Author: Saul Gordon Rosenthal
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 234
Book Description
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 NonTautologous 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. Other chapters present new interpretations of key arguments: the argument in the Phaedo distinguishing the form of equality from "sensible equals" and the famous Third Man Argument in the Parmenides. On a correct interpretation of these passages, they do not express a commitment to SP. Finally, this dissertation defends a new interpretation of Plato's apparently self-predicational language called the Explanatory Predication view (EP). According to EP, Plato rejects SP and, when he suggests that for all forms, the form of F "is F", he only means to emphasize the explanatory role of forms. In such contexts, he uses the predicate 'F' as shorthand to refer to the property of being F-explaining rather than to the property of being F. EP ought to be favored over other views because it is consistent with the textual evidence and avoids any highly counterintuitive consequences.
Plato's Explanatory Predication
Author: Saul Gordon Rosenthal
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 234
Book Description
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 NonTautologous 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. Other chapters present new interpretations of key arguments: the argument in the Phaedo distinguishing the form of equality from "sensible equals" and the famous Third Man Argument in the Parmenides. On a correct interpretation of these passages, they do not express a commitment to SP. Finally, this dissertation defends a new interpretation of Plato's apparently self-predicational language called the Explanatory Predication view (EP). According to EP, Plato rejects SP and, when he suggests that for all forms, the form of F "is F", he only means to emphasize the explanatory role of forms. In such contexts, he uses the predicate 'F' as shorthand to refer to the property of being F-explaining rather than to the property of being F. EP ought to be favored over other views because it is consistent with the textual evidence and avoids any highly counterintuitive consequences.
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 234
Book Description
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 NonTautologous 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. Other chapters present new interpretations of key arguments: the argument in the Phaedo distinguishing the form of equality from "sensible equals" and the famous Third Man Argument in the Parmenides. On a correct interpretation of these passages, they do not express a commitment to SP. Finally, this dissertation defends a new interpretation of Plato's apparently self-predicational language called the Explanatory Predication view (EP). According to EP, Plato rejects SP and, when he suggests that for all forms, the form of F "is F", he only means to emphasize the explanatory role of forms. In such contexts, he uses the predicate 'F' as shorthand to refer to the property of being F-explaining rather than to the property of being F. EP ought to be favored over other views because it is consistent with the textual evidence and avoids any highly counterintuitive consequences.
Plato on the Metaphysical Foundation of Meaning and Truth
Author: Blake E. Hestir
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107132320
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 285
Book Description
Blake E. Hestir's examination of Plato's conception of truth challenges a long tradition of interpretation in ancient scholarship.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107132320
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 285
Book Description
Blake E. Hestir's examination of Plato's conception of truth challenges a long tradition of interpretation in ancient scholarship.
Plato's Self-corrective Development of the Concepts of Soul, Forms, and Immortality in Three Arguments of the Phaedo
Author: Martha C. Beck
Publisher: Edwin Mellen Press
ISBN: 9780773479500
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Book Description
This study argues both that the proofs are ultimately unconvincing and that Plato was aware of the problems. The Phaedo is shown as a truly dialectical philosophical conversation about the immortality of the soul.
Publisher: Edwin Mellen Press
ISBN: 9780773479500
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Book Description
This study argues both that the proofs are ultimately unconvincing and that Plato was aware of the problems. The Phaedo is shown as a truly dialectical philosophical conversation about the immortality of the soul.
Plato's Introduction of Forms
Author: R. M. Dancy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139456237
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 362
Book Description
Scholars of Plato are divided between those who emphasize the literature of the dialogues and those who emphasize the argument of the dialogues, and between those who see a development in the thought of the dialogues and those who do not. In this important book Russell Dancy focuses on the arguments and defends a developmental picture. He explains the Theory of Forms of the Phaedo and Symposium as an outgrowth of the quest for definitions canvassed in the Socratic dialogues, by constructing a Theory of Definition for the Socratic dialogues based on the refutations of definitions in those dialogues, and showing how that theory is mirrored in the Theory of Forms. His discussion, notable for both its clarity and its meticulous scholarship, ranges in detail over a number of Plato's early and middle dialogues, and will be of interest to readers in Plato studies and in ancient philosophy more generally.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139456237
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 362
Book Description
Scholars of Plato are divided between those who emphasize the literature of the dialogues and those who emphasize the argument of the dialogues, and between those who see a development in the thought of the dialogues and those who do not. In this important book Russell Dancy focuses on the arguments and defends a developmental picture. He explains the Theory of Forms of the Phaedo and Symposium as an outgrowth of the quest for definitions canvassed in the Socratic dialogues, by constructing a Theory of Definition for the Socratic dialogues based on the refutations of definitions in those dialogues, and showing how that theory is mirrored in the Theory of Forms. His discussion, notable for both its clarity and its meticulous scholarship, ranges in detail over a number of Plato's early and middle dialogues, and will be of interest to readers in Plato studies and in ancient philosophy more generally.
Plato's Logic
Author: Tommi Juhani Hanhijärvi
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0761870903
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
Plato’s Logic analyzes thirteen Platonic works, but it focuses on five of them because these instance the logic most completely. The logic is found to be uniform throughout Plato’s corpus, so it does not evolve after its genesis as a revision of Heraclitus.
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0761870903
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
Plato’s Logic analyzes thirteen Platonic works, but it focuses on five of them because these instance the logic most completely. The logic is found to be uniform throughout Plato’s corpus, so it does not evolve after its genesis as a revision of Heraclitus.
Essays on Plato’s Epistemology
Author: Franco Trabattoni
Publisher: Leuven University Press
ISBN: 9462700591
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Book Description
An Innovating approach to Plato’s philosophy Through a careful survey of several significant Platonic texts, mainly focussing on the nature of knowledge, Essays on Plato’s Epistemology offers the reader a fresh and promising approach to Plato’s philosophy as a whole. From the very earliest reception of Plato’s philosophy, there has been a conflict between a dogmatic and a sceptical interpretation of his work and thought. Moreover, the two sides are often associated, respectively, with a metaphysical and an anti-metaphysical approach. This book, continuing a line of thought that is nowadays strongly present in the secondary literature – and also followed by the author in over thirty years of research –, maintains that a third way of thinking is required. Against the widespread view that an anti-dogmatic philosophy must go together with an anti-metaphysical stance, Trabattoni shows that for Plato, on the contrary, a sober and reasonable assessment of both the powers and limits of human reason relies on a proper metaphysical outlook.
Publisher: Leuven University Press
ISBN: 9462700591
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Book Description
An Innovating approach to Plato’s philosophy Through a careful survey of several significant Platonic texts, mainly focussing on the nature of knowledge, Essays on Plato’s Epistemology offers the reader a fresh and promising approach to Plato’s philosophy as a whole. From the very earliest reception of Plato’s philosophy, there has been a conflict between a dogmatic and a sceptical interpretation of his work and thought. Moreover, the two sides are often associated, respectively, with a metaphysical and an anti-metaphysical approach. This book, continuing a line of thought that is nowadays strongly present in the secondary literature – and also followed by the author in over thirty years of research –, maintains that a third way of thinking is required. Against the widespread view that an anti-dogmatic philosophy must go together with an anti-metaphysical stance, Trabattoni shows that for Plato, on the contrary, a sober and reasonable assessment of both the powers and limits of human reason relies on a proper metaphysical outlook.
Forms and Structure in Plato's Metaphysics
Author: Anna Marmodoro
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197577156
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 233
Book Description
This book investigates the thought of two of the most influential philosophers from antiquity, Plato and his predecessor Anaxagoras, with respect to their metaphysical account of objects and their properties. The book's subject matter is of wide interest to philosophers and historians of philosophy alike. The methodology applied in the study of the subject matter in this book also facilitates reaching out to both domains of readership. The innovative (and possiblycontroversial) claims made in the book will spark debate and bring the book at the forefront of current discussions in philosophy.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197577156
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 233
Book Description
This book investigates the thought of two of the most influential philosophers from antiquity, Plato and his predecessor Anaxagoras, with respect to their metaphysical account of objects and their properties. The book's subject matter is of wide interest to philosophers and historians of philosophy alike. The methodology applied in the study of the subject matter in this book also facilitates reaching out to both domains of readership. The innovative (and possiblycontroversial) claims made in the book will spark debate and bring the book at the forefront of current discussions in philosophy.
Studies in Plato's Metaphysics (RLE: Plato)
Author: R E Allen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136236449
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 474
Book Description
Did Plato abandon, or sharply modify, the Theory of Forms in later life? In the Phaedo, Symposium, and Republic it is generally agreed that Plato held that universals exist. But in Parmenides, he subjected that theory to criticism. If the criticism were valid, and Plato knew so, then the Parmenides marks a turning point in his thought. If, however, Plato became aware that there are radical differences in the logical behaviour of concepts, and the later dialogues are a record of his attempt to analyse those differences, then Plato’s thought can be said to have moved in a new and vitally important direction after the Parmenides. Studies in Plato’s Metaphysics brings together twenty essays by leading philosophers from the UK and the USA reflecting upon this important issue and upon the questions arising from it.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136236449
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 474
Book Description
Did Plato abandon, or sharply modify, the Theory of Forms in later life? In the Phaedo, Symposium, and Republic it is generally agreed that Plato held that universals exist. But in Parmenides, he subjected that theory to criticism. If the criticism were valid, and Plato knew so, then the Parmenides marks a turning point in his thought. If, however, Plato became aware that there are radical differences in the logical behaviour of concepts, and the later dialogues are a record of his attempt to analyse those differences, then Plato’s thought can be said to have moved in a new and vitally important direction after the Parmenides. Studies in Plato’s Metaphysics brings together twenty essays by leading philosophers from the UK and the USA reflecting upon this important issue and upon the questions arising from it.
The Sophistes of Plato: a Dialogue on True and False Teaching. Translated, with Explanatory Notes, and an Introduction on Ancient and Modern Sophistry. By R. W. Mackay
Author: Plato
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
Plato and the Post-Socratic Dialogue
Author: Charles H. Kahn
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107031451
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 267
Book Description
These six diverse and difficult dialogues are seen together as aspects of Plato's project of reformulating his theory of Forms.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107031451
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 267
Book Description
These six diverse and difficult dialogues are seen together as aspects of Plato's project of reformulating his theory of Forms.