
Christopher James Rowe
OBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(born 1944) is a British
classical scholar
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
. He is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Classics and Ancient History of
Durham University, England, where he was Head of Department 2004–2008. He is a former President of the
Classical Association
The Classical Association is a British learned society in the field of classics, aimed at developing classical study and promoting its importance in education.
Constitution
The association was founded on 19 December 1903, and its objects are de ...
, and was appointed OBE in 2009 for "services to scholarship".
Thought on Plato
Rowe translated into English and gave an innovative interpretation of the Aristotle's ''
Nicomachean Ethics'' and the Plato's dialogues ''
Theaetetus Theaetetus (Θεαίτητος) is a Greek name which could refer to:
* Theaetetus (mathematician) (c. 417 BC – 369 BC), Greek geometer
* ''Theaetetus'' (dialogue), a dialogue by Plato, named after the geometer
* Theaetetus (crater), a lunar imp ...
'' and ''
Sophist
A sophist ( el, σοφιστής, sophistes) was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, and mathematics. They taught ...
''.
He compared the ideal-real relation existing among the ''
Republic'' and the ''Theaetetus'' for what concerns the
epistemology
Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics.
Episte ...
, and then he established an analogy with the political ideal of the ''Republic'' and its real actualization described in the ''
Statesman
A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level.
Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to:
Newspapers United States
* ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a n ...
'' and in the ''
Laws
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
''.
[ (critical recension)] In the volume ''Plato and the Art of Philosophical Writing'', Rowe argued that "Plato remains throughout essentially a
Socratic".
Selected publications
* ''Plato, Republic (new translation, with introduction and notes)'' Penguin, 2012,
* ''The Last Days of Socrates'' Penguin, 2010,
*''Plato and the Art of Philosophical Writing'' Cambridge University Press, 2007,
* with Terry Penner ''Plato's Lysis'' Cambridge University Press, 2005
References
Living people
British classical scholars
Classical scholars of the University of Durham
British scholars of ancient Greek philosophy
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Greek–English translators
Presidents of the Classical Association
1944 births
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