Plato's Parmenides ─ Text, Translation & Introductory Essay

Plato’s Parmenides presents the modern reader with a puzzle. Noted for being the most difficult of Platonic dialogues, it is also one of the most influential. This translation is the result of an intensive collaboration between Arnold Hermann and Sylvana Chrysakopoulou, who also share a common background in Presocratic philosophy. As part of their research Hermann and Chrysakopoulou’s have carried out extensive comparisons of the available translations of Plato’sParmenides. Some of these works were found to be quite accurate, but occasionally they were vague or difficult to understand. The greatest challenge facing a translator of philosophical works is how to balance intelligibility with faithfulness, while maintaining sufficient consistency to allow the discernment of technical terms. Additional attention should be paid to the cultural milieu at the time of the writing, and the possible discussions that preceded it, reflected conceivably in the author’s language. With this in mind, Hermann and Chrysakopoulou have taken great pains to secure both accuracy and accessibility, mindful that theParmenides represents a significant contribution to a much greater philosophical debate, that in parts is retraceable to the earliest thinkers, not excluding the Archaic poets.

Included in the volume are two separate introductions and a general commentary that help place the dialogue in its historical, linguistic, and philosophical contexts, informed in each case by up-to-the-minute scholarship. Douglas Hedley gives an insightful account of the way in which The Parmenides has been received by different cultures and philosophical schools throughout the centuries to the present day. Sylvana Chrysakopoulou provides an overview of the text from a philologist’s perspective.

The general commentary by Arnold Hermann offers an overview of the most noted philosophical problems addressed in the dialogue, and of its historical background. In view of the fact that some individual issues have been exhaustively explored by generations of scholars, such as the “Third Man,” or the “One vs. Many” difficulties, Hermann opts to also focus on subjects that at times have been passed over, trivialized, or dismissed by others. In his opinion, they may give us a greater understanding of the role reserved for theParmenides in the Platonic corpus. Some of the questions brought up address the debt the dialogue may owe to the works of earlier thinkers, particularly those of Xenophanes and Parmenides, or whether it constitutes a response to certain critics of the Theory of Forms. As for the Theory itself, whether it is bolstered or superseded by the dialogue’s conclusions, or whether there is such a thing as a “simple,” unparticipated, Form, and if there is, why it cannot be the subject of an account. Also the issue of Not-Being is explored, comparing Parmenides’ approach to Plato’s in both the Sophist and the Parmenides. Additionally, an overview is provided listing the individual conclusions of each of the eight central arguments of the Second Part of the dialogue (plus Coda). The translation and commentary are thoroughly footnoted throughout and the appendix includes an index of keywords, both in Greek and English, as well as a bibliography.

"Arnold Hermann has rendered a major service to every student of Plato by presenting us with a new translation of the dialogue Parmenides conveniently facing the Greek text, together with a challenging introductory essay that calls attention to the important Eleatic dimension pervading all of Plato’s work. Thus Hermann’s insightful commentary pursues the close connections between the Sophist and the Parmenides, while also recognizing the Zenonian character of many of the arguments in Parmenides Part Two. The result is a fuller picture of the links between Parmenides and Plato, as well as between the Parmenides and the other dialogues. There is a thoughtful Foreword by Douglas Hedley tracing the Parmenidean philosophical legacy through Neoplatonism down to Schopenhauer and Wittgenstein." —Charles H. Kahn, Professor of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania "It is always enlightening to re-read Plato, however often one does so, and to re-read the Parmenides in the company of Arnold Hermann's lucid and elegant translation, with its fine introduction and notes, is a pleasure indeed. We will no doubt never quite solve all the puzzles presented by this most troublesome of Plato's works, but this new edition is a powerful stimulus to try once more." —John M. Dillon, Emeritus Professor of Greek, Trinity College, Dublin “Plato’s Parmenides is a notoriously complex and difficult work that has been controversial since antiquity. Arnold Hermann’s new book, consisting of the Greek text, a translation, and a brief interpretative commentary, is therefore most welcomed… Hermann and Chrysakopoulou's translation is vivid, well phrased, and often helps to clarify obscure and debatable passages of the text. [The] interpretative essay contributes greatly to the understanding of the dialogue, giving the various alternative interpretations and presenting many fresh ideas. Especially helpful and illuminating is the systematization of the eight hypotheses and the conclusions drawn from them in the second part of the dialogue. Although there is a vast literature on the Parmenides, Hermann’s book offers original insights into central problems of the dialogue. The book will be valuable for all scholars and students of Plato.” —Vassilis Karasmanis, Professor of Philosophy, National Technical University of Athens "The Parmenides is Plato's most formidable dialogue, posing interpretive problems that remain unresolved despite two millennia of commentary. These problems stem in part from difficulties in translation to modern languages. The translation of Arnold Hermann and Sylvana Chrysakopoulou is one of the three or four best currently available in English. This, along with Hermann's thoughtful introduction, makes Plato's Parmenides a welcome addition to contemporary Plato scholarship." —Kenneth M. Sayre, Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame