Virtue Is Knowledge

Virtue Is Knowledge PDF Author: Lorraine Smith Pangle
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022613668X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 287

Get Book Here

Book Description
The relation between virtue and knowledge is at the heart of the Socratic view of human excellence, but it also points to a central puzzle of the Platonic dialogues: Can Socrates be serious in his claims that human excellence is constituted by one virtue, that vice is merely the result of ignorance, and that the correct response to crime is therefore not punishment but education? Or are these assertions mere rhetorical ploys by a notoriously complex thinker? Lorraine Smith Pangle traces the argument for the primacy of virtue and the power of knowledge throughout the five dialogues that feature them most prominently—the Apology, Gorgias, Protagoras, Meno, and Laws—and reveals the truth at the core of these seemingly strange claims. She argues that Socrates was more aware of the complex causes of human action and of the power of irrational passions than a cursory reading might suggest. Pangle’s perceptive analyses reveal that many of Socrates’s teachings in fact explore the factors that make it difficult for humans to be the rational creatures that he at first seems to claim. Also critical to Pangle’s reading is her emphasis on the political dimensions of the dialogues. Underlying many of the paradoxes, she shows, is a distinction between philosophic and civic virtue that is critical to understanding them. Ultimately, Pangle offers a radically unconventional way of reading Socrates’s views of human excellence: Virtue is not knowledge in any ordinary sense, but true virtue is nothing other than wisdom.

Virtue Is Knowledge

Virtue Is Knowledge PDF Author: Lorraine Smith Pangle
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022613668X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 287

Get Book Here

Book Description
The relation between virtue and knowledge is at the heart of the Socratic view of human excellence, but it also points to a central puzzle of the Platonic dialogues: Can Socrates be serious in his claims that human excellence is constituted by one virtue, that vice is merely the result of ignorance, and that the correct response to crime is therefore not punishment but education? Or are these assertions mere rhetorical ploys by a notoriously complex thinker? Lorraine Smith Pangle traces the argument for the primacy of virtue and the power of knowledge throughout the five dialogues that feature them most prominently—the Apology, Gorgias, Protagoras, Meno, and Laws—and reveals the truth at the core of these seemingly strange claims. She argues that Socrates was more aware of the complex causes of human action and of the power of irrational passions than a cursory reading might suggest. Pangle’s perceptive analyses reveal that many of Socrates’s teachings in fact explore the factors that make it difficult for humans to be the rational creatures that he at first seems to claim. Also critical to Pangle’s reading is her emphasis on the political dimensions of the dialogues. Underlying many of the paradoxes, she shows, is a distinction between philosophic and civic virtue that is critical to understanding them. Ultimately, Pangle offers a radically unconventional way of reading Socrates’s views of human excellence: Virtue is not knowledge in any ordinary sense, but true virtue is nothing other than wisdom.

Aristotle's Dialogue with Socrates

Aristotle's Dialogue with Socrates PDF Author: Ronna Burger
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226080544
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 319

Get Book Here

Book Description
What is the good life for a human being? Aristotle’s exploration of this question in the Nicomachean Ethics has established it as a founding work of Western philosophy, though its teachings have long puzzled readers and provoked spirited discussion. Adopting a radically new point of view, Ronna Burger deciphers some of the most perplexing conundrums of this influential treatise by approaching it as Aristotle’s dialogue with the Platonic Socrates. Tracing the argument of the Ethics as it emerges through that approach, Burger’s careful reading shows how Aristotle represents ethical virtue from the perspective of those devoted to it while standing back to examine its assumptions and implications. “This is the best book I have read on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. It is so well crafted that reading it is like reading the Ethics itself, in that it provides an education in ethical matters that does justice to all sides of the issues.”—Mary P. Nichols, Baylor University

Overcoming Polarization in the Public Square

Overcoming Polarization in the Public Square PDF Author: Lauren Swayne Barthold
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030455866
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 215

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book describes how civic dialogue can serve as an antidote to a polarized public square. It argues that when pervasive polarization renders rational and fact-based argumentation ineffective, we first need to engage in a way that builds trust. Civic dialogue is a form of structured discourse that utilizes first-person narratives in order to promote trust, openness, and mutual understanding. By creating a dialogic structure that encourages listening and reflection, particularities and differences about fraught identities can be expressed in such a way that leads to the possibility of connecting through our fundamental, shared, and deeply felt humanity. Drawing on Plato, Buber, Gadamer, Dewey, cognitive bias research, as well as the work of dialogue practitioners, Lauren Swayne Barthold provides a sustained defense of civic dialogue as an effective strategy for avoiding futile political arguments and for creating pluralistic democratic communities.

Meno

Meno PDF Author: Plato
Publisher: Akasha Classics
ISBN: 9781605125084
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 108

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Meno is an absorbing look at the question of human virtue. As in most of Plato's dialogues, Meno features Socrates engaging a prominent thinker and attempting to draw out the implications of his theories. The topic at hand is virtue - what is it? Is it the same for everyone? Where does it come from? In Meno, Socrates also makes the case for the immortality of the soul, and knowledge as a process of remembering that which the soul already knows. Addressing Plato's central concern of how to live a good life, Meno is an important work, presented with the humor and vibrancy that has made Plato's writing timeless.

Inner Virtue

Inner Virtue PDF Author: Nicolas Bommarito
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190673389
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Get Book Here

Book Description
Inner virtue and vice -- Pleasure -- Emotion -- Attention -- The relevance of inner virtue

Plato's Meno

Plato's Meno PDF Author: Cristina Ionescu
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 9780739120255
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 218

Get Book Here

Book Description
Plato's Meno: An Interpretation/is a comprehensive study of the transitional dialogue dedicated to the investigation of virtue. Cristina Ionescu analyzes with approximately equal emphasis both the dramatic details and the logic of the arguments. By focusing on the interrelated themes that run through the text, Ionescu provides a comprehensive overview of the dialogue and a refreshing update of its argument. The theme of the Meno is the investigation of virtue with regard to both its essence and our possibility of acquiring it, whether we acquire virtue by nature, teaching, practice, or in some other way. As the nature of the theoretical investigation itself is made into a direct concern of the dialogue, and since the essence of virtue is closely associated with knowledge, the dialogue has both a moral and an epistemological dimension. The interwoven treatment of virtue and knowledge throughout the Meno enlarges the scope of interest to cover also several related themes: the immortality of the soul, the relationship between craft-like expertise and moral wisdom, the relationship between divine inspiration and virtue, the contrast between dialectical conversations and eristic disputes, and the importance of following appropriate methods in philosophical investigations. By examining these related ideas with clarity, Ionescu provides an invaluable guide to the dialogue. Plato's Meno: An Interpretation is an excellent book for readers of Plato at all levels: undergraduates, graduates, and specialists.

The Structure of Enquiry in Plato's Early Dialogues

The Structure of Enquiry in Plato's Early Dialogues PDF Author: Vasilis Politis
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107068118
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 267

Get Book Here

Book Description
Offers an alternative interpretation and defends a radically new view of Plato's method of argument in the early dialogues.

Socratic Virtue

Socratic Virtue PDF Author: Naomi Reshotko
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139458078
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 5

Get Book Here

Book Description
Socrates was not a moral philosopher. Instead he was a theorist who showed how human desire and human knowledge complement one another in the pursuit of human happiness. His theory allowed him to demonstrate that actions and objects have no value other than that which they derive from their employment by individuals who, inevitably, desire their own happiness and have the knowledge to use actions and objects as a means for its attainment. The result is a naturalised, practical, and demystified account of good and bad, and right and wrong. Professor Reshotko presents a freshly envisioned Socratic theory residing at the intersection of the philosophy of mind and ethics. It makes an important contribution to the study of the Platonic dialogues and will also interest all scholars of ethics and moral psychology.

The End of Protestantism

The End of Protestantism PDF Author: Peter J. Leithart
Publisher: Brazos Press
ISBN: 1493405837
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Failure of Denominationalism and the Future of Christian Unity One of the unforeseen results of the Reformation was the shattering fragmentation of the church. Protestant tribalism was and continues to be a major hindrance to any solution to Christian division and its cultural effects. In this book, influential thinker Peter Leithart critiques American denominationalism in the context of global and historic Christianity, calls for an end to Protestant tribalism, and presents a vision for the future church that transcends post-Reformation divisions. Leithart offers pastors and churches a practical agenda, backed by theological arguments, for pursuing local unity now. Unity in the church will not be a matter of drawing all churches into a single, existing denomination, says Leithart. Returning to Catholicism or Orthodoxy is not the solution. But it is possible to move toward church unity without giving up our convictions about truth. This critique and defense of Protestantism urges readers to preserve and celebrate the central truths recovered in the Reformation while working to heal the wounds of the body of Christ.

The Cambridge Companion to Plato's Republic

The Cambridge Companion to Plato's Republic PDF Author: Giovanni R. F. Ferrari
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521839637
Category : Political science
Languages : en
Pages : 38

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book provides a fresh and comprehensive account of this outstanding work, which remains among the most frequently read works of Greek philosophy, indeed of Classical antiquity in general.