Cosmology in the Symposium Incommensurability in Plato's Meno
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PLATO's SYMPOSIUM J
50 ccn~ PLATO'S SYMPOSIUM j - - -- ________j e Library of Liberal Arts PLATO'S SYMPOSIUM Tran lated by BENJAMIN JOWETT With an Introduction by FULTON H. ANDERSON Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto THE LIBERAL ARTS PRESS NEW YORK CONTENTS SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY .. .... ................................... ......... ... ........... 6 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION ................... ............................................. 7 SYMPOSIUM APOLLODORUS 13 THE SPEECH OF PHAEDRUS ...... .......................... .......................... .. 19 THE SPEECH OF PAU ANIAS ................. ... ................................. ... .. 21 THE SPEECH OF ERYXIMACHUS 27 THE SPEECH OF ARISTOPHAN E .. ............................... .................. 30 THE SPEECH OF AGATHON ............ .............................................. .. 35 THE SPEECH OF SocRATES ................................ .. ................... ..... .. 39 THE SPEECH OF ALCIBIADES ................. ............... ... ........... ...... .... .. 55 8 PLATO INTROD CTION 9 crescendo, and culminates in the report by Socrates on wi dom and epistemology, upon all of which the Symposium ha bearing, learned from the "wi e" woman Diotima. are intertwined, we m ay set down briefly a few of the more general The dialogue i a "reported" one. Plato himself could not have principles which are to be found in it author's many-sided thought. been present at the original party. (What went on there was told The human soul, a cording to Plato, is es entially in motion. time and time again about Athens.) He was a mere boy when it It is li fe and the integration of living functions. A dead soul is a con took place. Nor could the narrator Apollodorus have been a guest; _lladiction in terms. Man throughout his whole nature is erotically he was too young at the time. The latter got his report from motivated. His "love" or desire i manifest in three mutually in Aristodemus, a guest at the banquet. -
A Moderately Ironic Reading of Xenophon's Oeconomicus
David M. JOHNSON Ischomachus the Model Husband? A Moderately Ironic Reading of Xenophon's Oeconomicus Xenophon's Oeconomicus is usually considered a treatise on household management masquerading as a Socratic dialogue (Pomeroy). But for others the reverse is true (Strauss and the Straussians; see also Mackenzie and Nails in EMC 1985, Too's review of Pomeroy in CR 1995, and the less orthodox Straussian Stevens). How one comes down on this issue will obviously affect one's evaluation of Ischomachus' relationship with his wife, and of Xenophon as a Socratic writer. I argue that the Oeconomicus is both Socratic and economic, both didactic and ironic. Xenophon chose Ischomachus because both his virtues and his vices have much to teach Critobulus, Socrates' immediate interlocutor, and Xenophon's readers. Our Ischomachus is probably the man whose wife went on to become the Chrysilla who would marry and bear a son to her son-in-law Callias, driving her daughter to attempt suicide (Andocides 1.124-127). There may be evidence for this in Oeconomicus itself. Callias would fall for Chrysilla again when she was "an old battleaxe" (Andocides 1.127); Ischomachus promises his wife that she can maintain her status even in old age (Oec. 7.20). The scandals which would beset Chrysilla and her children may shed light on Ischomachus' otherwise odd failure to say much about children to the wife he had married in large part for the sake of children. There are other ironies. Ischomachus hardly shares Socrates' understanding of property as that one knows how to use. Critobulus, in fact, is evidently already rich enough in conventional terms: he needs another sort of help. -
A Phenomenological Interpretation of Religion Via Pre-Socratic Thinking
The University of Notre Dame Australia ResearchOnline@ND Philosophy Papers and Journal Articles School of Philosophy 2008 A phenomenological interpretation of religion via pre-Socratic thinking Angus Brook University of Notre Dame Australia, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/phil_article Part of the Philosophy Commons This article was originally published as: Brook, A. (2008). A phenomenological interpretation of religion via pre-Socratic thinking. ,. This article is posted on ResearchOnline@ND at https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/phil_article/1. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Phenomenological Interpretation of Religion via Pre-Socratic Thinking Introduction: What is religion? What does the concept of religion mean? Today, the word ‘religion’ appears everywhere; a seemingly all pervasive notion associated with a vast array of phenomena, including: war, terrorism, politics, science fiction, morality, and of course, with delusion and irrationality. However, what religion is, or what it means, remains a highly contested matter. It will be the aim of this paper to offer an interpretation of the meaning of the concept of religion by using just one of many philosophical ways of approaching religion, namely; phenomenology as ontology. The paper will focus upon the remaining fragments of three Pre-Socratic philosophers; Anaximander, Heraclitus, and Parmenides, seeking in these fragments the basic conceptual subject matter for an interpretation of the meaning of religion. I will argue that these fragments reveal that the meaning of religion is a relation between being-human and what gets called the arche (or ground of being). Further, I will argue that this relation can be conceptually determined as a quest for ground: the ground of the human sense of being and of grounding thinking, meaning, truth, and purpose… Ultimately, I will argue in this paper that there are two essential characteristics of the meaning of religion as this relation to ground(ing). -
Plato's Symposium: the Ethics of Desire
Plato’s Symposium: The Ethics of Desire FRISBEE C. C. SHEFFIELD 1 Contents Introduction 1 1. Ero¯s and the Good Life 8 2. Socrates’ Speech: The Nature of Ero¯s 40 3. Socrates’ Speech: The Aim of Ero¯s 75 4. Socrates’ Speech: The Activity of Ero¯s 112 5. Socrates’ Speech: Concern for Others? 154 6. ‘Nothing to do with Human AVairs?’: Alcibiades’ Response to Socrates 183 7. Shadow Lovers: The Symposiasts and Socrates 207 Conclusion 225 Appendix : Socratic Psychology or Tripartition in the Symposium? 227 References 240 Index 249 Introduction In the Symposium Plato invites us to imagine the following scene: A pair of lovers are locked in an embrace and Hephaestus stands over them with his mending tools asking: ‘What is it that you human beings really want from each other?’ The lovers are puzzled, and he asks them again: ‘Is this your heart’s desire, for the two of you to become parts of the same whole, and never to separate, day or night? If that is your desire, I’d like to weld you together and join you into something whole, so that the two of you are made into one. Look at your love and see if this is what you desire: wouldn’t this be all that you want?’ No one, apparently, would think that mere sex is the reason each lover takes such deep joy in being with the other. The soul of each lover apparently longs for something else, but cannot say what it is. The beloved holds out the promise of something beyond itself, but that something lovers are unable to name.1 Hephaestus’ question is a pressing one. -
The Higher Aspects of Greek Religion. Lectures Delivered at Oxford and In
BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIET OF Henirg m. Sage 1891 .A^^^ffM3. islm^lix.. 5931 CornelJ University Library BL 25.H621911 The higher aspects of Greek religion.Lec 3 1924 007 845 450 The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924007845450 THE HIBBERT LECTURES SECOND SERIES 1911 THE HIBBERT LECTURES SECOND SERIES THE HIGHER ASPECTS OF GREEK RELIGION LECTURES DELIVERED AT OXFORD AND IN LONDON IN APRIL AND MAY igii BY L. R. FARNELL, D.Litt. WILDE LECTURER IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD LONDON WILLIAMS AND NORGATE GARDEN, W.C. 14 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT 1912 CONTENTS Lecture I GENERAL FEATURES AND ORIGINS OF GREEK RELIGION Greek religion mainly a social-political system, 1. In its earliest " period a " theistic creed, that is^ a worship of personal individual deities, ethical personalities rather than mere nature forces, 2. Anthrqgomorphism its predominant bias, 2-3. Yet preserving many primitive features of " animism " or " animatism," 3-5. Its progress gradual without violent break with its distant past, 5-6. The ele- ment of magic fused with the religion but not predominant, 6-7. Hellenism and Hellenic religion a blend of two ethnic strains, one North-Aryan, the other Mediterranean, mainly Minoan-Mycenaean, 7-9. Criteria by which we can distinguish the various influences of these two, 9-1 6. The value of Homeric evidence, 18-20. Sum- mary of results, 21-24. Lecture II THE RELIGIOUS BOND AND MORALITY OF THE FAMILY The earliest type of family in Hellenic society patrilinear, 25-27. -
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. -
Either a Daimon, Or a Hero, Or Perhaps a God:” Mythical Residents of Subterranean Chambers
Kernos Revue internationale et pluridisciplinaire de religion grecque antique 15 | 2002 Varia “Either a Daimon, or a Hero, or Perhaps a God:” Mythical Residents of Subterranean Chambers Yulia Ustinova Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/kernos/1385 DOI: 10.4000/kernos.1385 ISSN: 2034-7871 Publisher Centre international d'étude de la religion grecque antique Printed version Date of publication: 1 January 2002 ISSN: 0776-3824 Electronic reference Yulia Ustinova, « “Either a Daimon, or a Hero, or Perhaps a God:” Mythical Residents of Subterranean Chambers », Kernos [Online], 15 | 2002, Online since 21 April 2011, connection on 01 May 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/kernos/1385 ; DOI : 10.4000/kernos.1385 Kernos Kemos 15 (2002), p. 267-288. "Either a Daimon, or a Hero, or Perhaps a God:" Mythical Residents of Subterranean Chambers In his list of seers who uttered gods' orders and messages to mortals not only when alive, but also after their death, Strabo1 mentions "...Amphiaraos, Trophonios, Orpheus, Musaios, and the god of the Getae, formerly Zalmoxis, a Pythagorean, who is in our time Dekaineos, the diviner of Byrebistas... ,,2 Aristides groups together Trophonios, Amphiaraos, Amphilochos and the Asclepiads.3 Celsus includes Zalmoxis, Mopsos, Amphilochos, Amphiaraos, and Trophonios in his register of mortals who died and were nevertheless worshiped, whieh makes Origen wonder, "whether one of these is either a daimon, or a hero, or perhaps a god, more active than mortals" (ft ècr'tt nç èv 'toîç 'tOtQU'tOlÇ Eï'tE 8atllcov Eï'tE llPcoÇ Eï'tE Kat 8E6ç, èVEPYéOv 't!Va lldÇova ft Ka'teX av8pco1tov;).4 The bewilderment of Origen 'is reasonable, given the elusiveness of these figures. -
(CG II,5): a GNOSTIC PHYSICS by PHEME PERKINS The
ON THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD (CG II,5): A GNOSTIC PHYSICS BY PHEME PERKINS The preface to the fifth tractate in codex II from Nag Hammadi, On the Origin of the World, claims to engage the reader in a cosmological discussion about the arrangement of chaos. Interpretations of this work usually assume that once the author has shown chaos to be "shadow" and not a primal reality, his cosmological interests end and gnostic mytholo- gizing takes over. Alexander B6hlig, for example, treats the philosophical language as part of a mythological syncretism designed to present the plan of salvation that will destroy the world.' While some attempts have been made to incorporate Gnostic materials into the study of middle Platon- ism,2 Heinrich D6rrie's judgment that Gnostic cosmologies represent "the facile musings of mediocre minds," para-philosophical ramblings of the semi-erudite, reflects the usual view. Such judgments seem unsound, in part because they discount the intellectual interests of Gnostic specu- lation - thus manifesting the same distaste for their negative cosmology as in the rhetoric of Plotinus' refutatio, where the genre dictates such com- ments, - and because the Nag Hammadi texts are showing an increasing variety of philosophical allusions; and finally because myth played a larger role in hellenistic cosmological speculation than it is usually given credit for. For example, the Hesiod passage on chaos usually cited as the source for the opening reference to chaos in this treatise3 was allegorized by Zeno.4 Linking 'chaos' to the verb cheesthai, Zeno associates it with the element water; earth appears as itself; Tartarus is air; and eros, fire.5 Such identifications are presupposed in Orig. -
Why Did Xenophon Write a Symposium? Erotica Paideia and Logos Sokratikos*
JOSÉ VELA TEJADA Why did Xenophon write a Symposium? Erotica paideia and logos Sokratikos* 1. Xenophon, Socrates and the logos Sokratikos Xenophon bequeathed a collection of works, with philosophical con- tent, grouped under the title of Socratica, whose composing was mainly in- spired by the leading role of Socrates, or, actually, by Xenophon’s under- standing of the Athenian master’s ideas. Therefore, the Socrates’ lifetime until his condemn, and his intellectual activity – matters that are less focused in his historical works – find a proper narrative vehicle in the Socratica, ac- cording to Xenophontean tendency to thematic specialization. The topic of this essay is the effect of Socratic spirit1, also ascertained in the pedagogic aim and in the ultimate search of the individual paradigm of the Xenophon’s historical works. Nevertheless, we should not insist – as in previous analyses – in estab- lishing the epistemological superiority that results from comparison with * This article was made under the general frame of the Research-Team Byblíon H 52 (Dirección General de Investigación, Innovación y Desarrollo, Consejería de Ciencia y Tec- nología, DGA, Spain). 1 We say spirit or influence because, although Xenophon informs us of personal rela- tionship with Socrates in Anabasis (III, 1, 5), this does not mean that he was member of the closest circle of Socrates’ disciples. In relation to that, WATERFIELD 2004, 79, considers Xe- nophon as a true Socratic for “he followed Socrates’ philosophy to the best of his ability”. H istorikαv I 2011 ISSN 2240-774X e-ISSN 2039-4985 81 José Vela Tejada Plato2. Sometimes it has been suggested that the Xenophontean profile of Socrates has a more accurate historical reliability than the Platonic one; however, we cannot prove any hypothesis neither in the historian nor in the philosopher3. -
“Teaching Writing in Philosophy Courses” Oakes Handout 2, P. 1
“Teaching Writing in Philosophy Courses” Essay Assignment, Part One PHIL301 Over the course of the semester, you will construct an essay on the significance of Ancient Greek philosophy. The essay will be constructed in stages, which will culminate in a substantial essay due at the semester’s end. The first major element of the essay will concern the Pre-Socratics. You will write a short essay indicating the significance of this philosophical period. The second major element of the essay will concern the significance of Socrates and/or Plato. This essay will incorporate the first: you will revise the first essay so as to fit with materials of the second. Thirdly, you will add a research element to your existing discussion. You will find a secondary source assisting your commentary on the significance of Ancient Greek philosophy and incorporate it into your essay. Incorporation into the final draft of material from Aristotle will be encouraged but not mandatory. Part One: Essay One Note-Taking: Your first exercise is to demonstrate good note-taking practice. This will involve a succinct summary of a text along with a brief evaluation of it. Concept Explication: Your second exercise is to state and explain a key concept by reference to one or more of our authors. This will be a formal writing assignment, to be incorporated into the draft of Essay One. Full Draft of Essay One: The thesis of this essay will be a statement of the significance of Pre-Socratic philosophy. Your task will be to communicate to the reader a clear sense of why we consider this period of philosophy important. -
Fate and Death Through a Daimonic Lens
FATE AND DEATH THROUGH A DAIMONIC LENS FATE AND DEATH THROUGH A DAIMONIC LENS By JASON SOLOMON BINDER, B.A.Sc., B.A. Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts McMaster University © Copyright by Jason Solomon Binder, September 2014 MA Thesis – J. Binder; McMaster University – Classics. McMaster University MASTER OF ARTS (2014) Hamilton, Ontario (Classics) TITLE: Fate and Death through a Daimonic Lens AUTHOR: Jason Solomon Binder, B.A.Sc., B.A. (McMaster University) SUPERVISOR: Dr. Sean Corner NUMBER OF PAGES: vi, 101 ii MA Thesis – J. Binder; McMaster University – Classics. Abstract This thesis is concerned with the ancient Greek conceptualization of fate and death, as explored through the figure of the daimon in literature from Homer and Hesiod to Plato and Euripides. Filling a gap in scholarship, I elucidate the spectrum of meaning inherent in the word daimon, and how it shifts over time. From the Archaic to the Classical period the word daimon is found as a synonym for theos, “god”, as a vocative address, or in reference to “fate” and the generalized “will of heaven.” At the same time, a particular group of divine personifications, including Thanatos, Moira, Ker, and Erinys are counted as daimones. We also find the term used to designate unnamed but individuated lesser divinities, guardian spirits, and demonic possessors, and even as the divine aspect of the self. In the early Archaic poets these latter categories are only nascent. The individuated daimon becomes the focus of the lyric poets and pre-Socratic philosophers; in the later pre-Socratics the daimon begins to be internalized, moving from possessive spirit to psychic force. -
Plato's Epistemology
Plato’s Epistemology: a Coherent Account in Meno , Phaedo and Theaetetus Chuanjie Sheng Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds Department of Classics August 2015 II The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. © 2015 The University of Leeds and Chuanjie Sheng The right of Chuanjie Sheng to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. III Acknowledgements I appreciate all the persons that helped me to complete this thesis. I would like to express my greatest gratitude to my supervisors, Dr. Elizabeth E. Pender and Professor Malcolm F. Heath. As an enlightened teacher, Dr. Pender has offered me valuable comments and suggestions for my dissertation. Working with her is a stimulating intellectual experience. She patiently suggested on the structure of my thesis and corrected all the chapters line by line. As a wonderful friend, she brings happiness, pleasure and fruitful experience into my life in Leeds. Professor Heath has read all the chapters of my thesis and has given me feedbacks on each of the chapters. During the supervisions, he has given me valuable academic advice and comments, which has saved me from a large number of mistakes and errors in this dissertation.