Author: Robert William Jordan
Publisher: Cambridge Philological Society
ISBN: 1913701158
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 109
Get Book
Book Description
If we are to understand why Plato had a theory of Forms, we must explain, firstly, why he thought it necessary to depart from the ontology of the Socratic dialogues; secondly, why he then posited the existence of entities that have the characteristics that he ascribes to Forms (entities that are 'unmixed', 'unchanging', 'in every way being' and so on); and thirdly, why Plato took this course when other philosophers have not done so (and even he himself and his immediate pupils were later to modify or abandon the theory). In this study, Robert William Jordan discovers an answer to these questions where we might expect to find one - namely in the arguments Plato gives us in favour of the hypothesis that there are Forms. These arguments, on analysis, reveal not just a concern with the nature of knowledge and explanation, but an interest in the analysis of the apparent contradictions that Plato in his middle period thought to be presented to the intellect by the sensible world. These contradictions, he then thought, could not be resolved except by those with knowledge of the Forms.
Author: R. M. Dancy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139456237
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 362
Get Book
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.
Author: Samuel C. Rickless
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139462784
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 231
Get Book
Book Description
There is a mystery at the heart of Plato's Parmenides. In the first part, Parmenides criticizes what is widely regarded as Plato's mature theory of Forms, and in the second, he promises to explain how the Forms can be saved from these criticisms. Ever since the dialogue was written, scholars have struggled to determine how the two parts of the work fit together. Did Plato mean us to abandon, keep or modify the theory of Forms, on the strength of Parmenides' criticisms? Samuel Rickless offers something that has never been done before: a careful reconstruction of every argument in the dialogue. He concludes that Plato's main aim was to argue that the theory of Forms should be modified by allowing that forms can have contrary properties. To grasp this is to solve the mystery of the Parmenides and understand its crucial role in Plato's philosophical development.
Author: Blake E. Hestir
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107132320
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 285
Get Book
Book Description
Blake E. Hestir's examination of Plato's conception of truth challenges a long tradition of interpretation in ancient scholarship.
Author: Gail Fine
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 9780199245581
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 447
Get Book
Book Description
Plato on Knowledge and Forms brings together a set of connected essays by Gail Fine, in her main area of research since the late 1970s: Plato's metaphysics and epistemology. She discusses central issues in Plato's metaphysics and epistemology, issues concerning the nature and extent of knowledge, and its relation to perception, sensibles, and forms; and issues concerning the nature of forms, such as whether they are universals or particulars, separate or immanent, and whether they are causes. A specially written introduction draws together the themes of the volume, which will reward the attention of anyone interested in Plato or in ancient metaphysics and epistemology.
Author: Samuel Scolnicov
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520925114
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 207
Get Book
Book Description
Of all Plato’s dialogues, the Parmenides is notoriously the most difficult to interpret. Scholars of all periods have disagreed about its aims and subject matter. The interpretations have ranged from reading the dialogue as an introduction to the whole of Platonic metaphysics to seeing it as a collection of sophisticated tricks, or even as an elaborate joke. This work presents an illuminating new translation of the dialogue together with an extensive introduction and running commentary, giving a unified explanation of the Parmenides and integrating it firmly within the context of Plato's metaphysics and methodology. Scolnicov shows that in the Parmenides Plato addresses the most serious challenge to his own philosophy: the monism of Parmenides and the Eleatics. In addition to providing a serious rebuttal to Parmenides, Plato here re-formulates his own theory of forms and participation, arguments that are central to the whole of Platonic thought, and provides these concepts with a rigorous logical and philosophical foundation. In Scolnicov's analysis, the Parmenides emerges as an extension of ideas from Plato's middle dialogues and as an opening to the later dialogues. Scolnicov’s analysis is crisp and lucid, offering a persuasive approach to a complicated dialogue. This translation follows the Greek closely, and the commentary affords the Greekless reader a clear understanding of how Scolnicov’s interpretation emerges from the text. This volume will provide a valuable introduction and framework for understanding a dialogue that continues to generate lively discussion today.
Author: Gail Fine
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198235496
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 417
Get Book
Book Description
This is the first book on Aristotle's important but neglected essay Peri ideon, 'On Ideas', to be published in English. Gail Fine explores the philosophical merits of Aristotle's criticisms of Plato, and relates their views to current debates about universals, properties, meaning, and knowledge. The full, annotated text of Peri ideon is included, with translation.
Author: William A. Welton
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 9780739105146
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 338
Get Book
Book Description
The "theory of forms" usually attributed to Plato is one of the most famous of philosophical theories, yet it has engendered such controversy in the literature on Plato that scholars even debate whether or not such a theory exists in his texts. Plato's Forms: Varieties of Interpretation is an ambitious work that brings together, in a single volume, widely divergent approaches to the topic of the forms in Plato's dialogues. With contributions rooted in both Anglo-American and Continental philosophy, the book illustrates the contentious role the forms have played in Platonic scholarship and suggests new approaches to a central problem of Plato studies.
Author: David Apolloni
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780739144848
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Get Book
Book Description
This book defends the view that a mysterious plural phrase at Phaedo 74 shows that the Self-Predication Assumptionthe idea that each Form is supposed to have the very characteristic it is supposed to instantiateis both plausible and leads to no infinite regress of Forms. It is an essential read for scholars, specialists and students with an interes
Author: Gail Fine
Publisher: Clarendon Press
ISBN: 0191519510
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 422
Get Book
Book Description
The Peri ideon (On Ideas) is the only work in which Aristotle systematically sets out and criticizes arguments for the existence of Platonic forms. Gail Fine presents the first full-length treatment in English of this important but neglected work . She asks how, and how well, and why and with what justification he favours an alternative metaphysical scheme. She also examines the significance of the Peri ideon for some central questions about Plato's theory of forms - whether, for example, there are forms corresponding to every property or only to some, then to which ones; whether forms are universals, particulars, or both; and whether they are meanings, properties, or both. In addition to discussing the Peri ideon and its sources in Plato's dialogues, Fine also provides a general discussion of Plato's theory of forms, and of our evidence about the date, scope, and aims of the Peri ideon. While she pays careful attention to the details of the text, she also relates the issues to current philosophical concerns. The book will be valuable for anyone interested in metaphysics ancient or modern.
