Chorology

In Chorology John Sallis takes up one of the most challenging and enigmatic discourses in the history of philosophy. Plato's discourse on the chora - the chorology - forms the pivotal moment in the Timaeus. Drawing on the complete tradition of commentary from Aristotle and the early Academy, through Plutarch, Plotinus, and especially Proclus, to recent discussions by Gadamer, Derrida, and others, Sallis undertakes a reinterpretation of the dialogue oriented to the chorology. Among its various effects, this reinterpretation unsettles the traditional reading of the famous passage on time as the moving image of eternity. It also resituates the entire cosmological discourse within its political frame. One of the most decisive results of Sallis's chorology is to show that the basic distinction between the intelligible and the sensible is, through the invocation of the chora, both founded and, at the same time, displaced. Insofar as this distinction defines the very scope of Western metaphysics, the implications of the chorology are momentous and resonate with many of the most decisive issues in contemporary philosophical discussions. John Sallis is Liberal Arts Professor of Philosophy at Pennsylvania State University. His previous books include Being and Logos: Reading the Platonic Dialogues (3d edition); Shades-Of Painting at the Limit; Stone (all published by Indiana University Press); and Crossings: Nietzsche and the Space of Tragedy.