{"product_id":"metaphysics-as-rhetoric-joshua-parens-9780791425732","title":"Metaphysics as Rhetoric: Alfarabi's Summary of Plato's Laws","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eParens argues that Alfarabi, the tenth-century Muslim philosopher, demonstrated that Plato is not the originator of Western metaphysics, and that what appears to be Plato's metaphysics was intended as a rhetorical defense of his politics.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe most widely accepted view in the West today, particularly among postmodernists, is that Plato attempted to ground politics on a rational metaphysics and initiated the tradition of foundationalism that has given rise to systems of oppression ranging from racism, sexism, and ethnocentrism to the technological mastery of the earth. Metaphysics as Rhetoric controverts this view, arguing that Plato was not the originator of this metaphysical tradition. Using as a basis the tenth-century Muslim philosopher Alfarabi's interpretation of Plato, especially his Summary of Plato's \"Laws\", Parens shows that what appears to be Plato's metaphysics was intended as a rhetorical defense of his politics. Parens demonstrates that rather than seek to establish politics on the definitive metaphysical ground, Alfarabi's Plato analyzes politics on its own terms, phenomenologically.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Joshua Parens\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0791425738\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780791425732\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e State University of New York Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/14\/1995\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 195\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.04lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.22h x 6.15w x 0.72d","brand":"Joshua Parens","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48658925977855,"sku":"9780791425732","price":99.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/metaphysics-as-rhetoric-joshua-parens-9780791425732","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}