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7Reason and the Good in Plato’s RepublicIn David Keyt & Christopher Shields (eds.), Principles and Praxis in Ancient Greek Philosophy: Essays in Ancient Greek Philosophy in Honor of Fred D. Miller, Jr, Springer Verlag. pp. 135-158. 2024.Let me begin with some of the background worries that motivate the paper. First, for years I have been working on the relation of the Timaeus to the Republic guided by this triple analogy: as the demiurge is to the cosmos, so the philosopher-ruler is to the polis, so reason is to the soul or individual. The key claim is Tim. 29e: the demiurge is good and so wants to make everything it makes like it itself is, i.e., good, as good as possible. I take the demiurge to be reason idealized, so I infer…Read more
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3Plato: PsychologyIn Christopher Shields (ed.), The Blackwell Guide to Ancient Philosophy, Wiley-blackwell. 2003.This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Phaedo Middle Period Dialogues Later Dialogues References and Recommended Reading.
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43Platonism and Naturalism: The Possibility of Philosophy by Lloyd P. GersonJournal of the History of Philosophy 59 (2): 328-329. 2021.Lloyd Gerson has a vision of what Platonism is. Those who see things differently may find his vision bewildering. In Platonism and Naturalism, to his credit, his vision is synoptic and impressively focused on critical passages and issues, especially in Plato's metaphysics and epistemology, though ethics also receives much attention. Leaving aside the introduction and chapter 1, chapters 2–6 are devoted to Plato and comprise two-thirds of the work. Chapters 7, "Aristotle the Platonist," 8, "Ploti…Read more
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27Plato, Platonists, PlatonismPlato Journal 16 21-30. 2016.The paper examines different approaches to key metaphysical and conceptual claims in Plato’s dialogues. It explores how different readers of Plato, beginning with Aristotle, make sense of the status of and the relations between some of the key Forms developed in different dialogues, to include the Form of the Good.
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1Studies in Plato's Theory of KnowledgeDissertation, University of California, Berkeley. 1985.In this thesis I offer a reconstruction of some of the foundations of Plato's Theory of Knowledge. This effort is based upon two Platonic theses: Thought is Language and The objects of different faculties of the soul are distinct. The thesis is an investigation of the inter-relation of these two claims. I argue that the former does not prompt Plato to abandon the latter, the so-called Two Worlds hypothesis of the Republic, but rather serves as a justification of that hypothesis. In the first cha…Read more
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IntroductionIn The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato's Metaphysics, Princeton University Press. pp. 1-12. 2002.
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57Timaean ParticularsClassical Quarterly 42 (01): 87-. 1992.At 47e–53c of the Timaeus Plato presents his most detailed metaphysical analysis of particulars. We are told about the construction of the physical universe, the ways we can and cannot talk about the phenomena produced, and about the two causes – Necessity and Intelligence – which govern the processes and results of production. It seems to me that we are told too much and too little: too much, because we have two accounts of the generation of phenomenal particulars – one, the ‘formal account’, w…Read more
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17Commentary on Sauvé MeyerProceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium of Ancient Philosophy 29 (1): 70-74. 2014.This short comment on Professor Sauvé Meyer’s paper attempts to draw attention to two issues that influence our understanding of Divine responsibility in the Timaeus. The first concerns the question of the literalness of the argument. If there is no creation, per much of the ancient tradition of commentators on the Timaeus, then there can be no divine responsibility. The second is the Timaeus’ account of the origin of non-human animals. Since they come from ‘fallen humans,’ and since they are ne…Read more
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BibliographyIn The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato's Metaphysics, Princeton University Press. pp. 367-378. 2002.
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43Plato on Perception and 'Commons'Classical Quarterly 40 (01): 148-. 1990.On the face of it, Plato's treatment of aisthesis is decidedly ambiguous. Sometimes he treats aisthesis as a faculty which, though distinct from all rational capacities, is nonetheless capable of forming judgments such as ‘This stick is bent’ or ‘The same thing is hard and soft’. In the Theaetetus, however, he appears to separate aisthesis from judgment, isolating the former from all prepositional, identificatory and recognitional capacities. The dilemma is easily expressed: Is perception a judg…Read more
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59Meaning, Relation, and Existence in Plato’s Parmenides (review)Ancient Philosophy 10 (1): 131-135. 1990.
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Chapter three. The emergence of formsIn The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato's Metaphysics, Princeton University Press. pp. 49-103. 2002.
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1The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato's MetaphysicsPhilosophical Quarterly 55 (220): 507-510. 2005.
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1Chapter five. Forms and languageIn The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato's Metaphysics, Princeton University Press. pp. 137-181. 2002.
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112Ascent and descent: The philosopher's regretSocial Philosophy and Policy 24 (2): 40-69. 2007.The aim of this long essay is to explain why the philosopher-ruler of Plato's Republic descends “with regret” or having been “compelled” from his contemplation of the Forms to rule the state. It offers a new, optimistic interpretation of his goal in so descending, namely to try to make everyone into a philosopher. After a brief introductory section, I turn to the argument of the Republic to show both that the philosopher's understanding of the Good causes him to try to maximize the amount of goo…Read more
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Index LocorumIn The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato's Metaphysics, Princeton University Press. pp. 379-386. 2002.
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32Timaean ParticularsClassical Quarterly 42 (1): 87-113. 1992.At 47e–53c of the Timaeus Plato presents his most detailed metaphysical analysis of particulars. We are told about the construction of the physical universe, the ways we can and cannot talk about the phenomena produced, and about the two causes – Necessity and Intelligence – which govern the processes and results of production. It seems to me that we are told too much and too little: too much, because we have two accounts of the generation of phenomenal particulars – one, the ‘formal account’, w…Read more
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Chapter six. Not-beingsIn The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato's Metaphysics, Princeton University Press. pp. 182-217. 2002.
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ContentsIn The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato's Metaphysics, Princeton University Press. 2002.
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1NotesIn The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato's Metaphysics, Princeton University Press. pp. 311-366. 2002.
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5Chapter four. Refining the theory of formsIn The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato's Metaphysics, Princeton University Press. pp. 104-136. 2002.
Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Metaphysics |
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Metaphysics |
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy |