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The "Socratic" Paradoxes in Plato's "Hippias Minor" and "Protagoras"Dissertation, Columbia University. 1982.Socrates has been criticized since the time of Aristotle for having held certain paradoxical ethical doctrines including "Virtue is knowledge," "No one does wrong willingly," and "All the virtues are one," which are thought plainly to contradict human experience. Yet the very notion of "Socratic" paradoxes belies the Socratic profession of ignorance so prominent in precisely those dialogues in which the paradoxes are central. ;The Socratic portrait painted by Plato includes both the Socratic pro…Read more
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4Socrates: Seeker or Preacher?In Sara Ahbel-Rappe & Rachana Kamtekar (eds.), A Companion to Socrates, Wiley-blackwell. 2006.This chapter contains sections titled: Exhortation, Refutation, and Examination Inquiry – Not Teaching The “What is x?” Question.
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16Good for Anything?Ancient Philosophy 42 (1): 83-103. 2022.This paper aims to show that in Republic ii Glaucon and Adeimantus contend that being just is not a good of any kind; it is the good consequences of seeming just that place it in Glaucon’s third and lowest class of goods. The brothers challenge Socrates to prove that being just has good consequences. They do not ask him to prove that being just is good for itself apart from its consequences, nor is this something he attempts to prove.
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23Socrates and Thrasymachus on Perfect and Imperfect InjusticePlato Journal 22. 2021.It is argued that the true definition of justice in Plato’s Republic appears not in Book IV but in Book I, where it is clear that justice is other-oriented or external rather than internal as per Book IV. Indeed, on Book IV’s definition, there is virtually no difference between justice and moderation. Considered here is a single argument between Socrates and Thrasymachus, in which Socrates contends that imperfect injustice is “stronger” than perfect. Rather than producing a just group, the justi…Read more
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5Free to Care: Socrates’ Political EngagementIn Paul J. Diduch & Michael P. Harding (eds.), Socrates in the Cave: On the Philosopher’s Motive in Plato, Springer Verlag. pp. 165-183. 2018.Taking her bearings from Socrates’ remark in Apology that “I always do your business, going to each of you privately, as a father or an older brother might do, persuading you to care for virtue”, Weiss argues that Socrates’ relationship with Alcibiades exemplifies Socrates’ freedom to care. Freedom to care means, in large part, freedom from the desires that might lead a teacher to sexually exploit his student. As Alcibiades testifies, Socrates exhibits the kind of self-control that is an absolut…Read more
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2Comments on Seeskin and Kreisel’s Essays on Maimonides on CreationIn Raphael Jospe & Dov Schwartz (eds.), Jewish philosophy: perspectives and retrospectives, Academic Studies Press. 2012.
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17Glaucon’s Fate. History, Myth, and Character in Plato’s Republic, written by Jacob HowlandPolis 36 (2): 401-404. 2019.
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26Ο 'Αγαθός As ΌΔυνατός in the Hippias MinorClassical Quarterly 31 (2): 287-304. 1981.This paper is an attempt so to construe the arguments of the Hippias Minor as to remove the justification for regarding it as unworthy of Plato either because of its alleged fallaciousness and Sophistic mode of argument or because of its alleged immorality. It focuses, therefore, only on the arguments and their conclusions, steering clear of the dialogue's dramatic and literary aspects. Whereas I do not wish to deny the importance of these aspects to a proper understanding of the dialogue – on t…Read more
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21Book review: Virtue is Knowledge: The Moral Foundations of Socratic Political Philosophy, written by Lorraine Smith Pangle (review)Polis 32 (1): 235-239. 2015.
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9Crescas: Light of the Lord : Translated with Introduction and Notes (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2018.This is the first complete English translation of Hasdai Crescas's Light of the Lord, a seminal work of medieval Jewish philosophy. Crescas challenges the Aristotelian underpinnings of medieval thought, introduces alternative physical and metaphysical theories, and presents service to the God of love and benefaction as the goal for humankind.
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32Waiting for Godo... and Godan: Completing Rowe’s Critique of the Ontological ArgumentEuropean Journal for Philosophy of Religion 9 (1): 65--86. 2017.In his critique of Anselm’s ontological argument for God’s existence, William Rowe introduces the concepts of “magico” and “magican” — defining “magicos” as magicians that do not exist, and “magicans” as magicians that do exist — to help diagnose what may have gone wrong in Anselm’s argument. As I made my way through Rowe’s intriguing article, I found myself waiting for “Godo” — and for “Godan.” I expected Rowe to invoke these counterparts to his “magico” and “magican” — a non-existing God to co…Read more
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7Ο 'Αγαθός As ΌΔυνατός in the Hippias MinorClassical Quarterly 31 (2): 287-304. 1981.This paper is an attempt so to construe the arguments of the Hippias Minor as to remove the justification for regarding it as unworthy of Plato either because of its alleged fallaciousness and Sophistic mode of argument or because of its alleged immorality. It focuses, therefore, only on the arguments and their conclusions, steering clear of the dialogue's dramatic and literary aspects. Whereas I do not wish to deny the importance of these aspects to a proper understanding of the dialogue – on t…Read more
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15Saadiah on Divine Grace and Human SufferingJournal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 9 (2): 155-171. 2000.
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5Oh, Brother!: The Fraternity of Rhetoric and Philosophy in Plato's GorgiasInterpretation 30 (2): 195-206. 2003.
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64The moral and social dimensions of gratitudeSouthern Journal of Philosophy 23 (4): 491-501. 1985.
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12Philosophers in the Republic: Plato's two paradigmsCornell University Press. 2012.Roslyn Weiss offers a new interpretation of Platonic moral philosophy based on an unconventional reading of the Republic. Her basic argument begins with the point that Plato means for us to react badly to the philosopher-rulers of Book 7. She then makes the case that there are two distinct kinds of philosopher in the Republic--one that is ideal and one that is farcical--and that each represents a separate type of justice. Finally, she argues that Plato recognizes this dualism and points the way …Read more
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39The Socratic Paradox and its EnemiesUniversity of Chicago Press. 2006.In The Socratic Paradox and Its Enemies, Roslyn Weiss argues that the Socratic paradoxes—no one does wrong willingly, virtue is knowledge, and all the virtues are one—are best understood as Socrates’ way of combating sophistic views: ...
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40A rejoinder to professors Gosling and TaylorJournal of the History of Philosophy 28 (1): 117-118. 1990.In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:A Rejoinder to Professors Gosling and Taylor Hedonism is for Socrates the radical view that pleasure is the standard according to which one ought to steer one's life, the view that pleasure represents the proper end of human existence. Hedonism is not for Socrates the weaker view that the good life is also the most pleasant. Were it not for the Protagoras, all would agree, I think, that Socrates does not regard pleasure as the highes…Read more
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