•  3
    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
  •  3
    Plato: Psychology
    In Christopher Shields (ed.), The Blackwell Guide to Ancient Philosophy, Blackwell. 2003.
    This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Phaedo Middle Period Dialogues Later Dialogues References and Recommended Reading.
  •  35
    Platonism and Naturalism: The Possibility of Philosophy by Lloyd P. Gerson
    Journal 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
  •  26
    Plato, Platonists, Platonism
    Plato 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.
  •  1
    Studies in Plato's Theory of Knowledge
    Dissertation, 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
  •  12
    Commentary on Sauvé Meyer
    Proceedings 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
  •  47
    Timaean Particulars
    Classical 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
  • Bibliography
    In The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato's Metaphysics, Princeton University Press. pp. 367-378. 2009.
  •  9
    Self-Predication and Synonymy
    Ancient Philosophy 10 (2): 193-202. 1990.
  •  36
    Plato 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
  •  1
    The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato's Metaphysics
    Philosophical Quarterly 55 (220): 507-510. 2005.
  •  104
    Ascent and descent: The philosopher's regret
    Social 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
  •  57
    Plato’s Rational Eudaimonism
    Philosophical Inquiry 39 (3-4): 26-39. 2015.
  •  9
    Plato and Platonism (review)
    Ancient Philosophy 16 (1): 195-215. 1996.
  • Index Locorum
    In The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato's Metaphysics, Princeton University Press. pp. 379-386. 2009.
  • Chapter six. Not-beings
    In The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato's Metaphysics, Princeton University Press. pp. 182-217. 2009.
  •  24
    Timaean Particulars
    Classical 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
  •  45
    The De Anima of Alexander of Aphrodisias (review)
    Ancient Philosophy 9 (2): 354-357. 1989.
  •  28
    Review: Plato's Natural Philosophy (review)
    Mind 115 (459): 765-769. 2006.
  •  1
    Notes
    In The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato's Metaphysics, Princeton University Press. pp. 311-366. 2009.
  •  8
    Flux and Language in the Theaetetus
    Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 18 109-52. 2000.
  •  51
    Aristotle On Perception (review)
    Ancient Philosophy 19 (1): 172-177. 1999.
  •  13
    Review of Gretchen J. reydams-schils (ed.), Plato's Timaeus As Cultural Icon (review)
    Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2003 (7). 2003.