Plato and His Legacy
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
SGR VERY Final Version
PLATO’S EXPLANATORY PREDICATION A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Saul Gordon Rosenthal January 2011 © 2011 Saul Gordon Rosenthal All rights reserved PLATO’S EXPLANATORY PREDICATION Saul Gordon Rosenthal, Ph. D. Cornell University 2011 One of the most classic puzzles in Plato’s metaphysics is how to interpret his apparently self-predicational language. Plato seems committed, at least in his middle dialogues, to the view that for all forms, the form of F “is F”. For instance, he seems to say that the form of largeness itself “is large”, and to generalize this claim to all forms. Commentators have struggled to find an interpretation of such claims that is consistent with Plato’s text and that attributes to Plato a view with some plausibility. One aim of this dissertation is to show that we have good reason to doubt all of the most influential interpretations offered by commentators. The views discussed include Narrow Self-Predication, the Tautologous Identity view, two Non- Tautologous Identity views, the Pauline Predication view, Broad Self-Predication, and a view distinguishing different kinds of predication. It is doubtful whether any of these interpretations correctly captures Plato’s self-predicational commitments. Another aim of the dissertation is to argue that the textual evidence most often thought to commit Plato to the Self-Predication Assumption (SP), that for all forms, the form of F is itself an F thing, is insufficient to establish such a commitment. One chapter focuses on Plato’s repeated discussion of the resemblance between form and participant. -
The Highest Good for Plato Goodness Is an Abstract Concept That Is Very
The Highest Good for Plato Goodness is an abstract concept that is very difficult to define, and saying what counts as the highest good is perhaps even more so. In Republic, Plato attempts to say something about what makes things good, but his answer is very vague in the end. Still, we can get some clarity on what he would have answered if asked what the highest good is, from what he says in this text. What counts as the highest good for Plato can be said to be knowledge of the Form of the Good, because it is necessary for knowing and using the other Forms well. The nature of the Forms is not clear in Republic; Plato writes about them as if his audience already knows what they are. Still, we can get some sense of what forms are like from the text. In several places he says that when two or more things share the same name, then they share a form. For example, in Book IV Socrates and Glaucon talk about the form of justice: “…are things called by the same name, whether they are bigger or smaller than one another, like or unlike with respect to that to which the name applies? Alike. Then a just man won’t differ at all from a just city in respect to the form of justice; rather he’ll be like the city” (435 a-b). But what is a Form, exactly? We can start to get a sense of what Plato means by a Form by looking back at Euthyphro. -
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. -
Plato's Hypothetical Inquiry in the Meno Naoya Iwata
Plato’s Hypothetical Inquiry in the Meno Naoya Iwata At Meno 86e2–4 Socrates proposes to Meno that they should consider the question whether virtue is teachable on a hypothesis. Partly because its concrete procedure is illustrated by a baffling geometrical example, there has still been wide disagreement among scholars as to how he actually carries out this hypothetical inquiry into virtue. The basic structure of the argument at 87b2–89a5 appears very simple: Socrates converts the original question whether virtue is teachable to the question whether it is knowledge, and then examines the latter on the basis of his agreement with Meno that virtue is good. Apart however from that agreement being, as it is explicitly called, a ‘hypothesis’, opinion is divided on what other hypothesis Socrates posited. Some think of it as the conditional ‘if virtue is knowledge, it is teachable’ or as ‘knowledge is teachable’ (Bedu-Addo 1984, 7–9; Wolfsdorf 2008, 44–6 and 58–60),1 and others as the bi-conditional ‘if virtue is knowledge, it is teachable, but if not, not’ or as ‘knowledge alone is teachable’ (Grgić 1999, 34–6; Weiss 2001, 131; Zyskind and Sternfeld 1976, 132). 2 But most scholars, in contrast, identify it with the simple proposition ‘virtue is knowledge’ (Bedu-Addo 1984, 7–9; Benson 2003, 107–25; Bluck 1961, 17–19 and 85–91; Bostock 1986, 165–6; Canto-Sperber 1991, 98–102; Cherniss 1947, 140; Hackforth 1955, 140–1; Kahn 1996, 310; Robinson 1953, 116–18; Rose 1970, 3–7; Sayre 1969, 29 n. 40; Scott 2006, 137–40 and 221–4; Sharples 1985, 167).3 It is also suggested that Socrates’ new philosophical tool does not involve any process of positing a hypothesis but only aims to establish the equivalence between teachability and knowledge (Ebrey 2013, 76 and 83–4). -
The Form of the Good in Plato's Timaeus
THANASSIS GKATZARAS | 71 One of the many philosophical problems The Form of the Good in that we face in the Timaeus is raised by the Plato’s Timaeus claim that the God who created the world (from now on we shall call him ‘Demiurge’)1 is good (Tim. 29d7-30a2). A satisfying explanation of Demiurge’s goodness is far from easy, and dif- ferent approaches have been proposed. How- ever, in this paper I’ll try to show that a clear, sufficient and relatively simple interpretation is possible, if we are based on the hypothesis that Timaeus follows the theory of causation in the Phaedo (including the distinction between ‘safe’ and ‘elegant’ cause) and the concept of the Thanassis Gkatzaras Form of the Good in the Republic.2 University of Ioannina [email protected] To be more specific, I’ll try to show that the Form of the Good of the Republic is also presupposed in the Timaeus and it plays the same role, and we should consider it as a first principle of platonic cosmology, independ- ent from the existence of Demiurge or even the Divine Paradigm (i.e. the model accord- ing to which the Demiurge creates the world). On first impression, this interpretation looks barely possible, since there is no direct refer- ence in the text to this particular Form, with the possible exception of what is said at Tim. 46c7-d1.3 In my opinion, this absence has to do ABSTRACT with specific purposes Timaeus serves, and not with the abandonment of the Good as a cause. -
Gregory Vlastos
Gregory Vlastos: A Preliminary Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Center Descriptive Summary Creator: Vlastos, Gregory, 1907-1991 Title: Gregory Vlastos Papers Dates: circa 1930s-1991 Extent: 100 document boxes (42.00 linear feet) Abstract: The papers of philosopher Gregory Vlastos, a scholar of ancient Greek philosophy who spent most of his career studying the thought of Plato and Socrates, document his studies, his writings, and his career as an educator at several American universities. Call Number: Manuscript Collection MS-4361 Language: English, with Ancient Greek, French, German, Italian, Latin, Modern Greek, and Spanish Access: Open for research Administrative Information Acquisition: Gifts, 1993-2010 (G9070, G9134, G9163, G9225, G9252, G9628, G9979, G9982, G10214, G10288, G11877, 10-03-014-G) Processed by: Hope Rider, 2006; updated by Joan Sibley, 2016 Repository: The University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Center Vlastos, Gregory, 1907-1991 Manuscript Collection MS-4361 Scope and Contents The papers of philosopher Gregory Vlastos (1907-1991), a scholar of ancient Greek philosophy who spent most of his career studying the thought of Plato and Socrates, document his studies, his writings, and his career as an educator at several American universities, especially Cornell, Princeton, and The University of California at Berkeley. The papers are arranged in six series: I. Correspondence and Offprint Files, II. Study, Lecture, and Teaching Files, III. Works, IV. Works by Others, V. Miscellaneous, and VI. Offprints Removed from Manuscripts. The Correspondence and Offprint Files (35 boxes) in Series I. represent Vlastos' extensive correspondence with other philosophers, classicists, former students, academics, and others. The files are arranged alphabetically by correspondent name, and generally include not only letters received, but copies of Vlastos' responses. -
Plato's Critique of Injustice in the Gorgias and the Republic
Plato's critique of injustice in the Gorgias and the Republic Author: Jonathan Frederick Culp Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/972 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2008 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. Boston College The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Department of Political Science PLATO’S CRITIQUE OF INJUSTICE IN THE GORGIAS AND THE REPUBLIC a dissertation by JONATHAN FREDERICK CULP submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2008 © Copyright by JONATHAN FREDERICK CULP 2008 Plato’s Critique of Injustice in the Gorgias and the Republic Jonathan Frederick Culp Advisor: Professor Christopher Bruell No rational decision can be made concerning how to live without confronting the problem of justice—both what it is and whether it is good to be just. In this essay I examine Plato’s articulation of these problems in the Gorgias and the Republic. Through detailed analyses of Socrates’ exchanges with several interlocutors, I establish, first, that despite some real and apparent differences, all the interlocutors share the same fundamental conception of justice, which could be called justice as fairness or reciprocal equality (to ison). The core of justice lies in refraining from pleonexia (seeking to benefit oneself at the expense of another). Second, according to this view, the practice of justice is not intrinsically profitable; it is valuable only as a means to the acquisition or enjoyment of other, material goods. This conception thus implies that committing successful injustice is often more profitable than being just. -
Justice for Juveniles
If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. )OS!, 7 JUSTICE FOR JUVENILES Charles E. Springer Vice-Chief Justice Supreme Court of Nevada ~ " :tment of Justice lvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention OJJDP Ie * JUSTICE FOR JUVENILES Charles E. Springer Vice-Chief Justice Supreme Court of Nevada U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention OJJDP II ,I;' - c :;;w '&-••1\'£:-.' ¥W, Charles E. Springer is Vice-Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Nevada. Prior to being commissioned to the Supreme Court, he was Juvenile Court Master for the Second Judicial District Court for the State of Nevada from 1973 to 1980. He has also served the State of Nevada as Attorney General. He received the Outstanding Service Award from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges in 1980 and has served on the Boards and Commissions of numerous civic and State organizations in an effort to improve the quality of justice for adults and juveniles . ........ * & & !MI',. u. S. ~partment of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention NmionallnslituJejiJr Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Juvenile Ju.rl;" Cfrorin8/w"''' NCJRS Box6000. Rochill<. MD 20lJjO Dear Colleague: "Justice for Juveniles" is a serious and deliberative look at the juvenile justice systeln, its philosophical and historical underpinnings, the strengths and weaknesses of today's system, and the implications for its future. Last year over 35,000 juveniles were arrested in this country for violent crimes, including murder, rape, and aggravated assault. The success of this office's e~forts to reduce juvenile crime and create a nlore secure society depends on the ready exchange of information and ideas among professionals in the field. -
Gical, and Ethical Doctrines Given in Chapters Two, T
CHAPTER SIX CONCLUSION Even the bare outlines of Speusippus' metaphysical, epistemolo gical, and ethical doctrines given in chapters two, three, and four of this work show that he was a philosopher of considerable original ity.473 In view of this and of the likelihood that Plato himself chose him to be his successor as head of the Academy,474 it is surely unwarranted and arbitrary to contend, as some scholars do, 476 that he was a poor philosopher. It is clear that Plato was the main influence upon Speusippus' thought. For his most important metaphysical and epistemological doctrines show not only that he adopted some of the basic tenets of Platonism but also that these doctrines are answers to the same problems Plato tried to solve. Thus, take for example Speusippus' doctrine that numbers and magnitudes are separate, eternal, and immutable objects of knowledge; that mathematical numbers are directly apprehended by the mind; that the propositions of mathematics cannot be true of the sensibles; that by the direct knowledge of number together with the data provided by an infallible faculty of perception which participates in reason the mind is able to derive all other knowledge; and that there is a relation of non-symmetrical similarity between the several kinds of substances which ultimately depends upon the separately existing numbers. All these interrelated doctrines are not only similar to some of Plato's own but are really answers to the same kinds of problems which Plato's philosophy tries to solve. For Plato's own main doctrines-the theory of ideas, the conception of the soul as a perpetual entity to which the apprehen sion of the ideas is so to say "innate," knowledge as recollection, etc.-were meant as an answer to the question whether there is such a thing as knowledge which is fundamentally different from perception and correct opinion. -
Plato's Parmenides and Its Heritage. Volume 1
PLATO’S PARMENIDES AND ITS HERITAGE VOLUME 1 PLATO’S PARMENIDES AND its heritage VOLUME 1: History and Interpretation from the Old Academy to Later Platonism and Gnosticism Writings from the Greco-Roman World Supplement Series Edited by John T. Fitzgerald Series Editor John D. Turner and Kevin Corrigan Number 2 Society of Biblical Literature PLATO’S PARMENIDES AND ITS HERITAGE, VOLUME 1 Atlanta PLATO’S PARMENIDES AND its heritage VOLUME 1: History and Interpretation from the Old Academy to Later Platonism and Gnosticism Edited by John D. Turner and Kevin Corrigan Society of Biblical Literature Atlanta Contents Abbreviations vii Introduction 1 Section 1: Plato, from the Old Academy to Middle Platonism 1. The Place of the Parmenides in Plato’s Thought and in the Subsequent Tradition 23 Kevin Corrigan 2. Speusippus’s Neutral Conception of the One and Plato’s Parmenides 37 Gerald Bechtle 3. The Fragment of Speusippus in Column I of the Anonymous Commentary on the Parmenides 59 Luc Brisson 4. Speusippus and the Ontological Interpretation of the Parmenides 67 John Dillon 5. The Indefinite Dyad in Sextus Empiricus’s Report (Adversus Mathathematicos 10.248–283) and Plato’s Parmenides 79 Thomas Szlezák 6. Plato and Parmenides in Agreement: Ammonius’s Praise of God as One-Being in Plutarch’s The E At Delphi 93 Zlatko Pleše 7. Moderatus, E. R. Dodds, and the Development of Neoplatonist Emanation 115 J. Noel Hubler Section 2: Middle Platonic and Gnostic Texts 8. The Platonizing Sethian Treatises, Marius Victorinus’s Philosophical Sources, and Pre-Plotinian Parmenides Commentaries 131 John D. -
Ethics and Moral Choices Ethics, Morality and Religion, Socrates Versus Abrahamic Religions
ETHICS AND MORAL CHOICES ETHICS, MORALITY AND RELIGION, SOCRATES VERSUS ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS BY PARVIZ DEHGHANI The dialogue between Euthyphro and Socrates has captured the imagination of many Western philosophers since Plato wrote it more than two thousand years ago. Socrates meets young Euthyphro on the steps of the same court where he would be sentenced to death. The false allegations were he had been involved in corrupting the youth, turning his back to the gods of Athens and secretly admiring the Persian monarchical system as opposed to the democracy of his day and Spartans' firm belief in their gods and causes. After all, Athens had been invaded by both armies in the past and were considered the enemies by the Athenians. Apparently Socrates wanted to keep his friends close and his enemies closer. Because for him the truth was more important than patriotism. He never desired to be politically correct. He asked Euthyphro as to why he was sitting on the steps? Euthyphro answered Socrates by saying that he was about to go to the court and indict his father. Why, Socrates asked? Because my father captured a murderer and left him in a ditch with his hands tied up behind him and ran to bring in authorities. But by the time he was back, the murderer was dead due to excessive heat and hunger. Socrates being a man of discernment could not let such an opportunity slip. So he began engaging Euthyphro in a dialogue in order to let the truth emerge. Do you realize what you're doing, Socrates asked? After all he is your father. -
MINEOLA BIBLE INSTITUTE and SEMINARY Philosophy II Radically
MINEOLA BIBLE INSTITUTE AND SEMINARY Page | 1 Philosophy II Radically, Biblical, Apostolic, Christianity Bishop D.R. Vestal, PhD Larry L Yates, ThD, DMin “Excellence in Apostolic Education since 1991” 1 Copyright © 2019 Mineola Bible Institute Page | 2 All Rights Reserved This lesson material may not be used in any manner for reproduction in any language or use without the written permission of Mineola Bible Institute. 2 Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 7 Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.) ........................................................................................... 8 Philip II of Macedonia (382-336 B.C.) ....................................................................................... 12 Page | 3 “Olympias the mother of Alexander was an evil woman. .......................................... 13 Philip II (of Macedonia) (382-336 BC) .............................................................................. 13 Aristotle (384-322 BC) ............................................................................................................... 15 Works .................................................................................................................................... 16 Methods ............................................................................................................................... 17 Doctrines ............................................................................................................................