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909Deuteros Plous, the immortality of the soul and the ontological argument for the existence of GodIn Gabriele Cornelli, Thomas M. Robinson & Francisco Bravo (eds.), Plato's Phaedo: Selected Papers From the Eleventh Symposium Platonicum, Academia Verlag. pp. 221-230. 2018.The paper deals with the "deuteros plous", literally ‘the second voyage’, proverbially ‘the next best way’, discussed in Plato’s "Phaedo", the key passage being Phd. 99e4–100a3. The second voyage refers to what Plato’s Socrates calls his “flight into the logoi”. Elaborating on the subject, the author first (I) provides a non-standard interpretation of the passage in question, and then (II) outlines the philosophical problem that it seems to imply, and, finally, (III) tries to apply this philosop…Read more
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380André Höhn: Beobachtungen zur Formung des Sokratesbildes im platonischen 'Symposion' (review)Gnomon 86 (7): 644-646. 2014.
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744The article again treats the question of whether ≪the Idea of the Good is a Reality in the Universe, or beyond it. Is it immanent or transcendent?≫. Plato scholars such as Matthias Baltes and Luc Brisson have defended the thesis that Plato’s Idea of the Good is, on the one hand, beyond being in dignity and power, but, on the other, is nevertheless not transcendent over being. The article delivers first the most important arguments for the thesis of Baltes and Brisson. Then, it gives two countera…Read more
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391Der Grundgedanke des Tractatus als Metamorphose des obersten Grundsatzes der Kritik der reinen VernunftSociété Française de Philosophie, Bulletin 75 (4): 460. 1984.The paper puts forward that the basic principle of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus (4.0312) transforms “the supreme principle of all synthetic judgments a priori” in Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason” (A158/B197) from a level of reason to the level of language. Both philosophers, Kant and Wittgenstein, put forward a transcendental principle and both hold a formal identity true, Kant an identity between the form of experience and the form of the object of experience, Wittgenstein an identity between the f…Read more
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307Das normative "ist" und das konstatiere "soll"Archiv für Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie 74 185-192. 1988.Despite the fact that Aristotle and Frege/Russell differ in how to understand the ambiguity in the meaning of the word "is", their theories share a common feature: "is" does not have a normative meaning, but a constative meaning. This paper, however, shows (1) that there is a normative meaning of "is" (and correspondingly a constative meaning of the word "ought") and (2) that the ambiguity of "is" is itself ambiguous. Furthermore, the paper proposes (3) a performative criterion for making a dist…Read more
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485Abstract: It deals with the question of what a moral judgment is. On the one hand, a satisfactory theory of moral judgments must take into account the descriptive character of moral judgments and the realistic language of morals. On the other hand, it must also meet the non-descriptive character of moral judgments that consists in the recommending or condemning element and in the fact that normative statements are derived from moral judgments. However, cognitivism and emotivism or “normativism” …Read more
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358The debate over Plato’s “ so called unwritten doctrines”, which he communicated only to a small circle of trusted disciples, has caused a stir among philosophers in recent decades. Rafael Ferber assumes a differentiated position in this controversy. He is convinced that the unwritten doctrines did exist, but that Plato, for reasons inherent in the process of gaining knowledge, was unable to communicate these doctrines even to his closest disciples. In this book, Ferber outlines the discussion an…Read more
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213Continuing the introductory blog to the question: "What is a human being?", that is “What is a zôon logon echôn?“, this blog tries to answer the question by unfolding the meaning of the expression “logos“.
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56Platos Idee des GutenAcademia Verlag. 1984.At the centre of the monograph (1984, first edition) lies a detailed interpretation and critique of the idea of the Good in the Republic. The main thesis of the interpretation runs as follows: The idea of the Good functions as a third item between thinking and being. The main purpose of the monograph is to introduce the systematic problem of the third item via the historical problem of the idea of the Good. The second, enlarged edition (1989) gives a new reconstruction of an "exasperatingly diff…Read more
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348Review of: Eugen Fink: Grundfragen der antiken Philosophie, Würzburg 1985 (review)Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 41 (1): 694-696. 1985.This is a review of lectures given by Eugen Fink at the University of Freiburg im Breisgau in the winter term of 1947/48, “Fundamental Questions of Ancient Philosophy,” edited by Franz A. Schwarz
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893Plato as Teacher of Socrates?In Ferber Rafael (ed.), International Plato Studies, Academia Verlag. pp. 443-448. 2016.What distinguishes the Socrates of the early from the Socrates of the middle dialogues? According to a well-known opinion, the “dividing line” lies in the difference between the Socratic and the Platonic theory of action. Whereas for the Platonic Socrates of the early dialogues, all desires are good-dependent, for the Platonic Socrates of the middle dialogues, there are good-independent desires. The paper argues first that this “dividing line” is blurred in the "Symposium", and second that we ha…Read more
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239II Symposium Platonicum. Grüdung der Internationalen Platon-GesellschaftZeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 45 (1). 1991.This is a report on the II Symposium Platonicum, which took place in Perugia, Italy, September 1-6, 1989, and on the founding of the International Plato Society, which took place in Bevagna, Province of Perugia, Umbria, Italy, September 3, 1989.
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157Wilhelm Vossenkuhl, Die Möglichkeit des Guten. Ethik im 21. JahrhundertPhilosophisches Jahrbuch 115 (1): 230. 2008.This is a review of: Wilhelm Vossenkuhl. Die Möglichkeit des Guten. Ethik im 21. Jahrhundert, München. C. H. Beck 2006.
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399Der Grundgedanke des "Tractatus" als Metamorphose des obersten Grundsatzes der "Kritik der reinen Vernunft"Freiburger Zeitschrift für Philosophie Und Theologie 33 (n/a): 129-139. 1986.The paper puts forward that the basic principle of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus (4.0312) transforms “the supreme principle of all synthetic judgments a priori” in Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason” (A158/B197) from a level of reason to the level of language. Both philosophers, Kant and Wittgenstein, put forward a transcendental principle and both hold a formal identity true, Kant an identity between the form of experience and the form of the object of experience, Wittgenstein an identity between the f…Read more
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1„The occurrence of an essence“: „Dies aber ist die Ousia.“ Einige Bemerkungen zur aristotelischen Metaphysik Z 17, 104 1b 4-9 (review)Allgemeine Zeitschrift für Philosophie 26 (1): 61-76. 2001.
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285Platos Idee des GutenAcademia Verlag. 2015.At the centre of the monograph (1984, first edition) lies a detailed interpretation and critique of the idea of the Good in the Republic. The main thesis of the interpretation runs as follows: The idea of the Good functions as a third item between thinking and being. The main purpose of the monograph is to introduce the systematic problem of the third item via the historical problem of the idea of the Good. The second, enlarged edition (1989) gives a new reconstruction of an "exasperatingly diff…Read more
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458It deals with the question of what a moral judgment is. On the one hand, a satisfactory theory of moral judgments must take into account the descriptive character of moral judgments and the realistic language of morals. On the other hand, it must also meet the non-descriptive character of moral judgments that consists in the recommending or condemning element and in the fact that normative statements are derived from moral judgments. However, cognitivism and emotivism or “normativism” are contra…Read more
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327Marion Ledwig, God's Rational Warriors. The Rationality of Faith ConsideredPhilosophisches Jahrbuch 118 (1): 161. 2011.This is a review of: God's Rational Warriors: The Rationality of Faith Considered
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1337Goodness (The Good, Agathon)In Debra Nails and Harold Tarrant Associate Editors: Francisco Gonzalez Gerald A. Press (ed.), The Continuum Companion to Plato, Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 177-179. 2012.This is a short overview of Plato’s “greatest thing to be learned” or the “greatest lesson” (megiston mathêma) – the Idea of the Good.
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786Wittgenstein und SpenglerArchiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 73 (2): 188-207. 1991.In his Vermischte Bemerkungen 43, Wittgenstein notices that he was also influenced by Oswald Spengler. The paper deals with the question of in which way Spengler influenced Wittgenstein’s late works and if it really was influence or only a coincidence of ideas. It is put forward that Spengler’s rather unknown philosophy of language influenced Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language, especially the concepts of family resemblance, antiessentialism, and language-game (Sprachspiel). A picture of the f…Read more
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687Was jede Seele sucht und worumwillen sie alles tutElenchos 34 (1): 5-31. 2013.The article first (i) gives an exegesis of the famous passage in the Republic, 505d11-506a2. Attention is drawn to the fact that the principle that every soul does everything for the Good (panta prattei) can be translated in two ways: Every soul does everything for the sake of the Good, or goes to all lengths for the sake of the Good. Depending on the different translations, we have a different picture of the platonic Socrates in the Republic, an intellectualistic Socrates for whom pure irration…Read more
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2630Sokrates: Tugend ist WissenElenchos 12 39-66. 1991.The article examines the Socratic principle that (1) virtue is knowledge and its corollary that (2) nobody errs voluntarily (nemo sua sponte peccat). It tries to show (I) that both principles are paradoxa, i.e. from a phenomenological point of view, they seem to be false; (II) that nevertheless the platonic Socrates accepts both principles as true; and finally (III) that these principles are analytical truths a priori which can only be understood if a person (soul) finds them in him- or herself.
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590Philosophie, Sprache, Erkenntnis, Wahrheit, Sein, GutC. H. Beck. 2008.The book (1994, revised and enlarged 8th edition 2008) provides an introduction to six key concepts in philosophy – philosophy, language, knowledge, truth, being and good. At the same time, it aims to initiate its readers into the process of philosophical thinking. The book is addressed to students and laypeople, but also contains new ideas for specialists. It is written in a clear, accessible and engaging style, and its author ‘shares, and manages to convey, something of Plato's own commitment …Read more
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377Introduction to "Sophistae"In Fulvia de Luise & Alessandro Stavru (eds.), Socratica III, Academia Verlag. pp. 201-203. 2014.Plato’s “Apology of Socrates” is a masterpiece of the philosophical literature. The question remains as to how much it has been influenced by earlier works, e.g. of Gorgias of Leontinoi and Euripides. Nevertheless, comparative studies on Hippolytus’ defense in Euripides’ tragedy of the same name, on Gorgias’ “Defense of Palamedes” and on Plato’s “Apology” do not exist. The short paper gives an introduction into the status quaestionis.
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616Zeno's metrical paradox of extension and Descartes' mind-body problemIn Stefania Giombini E. Flavia Marcacci (ed.), Estratto da/Excerpt from: Il quinto secolo. Studi di loso a antica in onore di Livio Rossetti a c. di Stefania Giombini e Flavia Marcacci. Aguaplano—Of cina del libro, Passignano s.T. 2010, pp. 295-310 [isbn/ean: 978-88-904213-4-1], . pp. 205-310. 2010.The article uses Zeno’s metrical paradox of extension, or Zeno’s fundamental paradox, as a thought-model for the mind-body problem. With the help of this model, the distinction contained between mental and physical phenomena can be formulated as sharply as possible. I formulate Zeno’s fundamental paradox and give a sketch of four different solutions to it. Then I construct a mind-body paradox corresponding to the fundamental paradox. Through that, it becomes possible to copy the solutions to the…Read more
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381Das normative "ist"Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 42 (3). 1988.Despite the fact that Aristotle and Frege/Russell differ in how to understand the ambiguity in the meaning of the word “is”, their theories share a common feature: “is” does not have a normative meaning. This paper, however, (I) shows (a) that there is a normative meaning of “is” (and correspondingly a constative meaning of the word “ought”) and (b) that the ambiguity of “is” is itself ambiguous. Furthermore, it proposes (c) a performative criterion for making a distinction between constative an…Read more
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29What did Socrates know and how did he know it?In Michael Erler & Luc Brisson (eds.), Gorgias - Menon: selected papers from the Seventh Symposium Platonicum, Academia Verlag. pp. 263-267. 2007.The article is the shortened English version of the article “Was und wie hat Sokrates gewusst?” Elenchos: Rivista di studi sul pensiero antico, 28, 5-39. First, it states a set of seven “knowledge-claims” made by Socrates: 1. There is a distinction between right opinion and knowledge. 2. Virtue is knowledge. 3. Nobody willingly does wrong. 4. To do injustice is the greatest evil for the wrongdoer himself. 5. An even greater evil is if the wrongdoer is not punished. 6. The just person is happy; t…Read more