come to grips with many of the most difficult passages in Plato and other Platonists. Like the book or not, Platonism and Naturalism deserves to be read by anyone trying to make sense of Plato.(Journal of the History of Philosohpy) The book impresses most by the way it combines its depth of hermeneutic and analytical detail with a far-reaching perspective on what is at stake philosophically and for philosophy itself.(Bryn Mawr Classical Review)

Lloyd P. Gerson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including, most recently, From Plato to Platonism.

• Introduction2. Platonism vs. Naturalism2.1. What Is Platonism?2.2. What Is Naturalism?2.3. Methodological, Philosophical Naturalism2.4. A Rapprochement?3. Plato's Critique of Naturalism3.1. Some Hermeneutical Assumptions3.2. The Turn from Naturalism to Metaphysics3.3. Socrates's "Autobiography" in Phaedo3.4. Republic on the Subject Matter of Philosophy3.5. Theaetetus and Sophist on the Subject Matter of Philosophy4. Plato on Being and Knowing4.1. Forms as Explanatory Entities4.2. Eternity and Time4.3. Nominalism and Its Connection to Relativism4.4. The Nature and the Possibility of Knowledge4.5. Some Exigencies of Knowledge and Belief5. The Centrality of the Idea of the Good in the Platonic System (1)5.1. The Idea of the Good, Unhypothetical First Principle of All5.2. First Principles in Parmenides5.3. First Principles in Sophist5.4. First Principles in Philebus5.5. First Principles in Timaeus5.6. Aristotle's Account of First Principles in Plato6. The Centrality of the Idea of the Good in the Platonic System (2)6.1. The Form of the Good and the Idea of the Good6.2. Virtue, Knowledge, and the Good6.3. Platonic Ethics without the Idea of the Good6.4. The Good, Ethical Prescriptions, and Integrative Unity6.5. Eros and the Good7. Aristotle the Platonist7.1. Introduction7.2. Aristotle on the Subject Matter of Philosophy7.3. The Immateriality of Thought7.4. The Causality of the First Principle8. Plotinus the Platonist8.1. The Platonic System8.2. Critique of Stoicism8.3. Platonic and Stoic Wisdom9. Proclus and Trouble in Paradise9.1. The Dynamics of the Platonic System9.2. A Crack in the System?9.3. Damascius10. Concluding Reflections

Both excellent intellectual history and sharp contemporary philosophy, this book will be of great interest to historians of philosophy and naturalistic philosophers alike. Exceptional.(Choice) The significance of this monograph cannot be overestimated. Not only is it a highly original and fresh account of the historical odyssey of Platonism from Plato to Damascius (with Aristotle, like it or not, taken on board and, occasionally, tied to the mast), but it is also an attempt to bring back philosophy, as it was conceived of until quite recently, to the late modern intellectual and spiritual milieu.(The Classical Review) A short review hardly does justice to this formidable book... I applaud his synoptic approach and admire his effort to come to grips with many of the most difficult passages in Plato and other Platonists. Like the book or not, Platonism and Naturalism deserves to be read by anyone trying to make sense of Plato.(Journal of the History of Philosohpy) The book impresses most by the way it combines its depth of hermeneutic and analytical detail with a far-reaching perspective on what is at stake philosophically and for philosophy itself.(Bryn Mawr Classical Review)

Lloyd P. Gerson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including, most recently, From Plato to Platonism.

• Introduction2. Platonism vs. Naturalism2.1. What Is Platonism?2.2. What Is Naturalism?2.3. Methodological, Philosophical Naturalism2.4. A Rapprochement?3. Plato's Critique of Naturalism3.1. Some Hermeneutical Assumptions3.2. The Turn from Naturalism to Metaphysics3.3. Socrates's "Autobiography" in Phaedo3.4. Republic on the Subject Matter of Philosophy3.5. Theaetetus and Sophist on the Subject Matter of Philosophy4. Plato on Being and Knowing4.1. Forms as Explanatory Entities4.2. Eternity and Time4.3. Nominalism and Its Connection to Relativism4.4. The Nature and the Possibility of Knowledge4.5. Some Exigencies of Knowledge and Belief5. The Centrality of the Idea of the Good in the Platonic System (1)5.1. The Idea of the Good, Unhypothetical First Principle of All5.2. First Principles in Parmenides5.3. First Principles in Sophist5.4. First Principles in Philebus5.5. First Principles in Timaeus5.6. Aristotle's Account of First Principles in Plato6. The Centrality of the Idea of the Good in the Platonic System (2)6.1. The Form of the Good and the Idea of the Good6.2. Virtue, Knowledge, and the Good6.3. Platonic Ethics without the Idea of the Good6.4. The Good, Ethical Prescriptions, and Integrative Unity6.5. Eros and the Good7. Aristotle the Platonist7.1. Introduction7.2. Aristotle on the Subject Matter of Philosophy7.3. The Immateriality of Thought7.4. The Causality of the First Principle8. Plotinus the Platonist8.1. The Platonic System8.2. Critique of Stoicism8.3. Platonic and Stoic Wisdom9. Proclus and Trouble in Paradise9.1. The Dynamics of the Platonic System9.2. A Crack in the System?9.3. Damascius10. Concluding Reflections

Both excellent intellectual history and sharp contemporary philosophy, this book will be of great interest to historians of philosophy and naturalistic philosophers alike. Exceptional.(Choice) The significance of this monograph cannot be overestimated. Not only is it a highly original and fresh account of the historical odyssey of Platonism from Plato to Damascius (with Aristotle, like it or not, taken on board and, occasionally, tied to the mast), but it is also an attempt to bring back philosophy, as it was conceived of until quite recently, to the late modern intellectual and spiritual milieu.(The Classical Review) A short review hardly does justice to this formidable book... I applaud his synoptic approach and admire his effort to come to grips with many of the most difficult passages in Plato and other Platonists. Like the book or not, Platonism and Naturalism deserves to be read by anyone trying to make sense of Plato.(Journal of the History of Philosohpy) The book impresses most by the way it combines its depth of hermeneutic and analytical detail with a far-reaching perspective on what is at stake philosophically and for philosophy itself.(Bryn Mawr Classical Review)