David Roochnik 
Tragedy of Reason 
Toward a Platonic Conception of Logos

First Published in 1991. This book attempts to defend a conception of reason-or to use the Greek word "logos"-that I contend can be extracted from the dialogues of Plato. The very notion of defending Plato may seem strange. Why would a philosopher enshrined for centuries as "classic" need a defense? A defense against whom and what charge? What does it mean to defend an author so long dead? Can he somehow be revived? In other words, what significance can a defense of Plato possibly attain for a contemporary audience?