•  195
    Aristotle's Definition of Citizenship: A Problem and Some Solutions
    History of Philosophy Quarterly 16 (2). 1999.
    This paper explores the tension between Aristotle’s definition of the citizen and his conception of good and bad political regimes. Aristotle’s definition of the citizen as one with a share in the offices of the city produces the paradoxical result that in a monarchy, only one person, the monarch, is a citizen. The paper argues that this reveals a serious problem for Aristotle’s theory. Seven solutions are offered to repair this problem, though revisions that involve broadening Aristotle’s notio…Read more
  •  86
    On the Alleged Historical Reliability of Plato’s Apology
    Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 82 (3): 235-265. 2000.
    A classic question of Socrates scholarship is whether Plato’s Apology is a reliable source for the philosophy of the historical Socrates. This essay argues that the Apology, like other texts, provides reliable evidence about events in Socrates’ life and general features of his character, but does not give scholars grounds for confidence that we know anything precise about the philosophical views of Socrates. Philosophical views are very sensitive to the precise wording. Through discussion of th…Read more
  •  51
    The Evidence for Degrees of Being in Aristotle
    Classical Quarterly 37 (2): 382-401. 1987.
    The topic of degrees of being in Aristotle is almost universally ignored. A very few scholars do discuss the topic or make use of it in passing. This situation mightbe explained by a scholarly consensus that Aristotle did have a doctrine ofdegrees of being, but this doctrine is too uninteresting to be worth much discussion. But a rather different consensus lies behind the current silence. Many experts in the subject deny that Aristotle believed in degrees of being.No one, to my knowledge, has de…Read more
  •  45
    Tyrannie et royauté selon le Socrate de Xénophon
    Les Etudes Philosophiques 2 (2): 177-192. 2004.
    Cette étude examine la conception de la royauté et de la tyrannie chez le Socrate de Xénophon, et la compare à celles qui sont défendues par Aristote, le Socrate de Platon, et d’autres. Le Socrate de Xénophon soutient que le consentement des gouvernés et le règne de la loi sont les caractéristiques qui distinguent un roi d’un tyran, alors qu’Aristote soutient que la différence tient plutôt à la nature des intérêts qui sont poursuivis, selon qu’il s’agit des intérêts des sujets, dans le cas de la…Read more
  •  42
    The Cambridge companion to Socrates (edited book)
    Cambridge University Press. 2011.
    The Cambridge Companion to Socrates is a collection of essays providing a comprehensive guide to Socrates, the most famous Greek philosopher. Because Socrates himself wrote nothing, our evidence comes from the writings of his friends (above all Plato), his enemies, and later writers. Socrates is thus a literary figure as well as a historical person. Both aspects of Socrates' legacy are covered in this volume. Socrates' character is full of paradox, and so are his philosophical views. These parad…Read more
  •  40
    On Professor VIastos’ Xenophon
    Ancient Philosophy 7 (n/a): 9-22. 1987.
    This paper defends Xenophon against the various arguments that Professor Vlastos has made against the historical reliability and philosophical worth of Xenophon's Socrates
  •  40
    Le statut catégoriel des différences dans l' « Organon »
    Revue Philosophique de la France Et de l'Etranger 183 (2). 1993.
    The question, What category does the differentia belong to? is a difficult problem in Aristotelian metaphysics. For example, is the differentia of a substance itself a substance, or e.g. a quality? The range of previous interpretations of Aristotle on this point are comprehensively surveyed. Based primarily on evidence in the Categories, this paper argues for an answer to this question.
  •  38
    Politics as a Vocation, According to Aristotle
    History of Political Thought 22 (2): 221-241. 2001.
    What does Aristotle think of ‘politics as a vocation’? For whom does Aristotle believe that a life devoted to politics is choiceworthy? In Nicomachean Ethics I, 2, Aristotle argues that the goal of politics is the ultimate and natural goal for all human beings. This chapter is often interpreted weakly, as if Aristotle's point were only that human beings are suited to lead lives of general sociability. But what his argument implies is stronger. If the human good, the ultimate end of human action,…Read more
  •  24
    The Evidence for Degrees of Being in Aristotle
    Classical Quarterly 37 (02): 382-. 1987.
    The topic of degrees of being in Aristotle is almost universally ignored. A very few scholars do discuss the topic or make use of it in passing. This situation mightbe explained by a scholarly consensus that Aristotle did have a doctrine ofdegrees of being, but this doctrine is too uninteresting to be worth much discussion. Conversation with a number of scholars from several countries has convinced me, however, that a rather different consensus lies behind the current silence. It turnsout that m…Read more
  •  22
    The ancient sceptic's way of life
    Metaphilosophy 21 (3): 204-222. 1990.
    This paper provides a description of the ancient sceptic’s way of life that frames skepticism as a pervasive state of mind and character. This state is presented through a causal account of the process through which it is created. Noted as the first rung in this account is the Sceptic Teacher, who, by blending the characteristics of the idea types of Universal Refuter and the Universal Persuader, causes a dispositional tendency in the sceptic student to suspend belief for all propositions p and …Read more
  •  16
    Plato's Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito: Critical Essays
    with Rachana Kamtekar, Mark McPherran, P. T. Geach, S. Marc Cohen, Gregory Vlastos, E. De Strycker, S. R. Slings, Terence Irwin, M. F. Burnyeat, Thomas C. Brickhouse, Nicholas D. Smith, Richard Kraut, David Bostock, and Verity Harte
    Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2004.
    Plato's Euthyrphro, Apology, andCrito portray Socrates' words and deeds during his trial for disbelieving in the Gods of Athens and corrupting the Athenian youth, and constitute a defense of the man Socrates and of his way of life, the philosophic life. The twelve essays in the volume, written by leading classical philosophers, investigate various aspects of these works of Plato, including the significance of Plato's characters, Socrates's revolutionary religious ideas, and the relationship betw…Read more
  •  11
  •  10
    Commentary on Gill
    Proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium of Ancient Philosophy 4 (1): 206-212. 1988.
  •  7
    Colloquium 4
    Proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium of Ancient Philosophy 9 (1): 131-156. 1993.
  •  3
    Some central elements of Socratic political theory
    Polis 18 (1-2): 27-40. 2001.
    The fundamental concepts of Socratic political theory are statesmanship or the art of politics, and the good of the city. Important scholars have denied that, on Socrates' view, statesmanship as such is possible. But Socratic intellectualism does not commit him to the view that the methods of politics, such as legislation and punishment, are useless. The Socratic tradition in political theory is rich and varied. Among the dimensions of variation are: the relationship between statesmanship and ot…Read more
  •  3
    Xénophon et Socrate: actes du colloque d'Aix-en-Provence (6-9 novembre 2003) (review)
    with T. Calvo Martínez, L. Dorion, J. Gourinat, M. Narcy, D. Morrison, and H. Ney
    Librarie Philosophique J. Vrin. 2008.
    Depuis une vingtaine d'annees, on assiste un peu partout a un regain d'interet pour les ecrits socratiques de Xenophon. Que Xenophon ne nous donne pas davantage que Platon un portrait historiquement fiable de Socrate peut etre considere comme un acquis de la critique du XXe siecle. Laissant transparaitre dans son temoignage des options profondement differentes de celles de Platon, Xenophon temoigne par la meme, cependant, des tensions, voire des oppositions qui traversaient le milieu socratique …Read more
  •  1
    Separation: a reply to Fine
    Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 3 167-173. 1985.
  •  1
    Plato and Xenophon: comparative studies (edited book)
    with Gabriel Danzig and David M. Johnson
    Brill. 2018.
    Plato and Xenophon: Comparative Studies contains a wide variety of comparative studies of the writings of Plato and Xenophon, from philosophical, literary, and historical perspectives.
  • Cambridge Companion to Socrates (edited book)
    Cambridge University Press. 2011.
    The Cambridge Companion to Socrates is a collection of essays providing a comprehensive guide to Socrates, the most famous Greek philosopher. Because Socrates himself wrote nothing, our evidence comes from the writings of his friends , his enemies, and later writers. Socrates is thus a literary figure as well as a historical person. Both aspects of Socrates' legacy are covered in this volume. Socrates' character is full of paradox, and so are his philosophical views. These paradoxes have led to …Read more
  • Special volume of "Thaumàzein - Rivista di Filosofia" dedicated to the theme of Socratic Eudaimonia and care for others. It is a multilingual volume comprising twenty papers divided into six sections with an introduction by Linda Napolitano. Edited by Santiago Chame, Donald Morrison, and Linda Napolitano. Despite the appearances given by certain texts, the moral psychology of Socrates needs not imply selfishness. On the contrary, a close look at passages in Plato and Xenophon (see Plato, Meno 77…Read more