Plato's Parmenides

This book offers a controversial new solution to the famous puzzle of the so-called `gymnastic' half of Plato's Parmenides, the meaning of which has so far completely eluded understanding. Meinwald goes on to show that the Parmenides serves to introduce a metaphysics which has outgrown the problems commonly associated with the `Platonism' of the middle dialogues, providing a crucial bridge between those dialogues and the later works of Plato. `Simply stunning. [Meinwald's] interpretation of a difficult and crucial Platonic text is not just to be placed among others as one more excellent competitor. It supersedes the others.' Sandra Peterson, University of Minnesota

`Constance Meinwald's commentary on the Parmenides is both highly original and extremely illuminating ... She offers what I think is a brilliant reconstruction of the antinomies as presented by Parmenides ... Not the least merit of Meinwald's book is that it is accessible to a wide audience ... her arguments are neatly divided into manageable sections; and she writes in a style which is lucid, free of unnecessary jargon, and wholly straightforward ... On the evidence of this book, her future works will be well worth waiting for.' Heythrop Journal, 'M.'s analysis is generally illuminating. She is notably successful in assessing the strategic functions ... Her analyses work more convincingly, I believe, where the first four sections - the consequences of the positive hypothesis - are concerned than they do with the consequences of the negative hypothesis. Constance Meinwald has produced an intelligent and well argued book, which deserves to be widely discussed - and surely will be. The style is clear and spare, and her case is geenerally well presented.' J.D.G. Evans, Queen's University, Belfast, The Classical Review, 1992