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The Roles of Solon in Plato's Dialogues
The Roles of Solon in Plato’s Dialogues Dissertation Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Samuel Ortencio Flores, M.A. Graduate Program in Greek and Latin The Ohio State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Bruce Heiden, Advisor Anthony Kaldellis Richard Fletcher Greg Anderson Copyrighy by Samuel Ortencio Flores 2013 Abstract This dissertation is a study of Plato’s use and adaptation of an earlier model and tradition of wisdom based on the thought and legacy of the sixth-century archon, legislator, and poet Solon. Solon is cited and/or quoted thirty-four times in Plato’s dialogues, and alluded to many more times. My study shows that these references and allusions have deeper meaning when contextualized within the reception of Solon in the classical period. For Plato, Solon is a rhetorically powerful figure in advancing the relatively new practice of philosophy in Athens. While Solon himself did not adequately establish justice in the city, his legacy provided a model upon which Platonic philosophy could improve. Chapter One surveys the passing references to Solon in the dialogues as an introduction to my chapters on the dialogues in which Solon is a very prominent figure, Timaeus- Critias, Republic, and Laws. Chapter Two examines Critias’ use of his ancestor Solon to establish his own philosophic credentials. Chapter Three suggests that Socrates re- appropriates the aims and themes of Solon’s political poetry for Socratic philosophy. Chapter Four suggests that Solon provides a legislative model which Plato reconstructs in the Laws for the philosopher to supplant the role of legislator in Greek thought. -
Gorgias, Menexenus, Protagoras Edited by Malcolm Schofield Frontmatter More Information
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-54600-3 - Plato: Gorgias, Menexenus, Protagoras Edited by Malcolm Schofield Frontmatter More information CAMBRIDGE TEXTS IN THE HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT PLATO Gorgias, Menexenus, Protagoras © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-54600-3 - Plato: Gorgias, Menexenus, Protagoras Edited by Malcolm Schofield Frontmatter More information CAMBRIDGE TEXTS IN THE HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT Series editors R AYMOND GEUSS Professor in Philosophy, University of Cambridge Q UENTIN SKINNER Professor of the Humanities, Queen Mary, University of London Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought is now firmly estab- lished as the major student textbook series in political theory. It aims to make available to students all the most important texts in the history of western political thought, from ancient Greece to the early twentieth century. All the familiar classic texts will be included, but the series seeks at the same time to enlarge the conventional canon by incorporating an extensive range of less well-known works, many of them never before available in a modern English edition. Wherever possible, texts are published in complete and unabridged form, and translations are specially commissioned for the series. Each vol- ume contains a critical introduction together with chronologies, biographical sketches, a guide to further reading and any necessary glossaries and text- ual apparatus. When completed the series will aim to offer an outline -
The Phaedo by Plato
Selections from The Phaedo by Plato The Death of Scorates, David, 1787. [The Phaedo tells the story of Socrates’ final moments spent, as one would expect, in philosophical dialogue with his friends. The main subject of the dialogue is the immortality of the soul. The Phaedo is one of Plato’s middle period dialogues and, as such, reveals much of Plato’s own philosophy. In the arguments Socrates puts forth for the immortality of the soul we find a clear exposition of both Plato’s metaphysics as well as his epistemology. In the first section we find Socrates explaining to his friends why a true philosopher does not fear death. Philosophy is here described as a preparation for death.] ECHECRATES: Were you there with Socrates yourself, Phaedo, when he was executed, or 57 did you hear about it from somebody else? PHAEDO: No, I was there myself, Echecrates. ECHECRATES: Then what did the master say before he died, and how did he meet his end? I should very much like to know. None of the people in Phlius go to Athens much in these days, and it is a long time since we had any visitor from there who could give us any definite b information, except that he was executed by drinking hemlock. Nobody could tell us anything more than that. PHAEDO: Then haven't you even heard how his trial went? 58 ECHECRATES: Yes, someone told us about that, and we were surprised because there was obviously a long interval between it and the execution. How was that, Phaedo? PHAEDO: A fortunate coincidence, Echecrates. -
On the Arrangement of the Platonic Dialogues
Ryan C. Fowler 25th Hour On the Arrangement of the Platonic Dialogues I. Thrasyllus a. Diogenes Laertius (D.L.), Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers 3.56: “But, just as long ago in tragedy the chorus was the only actor, and afterwards, in order to give the chorus breathing space, Thespis devised a single actor, Aeschylus a second, Sophocles a third, and thus tragedy was completed, so too with philosophy: in early times it discoursed on one subject only, namely physics, then Socrates added the second subject, ethics, and Plato the third, dialectics, and so brought philosophy to perfection. Thrasyllus says that he [Plato] published his dialogues in tetralogies, like those of the tragic poets. Thus they contended with four plays at the Dionysia, the Lenaea, the Panathenaea and the festival of Chytri. Of the four plays the last was a satiric drama; and the four together were called a tetralogy.” b. Characters or types of dialogues (D.L. 3.49): 1. instructive (ὑφηγητικός) A. theoretical (θεωρηµατικόν) a. physical (φυσικόν) b. logical (λογικόν) B. practical (πρακτικόν) a. ethical (ἠθικόν) b. political (πολιτικόν) 2. investigative (ζητητικός) A. training the mind (γυµναστικός) a. obstetrical (µαιευτικός) b. tentative (πειραστικός) B. victory in controversy (ἀγωνιστικός) a. critical (ἐνδεικτικός) b. subversive (ἀνατρεπτικός) c. Thrasyllan categories of the dialogues (D.L. 3.50-1): Physics: Timaeus Logic: Statesman, Cratylus, Parmenides, and Sophist Ethics: Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Phaedrus, Symposium, Menexenus, Clitophon, the Letters, Philebus, Hipparchus, Rivals Politics: Republic, the Laws, Minos, Epinomis, Atlantis Obstetrics: Alcibiades 1 and 2, Theages, Lysis, Laches Tentative: Euthyphro, Meno, Io, Charmides and Theaetetus Critical: Protagoras Subversive: Euthydemus, Gorgias, and Hippias 1 and 2 :1 d. -
Participation and Predication in Plato's Middle Dialogues Author(S): R
Participation and Predication in Plato's Middle Dialogues Author(s): R. E. Allen Source: The Philosophical Review, Vol. 69, No. 2, (Apr., 1960), pp. 147-164 Published by: Duke University Press on behalf of Philosophical Review Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2183501 Accessed: 10/08/2008 14:32 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=duke. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. http://www.jstor.org PARTICIPATION AND PREDICATION IN PLATO'S MIDDLE DIALOGUES* I PROPOSE in this paper to examine three closely related issues in the interpretation of Plato's middle dialogues: the nature of Forms, of participation, and of predication. -
Plato's Phaedo As a Pedagogical Drama
Ancient Philosophy 33 (2013) ©Mathesis Publications 333 Plato’s Phaedo as a Pedagogical Drama Sarah Jansen The Phaedo has long been recognized as dramatic in nature (see, e.g., Jowett 1892, 193). Indeed, the dialogue’s dramatic portrayal of a Herculean Socrates attacking the heads of a hydra naturally invites this assessment (89c). At the out- set of the dialogue Socrates and the fourteen named companions are juxtaposed with Theseus and the fourteen Athenian youth, on their way to defeat the Mino- taur (58a-c).1 Also, Socrates’ death scene is particularly dramatic. Fifteen com- panions, the exact number of a tragic chorus, surround the dying Socrates and lament (117c-d).2 Reflection on this scene has prompted scholars to speculate that it is intended to ‘lend moving force’ to the tragic perspective and to ‘rouse’ readers’ emotions (see Halliwell 1984, 57-58 and Crotty 2009, 87, respectively). Despite these scholarly observations and compelling evidence that the dia- logues were treated as dramatic performance literature in antiquity (see Charal- abopoulos 2012), a number of key questions have yet to be satisfactorily and systematically answered: What is drama?; What is the Phaedo a drama about?; What is the function, if any, of the dramatic elements of the Phaedo? I undertake to answer these questions. I conclude with some thoughts about Plato’s purpose in writing dramatic dialogues and Plato’s attitude toward poetry. One of my aims throughout will be to demonstrate how a proper understanding of the literary dimension of the Phaedo sheds light on the philosophical content of the dialogue. -
1 Foreigners As Liberators: Education and Cultural Diversity in Plato's
1 Foreigners as Liberators: Education and Cultural Diversity in Plato’s Menexenus Rebecca LeMoine Assistant Professor of Political Science Florida Atlantic University NOTE: Use of this document is for private research and study only; the document may not be distributed further. The final manuscript has been accepted for publication and will appear in a revised form in The American Political Science Review 111.3 (August 2017). It is available for a FirstView online here: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055417000016 Abstract: Though recent scholarship challenges the traditional interpretation of Plato as anti- democratic, his antipathy to cultural diversity is still generally assumed. The Menexenus appears to offer some of the most striking evidence of Platonic xenophobia, as it features Socrates delivering a mock funeral oration that glorifies Athens’ exclusion of foreigners. Yet when readers play along with Socrates’ exhortation to imagine the oration through the voice of its alleged author Aspasia, Pericles’ foreign mistress, the oration becomes ironic or dissonant. Through this, Plato shows that foreigners can act as gadflies, liberating citizens from the intellectual hubris that occasions democracy’s fall into tyranny. In reminding readers of Socrates’ death, the dialogue warns, however, that fear of education may prevent democratic citizens from appreciating the role of cultural diversity in cultivating the virtue of Socratic wisdom. Keywords: Menexenus; Aspasia; cultural diversity; Socratic wisdom; Platonic irony Acknowledgments: An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2012 annual meeting of the Association for Political Theory, where it benefitted greatly from Susan Bickford’s insightful commentary. Thanks to Ethan Alexander-Davey, Andreas Avgousti, Richard Avramenko, Brendan Irons, Daniel Kapust, Michelle Schwarze, the APSR editorial team (both present and former), and four anonymous referees for their invaluable feedback on earlier drafts. -
The Role of Socrates, Lysis, and Menexenus in Plato's
FILOZOFIA Roč. 75, 2020, č. 3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/filozofia.2020.75.3. 3 THE ROLE OF SOCRATES, LYSIS, AND MENEXENUS IN PLATO’S LYSIS GABRIEL EVANGELOU, University of Cyprus, Department of Classics and Philosophy, Nicosia, Cyprus EVANGELOU, G.: The Role of Socrates, Lysis, and Menexenus in Plato’s Lysis FILOZOFIA, 75, 2020, No 3, pp. 195 – 211 The aim of this study is to demonstrate that the value of the Lysis does not lie in Socrates’ puzzling treatment of φίλος and φιλία, but rather in the unique role that both Socrates and the other two main interlocutors, Lysis and Menexenus, assume in this Platonic dialogue. In the Lysis, Socrates plays the role of the so- phist who uses errant logic, but with whom the young men are so infatuated that they simply agree with his every statement. Their inability to display critical thinking by challenging his flawed arguments constantly forces Socrates to re- vert to the role of the philosopher who refutes the points that he, himself, had just raised. The dialogue thus functions as a warning against blindly trusting the education of youths to sophists and potentially as an exercise for Plato’s students to detect problematic argumentation and to practise arguing against it. Keywords: Plato – Socrates – Lysis – Philia – Sophists – Aporia – Deception The perplexity of the Lysis has been a topic of considerable debate. Throughout the dialogue, the reader is given the impression that Socrates is attempting to provide a definition of ‘φίλος’1 by asking the two teenagers, Lysis and Menexenus, a series of questions.2 Nevertheless, before reaching a conclusion, their philosophical discussion 1 The scope of the Lysis has been heavily contested. -
ON PLATO's CONCEPT of REASON by M. Cole Powers, BA, Philosophy
ON PLATO’S CONCEPT OF REASON By M. Cole Powers, B.A., Philosophy (McGill 2013) A thesis presented to Ryerson University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of PHILOSOPHY Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2016 © M. Cole Powers 2016 AUTHOR'S DECLARATION FOR ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF A THESIS I, Cole Powers, hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I authorize Ryerson University to lend this thesis to other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I further authorize Ryerson University to reproduce this thesis by photocopying or by other means, in total or in part, at the request of other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii ON PLATO’S CONCEPT OF REASON MATHEW COLE POWERS MASTER OF ARTS ‐ PHILOSOPHY 2016 RYERSON UNIVERSITY ABSTRACT What is reason? A number of contemporary philosophical schools of thought have sought, implicitly or explicitly, to answer the question. That an answer to the question be found is of utmost importance for the practice of philosophy, and yet none seems to be forthcoming. In this thesis, we propose to examine Plato’s concept of reason. Our method in the thesis, however, is to proceed negatively: first, we examine the misology passage from the Phaedo 89d: why is the greatest evil to become a misologue (hater of reason)? What does this say about Plato’s conception of reason? What is the connection between reason, pleasure, and pain? Next, we move to the Phaedrus, where a more constructive account is offered. -
PLATO's LYSIS: APORIA and DIALECTIC LOGOI FRIENDSHIP «REALIZED» ALL THROUGHOUT the DIALOGUE* Antoni BOSCH-VECIANA
RCatT XXIIII1 (1998) 109-118 O Facultat de Teologia de Catalunya PLATO'S LYSIS: APORIA AND DIALECTIC LOGOI FRIENDSHIP «REALIZED» ALL THROUGHOUT THE DIALOGUE* Antoni BOSCH-VECIANA The last words in the Lysis are eloquent enough and induce us, at first, to feel disappointed: «what a friend is, we have not yet succeeded in discover- ingni (O6nco 6E 0.61 íktiv Ó cpiho~oioi te Eyevóyeea EEeug~iv:223b7-8). Just before these words, after Socrates' summary of what had been said in that part of the dialogue (a summary like those that orators used to pronounce be- fore tribunals), we hear from Socrates' own mouth, and in just as conclusive a way: «If none of these is a friend, 1 am at a loss for anything further to say» (ei pq6Ev to6tov rpihov Eatív, Eyh pEv oGniti Exco ti AÉyco: 222e6-7). The fail- ure of the quest seems evident enough. Accordingly, many scholars have reached a definitive conclusion: the Lysis is a dialogue without an outcome. The aporia, to which we have been led by the different examinations to which the question about friendship asked to Menexenus has been subjected, is finally witnessed in 223b7-8. At the beginning of his conversation with Menexenus, when the latter was on his way back after having helped in a religious cere- mony, Socrates asked him this question following Lysis' request: «When one person loves another, which of the two becomes a friend of the other, the lov- ing of the loved, or the loved of the loving? Or is there no difference?» (EnaiGav ti5 tiva cp~hq,nótego5 not6gou cpihoc yiyvetct~,Ó q~A6vtoU cpihoupivou $ Ó cpihoUp~v05toV cpihof~vto~oO6Ev G~acpÉ~ai;212a8-bl). -
The Ascent from Nominalism Philosophical Studies Series
THE ASCENT FROM NOMINALISM PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES SERIES Editors: WILFRID SELLARS, University of Pittsburgh KEITH LEHRER, University of Arizona Board of Consulting Editors: J ON A THAN BENNETT, Syracuse University ALLAN GIBBARD, University of Michigan ROBERT STALNAKER, Cornell University ROBERT G. TURNBULL, Ohio State University VOLUME 37 TERR Y PENNER Department of Philosophy, The University of Wisconsin at Madison, U.S.A. THE ASCENT FROM NOMINALISM Some Existence Arguments in Plato's Middle Dialogues D. REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY ~~ A MEMBER OF THE KLUWER . ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS GROUP DORDRECHTj BOSTONj LANCASTERjTOKYO Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Penner, Terry, 1936- The ascent from nominalism. (Philosophical studies series; v. 37) Bibliography: p. Includes indexes. 1. Plato. 2. Aristotle. 3. Metaphysics-History. 4. Nominalism-History. I. Title. II. Series. B395.P347 1987 111'.2'0924 86·31641 ISBN-13: 978-94-010-8186-3 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-3791-8 DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-3791-8 Published by D. Reidel Publishing Company, P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, Holland. Sold and distributed in the U.S.A. and Canada by Kluwer Academic Publishers, 101 Philip Drive, Assinippi Park, Norwell, MA 02061, U.S.A. In all other countries, sold and distributed by Kluwer Academic Publishers Group, P.O. Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, Holland. All Rights Reserved © 1987 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland Softcover reprint of the hardcover I 5t edition 1987 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical induding photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Much of this work was conceived and executed between 1971 and 1975, though some of it was done much earlier, and a few bits are quite recent. -
Plato As a Philosophy Salesman in the Phaedo Marlon Jesspher B
Philosophy for Business – Issue 80 – 11th February 2017 http://www.isfp.co.uk/businesspathways/ Plato as a Philosophy Salesman in the Phaedo Marlon Jesspher B. De Vera Introduction In this paper, I attempt to argue that Plato’s main intent in the Phaedo is not to build and present an argument for the immortality of the soul, but rather to elevate, promote, and in a sense “sell” philosophy as the highest pursuit of humanity. As an initial support for this argument, it is worth emphasizing that the Phaedo presents in a somewhat dramatic manner how Socrates spent the last day of his life philosophizing with his students. Thus, it can be said that the setting of the Phaedo in itself already sets an appropriate backdrop against which philosophy can be promoted as the ultimate human endeavour that is worth undertaking, in the sense that even in the face of death, the true lover of wisdom would still choose to spend his or her remaining time on earth practicing philosophy. However, it would not be sufficient to simply rely on this connection with the dialogue’s dramatic setting to assert that the dialogue’s main purpose is to promote and “sell” philosophy. Thus, I now attempt to strengthen this assertion further by presenting three supporting arguments. 1. Plato’s main intent is to promote philosophy to the Pythagoreans, and not to construct proofs for Pythagorean beliefs It is important to note that Socrates’ main discussants in the dialogue, Simmias and Cebes, are Pythagoreans who had core beliefs on the immortality of the soul, reincarnation, and the notion that the body contaminates the soul.