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9Death, Immortality, and Meaning in Life: Fischer, John Martin, New York: Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. ix + 203, US$26.95 (pb) (review)Australasian Journal of Philosophy 99 (3): 628-628. 2021.
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2Scaling the Ladder. Why the Final Step of the Lover’s Ascent is a Generalizing StepPlato Journal 15 95-106. 2015.
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36Scaling the Ladder. Why the Final Step of the Lover’s Ascent is a Generalizing StepPlato Journal 15 95-106. 2015.The ‘Scala Amoris’, or ‘Ladder of Love’, constitutes the philosophical and aesthetic centrepiece of Socrates’ encomium of Eros in Plato’s Symposium. Here Diotima describes how a lover ascending up the Ladder directs his erotic attention to a number of difference kinds of beautiful objects, first bodies, then souls, just institutions and knowledge, until he catches a glimpse of Beauty itself. In this paper I advance an ‘inclusive’ reading of the lover’s ascent – to use Price’s 1991 terminology – …Read more
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22Polemics and philosophy - weisser, Thaler strategies of polemics in greek and Roman philosophy. Pp. X + 248. Leiden and boston: Brill, 2016. Cased, €110, us$142. Isbn: 978-90-04-31964-6 (review)The Classical Review 67 (2): 538-541. 2017.
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22Current views on Plato's symposium - Destrée, giannopoulou Plato's symposium. A critical guide. Pp. X + 268. Cambridge: Cambridge university press, 2017. Cased, £64.99, us$99.99. Isbn: 978-1-107-11005-2 (review)The Classical Review 68 (2): 356-359. 2018.
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71The memory of virtue: Achieving immortality in Plato's symposiumClassical Quarterly 63 (2): 543-557. 2013.The prospect of human immortality is manifest in many of Plato's writings, appearing as early as the Apology and the Crito, and as late as Book 12 of the Laws. But nowhere is immortality given so much attention, nor as central a place in Plato's philosophical projects, as in what have traditionally been referred to as his Middle Period works, so it is hardly surprising that we find an extensive treatment of the subject of immortality in Socrates’ own encomium in the Symposium. Eros, Socrates tel…Read more
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73The Philosopher's Stories: The Role of Myth in Plato's PedagogyThe European Legacy 15 (7): 843-853. 2010.In this essay I will argue that Platonic myths are a useful tool not only in the education of the ignorant but for the philosophical mind as well. To do this I will first examine the limitations and problems that Plato sees in written communication, and I will then argue that myths avoid these problems by undermining their own validity. If they are to avoid the problems that plague the written format, myths must show themselves for what they are: inadequate tools for giving a complete account of…Read more
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93The greatest hope of all: Aristophanes on human nature in Plato's symposiumClassical Quarterly 63 (2): 567-579. 2013.In recent years there has been a renaissance of scholarly interest in Plato's Symposium, as scholars have again begun to recognize the philosophical subtlety and complexity of the dialogue. But despite the quality and quantity of the studies that have been produced few contain an extended analysis of the speech of Aristophanes; an unusual oversight given that Aristophanes' encomium is one of the highlights of the dialogue. In contrast to the plodding and technical speeches that precede it, the f…Read more
Durham, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Religion |
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy |