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Being and Structure in Plato's Sophist

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Being and Structure in Plato's Sophist University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy Philosophy 2019 BEING AND STRUCTURE IN PLATO’S SOPHIST Colin C. Smith University of Kentucky, [email protected] Author ORCID Identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4688-6156 Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2019.430 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Smith, Colin C., "BEING AND STRUCTURE IN PLATO’S SOPHIST" (2019). Theses and Dissertations-- Philosophy. 23. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/philosophy_etds/23 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Philosophy at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Colin C. Smith, Student Dr. Eric Sanday, Major Professor Dr. Clare Batty, Director of Graduate Studies BEING AND STRUCTURE IN PLATO’S SOPHIST ________________________________________ DISSERTATION ________________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Colin C. Smith Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Eric Sanday, Associate Professor of Philosophy Lexington, Kentucky 2019 Copyright © Colin C. Smith 2019 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4688-6156 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION BEING AND STRUCTURE IN PLATO’S SOPHIST Being and Structure in Plato’s Sophist is a study of the metaphysical notion of being as it is at play in Plato’s dialogue the Sophist, and the senses in which Plato’s conception of being entails further accounts of ontological structure and goodness. While modern metaphysics primarily concerns existence, ancient metaphysics primarily concerns what grounds what, and in this dissertation I consider the nature and value of Plato’s understanding of being as a notion of ground rather than a principle of existence. I argue that Plato conceives of being in the fundamentally unified sense of participation, which entails a self-and-other and hence complex relation. For Plato, being must be understood in its context as one among many Platonic forms, or the network of mutually co-constitutive structures of determinacy that are the grounding stability necessary for the very possibilities of becoming, knowing, and discourse. I argue that Plato inherits his view in large part from Parmenides, and that the account in the Sophist makes explicit a previously implicit aspect of the Parmenidean tradition insofar as it involves a novel sense of nonbeing not as absolute nothingness, but instead as difference in the sense of constitutive and determinate otherness. I furthermore discuss the ways in which this account helps to show the connections between seemingly disparate elements of the dialogue like its dramatic setting, the method of division, and the discussion of the great ontological kinds. In this way, the dissertation entails a study of the entire dialogue and the interrelation of its parts, as well as its context among several other key Platonic and Parmenidean texts. KEYWORDS: Plato, ancient philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology, Sophist Colin C. Smith (Name of Student) August 15, 2019 Date BEING AND STRUCTURE IN PLATO’S SOPHIST By Colin C. Smith Eric Sanday Director of Dissertation Clare Batty Director of Graduate Studies 08/15/2019 Date ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Although this dissertation bears my name as sole author, it is in fact the product of a long dialectical engagement with many friends, colleagues, teachers, and texts, who are its true co-authors. Of course, a full laying out of this structure is not possible, but a few comments nevertheless can be made. I cannot overstate my gratitude to my dissertation chair Eric Sanday for his guidance, extensive insights of many kinds, and tireless support throughout these last five years. To him I owe thanks for my having been dragged out of the cave. I am furthermore indebted to each of my committee members. David Bradshaw has taught me much and this project has benefitted greatly from his firm grasp of ancient wisdom. Similarly, I am indebted to Theodore Schatzki for his dedication to truth, and particularly that which has been brought to light by more recent philosophy. For helpful contributions regarding both Greek language and thought I am grateful to Jackie Murray. Cristina Ionescu’s work influenced this project at a very early stage, and I was thrilled when Professor Ionescu agreed to join the committee as an external member at a much later stage. The project will no doubt be strengthened by the addition of Robert Rabel in his capacity as external reviewer. I furthermore owe much to all the authors upon whose work I draw, and I must especially thank Mitchell Miller and Michael Wiitala for their generous and helpful correspondence that had much influence on my argumentation. I have benefitted much from the philosophical communities in Lexington, Boston, Philadelphia, and beyond. It is not possible to mention everyone to whom I owe thanks, but I must note the significance of the support that I have received from my cohort, Suraj Chaudhary, Pedro Della Rosa Matheus, Clay Graham, and Lila Wakeman, and especially iii my fellow Platonist Peter Moore. Over the years I have learned much from discussing philosophy with Peter Antich, Jon Badiali, Clare Batty, Teena Blackburn, Stefan Bird- Pollan, Kayla Bohannon, Caroline Buchanan, Keith Buhler, Jim Butler, Thayne Cameron, Colby Clark, D Cole, Mary Cunningham, Lauren Dickey, Tyler DeMunbrun, Arnold Farr, Jarrad Felgenhauer, Chris Grimsley, Justin Harmon, Clayton Houdeshell, Shelly Johnson, James Lincoln, Ted Mark, Ron Mawby, Marina McCoy, Seb Meissner, Keith Parkinson, Adam Patterson, Eve Rabinoff, Carrie Reed, Greg Rhodes, John Roso, John Sallis, Bob Sandmeyer, Kristian Sheeley, Dan Sheffler, Drew Van’t Land, David Wolfsdorf, and countless others. Finally, I have benefitted profoundly from the love, support, and encouragement of my parents, family, and a wide network of truly wonderful friends. Their care and camaraderie have served as invaluable sources of nourishment during the time in which this was conceived and written, and I regret that I cannot mention them all by name. It is, I think, difficult or impossible to overstate the value of the friendship and support that I have received from Ed Avery-Natale and Joseph Zehner in every phase of my career, beginning far back in its prehistory. I cannot imagine having written this without the endless insight and generosity of Brittany Frodge, my gratitude for which exceeds logos. I dedicate this project to Lynda, Jack, Polly, and Hank. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................................. iii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Being, structure, and the Sophist ............................................................................................. 1 1.1.2 Overview of this dissertation ................................................................................................... 9 1.2 Principles of interpreting Platonic dialogues ................................................................................. 12 1.2.1 The dialogues as pedagogy .................................................................................................... 12 1.2.2 Relationships among dialogues and chronology ................................................................... 17 1.3 Concepts from other dialogues ....................................................................................................... 19 1.3.1 Forms ..................................................................................................................................... 19 1.3.2 Causal
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