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11Plato of Athens: A Life in Philosophy. By Robin WaterfieldAncient Philosophy 44 (1): 247-251. 2024.
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6The Socratic ProblemIn Hugh H. Benson (ed.), A Companion to Plato, Blackwell. 2006.This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction The Reliability of our Sources What our Sources tell us about Socrates The Problem of Socrates’ Doctrines.
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11SocratesPolity. 2019.Socrates is one the most important thinkers in western philosophy, yet he remains enigmatic, having left behind no works of his own. Instead, his thought is understood primarily through the work of his followers. In this accessible introduction, William Prior assesses Socrates the man, his famous trial, and the nature of his philosophy.
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Socrates MetaphysicianIn David Sedley (ed.), Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy Xxvii: Winter 2004, Clarendon Press. 2004.
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18The Historicity of Plato’s ApologyPolis 18 (1-2): 41-57. 2001.Scholars who seek in Plato’s early dialogues an accurate account of the philosophy of the historical Socrates place special weight on the Apology as a source of historical information about him. Even scholars like Charles Kahn, who generally reject this historicist approach to the early dialogues, accept the Apology as a ‘quasi-historical’ document. In this paper I attempt to raise doubts about the historical reliability of the Apology. I argue that the claims used to support the historicity of …Read more
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The Portrait of Socrates in Plato's SymposiumOxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 31 137-166. 2006.
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21Plato at the Googleplex: Why Philosophy Won’t Go Away (review)Ancient Philosophy 37 (1): 221-226. 2017.
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Plato's Intellectual Development: A Critique of the Owen ThesisDissertation, The University of Texas at Austin. 1975.
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60The Portrait of Socrates in Plato's SymposiumIn David Sedley (ed.), Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy Xxxi: Winter 2006, Oxford University Press. pp. 137-166. 2006.I argue that, when Alcibiades' encomium to Socrates is interpreted in light of Socrates' presentation of Diotima's speech, which immediately proceeds it, it shows Socrates to be at the top level of Diotima's "ladder of ascent" to Beauty. If Alcibiades is correct, Socrates' pretense of ignorance is an ironic sham. Socrates, as Plato's mystagogos, must have experiential knowledge of the Form of Beauty.
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TechneIn Audi Robert (ed.), The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Cambridge University Press. pp. 789. 1995.This is a brief dictionary entry on the Greek word "techne" (art or skill) as used in ancient Greek philosophy, in particular in the work of Plato and Aristotle. A techne may be a manual craft, such as carpentry, or a science, such as medicine. A techne is based on universal principles and is capable of being taught.
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34Relations Between Forms and “Pauline Predication” in Euthyphro 11e4-12d4Ancient Philosophy 1 (1): 61-67. 1980.
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45Plato’s Analysis of Being and Not-Being in the SophistSouthern Journal of Philosophy 18 (2): 199-211. 1980.
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5Timaeus 48e-52d and the Third Man ArgumentCanadian Journal of Philosophy, Supplementary Volume 9 (n/a): 123-147. 1983.In this paper I examine a much discussed passage of the Timaeus. This passage contains one of the most important descriptions of Plato's ontology to be found in all the dialogues. The ontological scheme there described differs from that presented in the middle Platonic dialogues in that a third sort of entity, the Receptacle or space, is added to the two classes of things familiar to readers of the Phaedo and Republic: Being and Becoming. The introduction of the Receptacle into Plato's ontology …Read more
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13Socrates: critical assessments (edited book)Routledge. 1996.This four volume set is a collection of some of the most significant scholarship published on the philosophy of Socrates in the last half century. The contributors include many of the most prominent scholars in this field. As the growth in Socratic studies in the past three decades is due in large part to the influential work of Gregory Vlastos, articles by him figure prominently in the collection, and works by other authors are generally related to his work. The volumes deal with different area…Read more
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43Platonica: The anecdotes concerning the life and writings of PlatoJournal of the History of Philosophy 18 (1): 80-81. 1980.
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25The Dialectic of Essence: A Study of Plato's Metaphysics (review) (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 42 (1): 97-98. 2004.This is a brief review of Silverman's study of Plato's ontology, in particular his theory of Forms. Silverman writes from an analytic viewpoint. He accepts the developmentalist picture of Plato's thought, but holds that the development is gradual. He focuses on the issue of predication, and especially self-predication. He tends to treat Plato's ontology as a free-standing subject. All of these features are controversial. I wondered in particular whether the analytic approach required more precis…Read more
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12CompassionPhilosophy and Theology 2 (2): 173-191. 1987.In the first part of this paper, I argue that the sentiment of compassion is a factor of the first importance in moral theory. This sentiment, which causes us to act well toward persons in need, is an essential element in the psychology of the morally well-developed person. Moral rationalists such as Epictetus and Kant, who contend that the source of moral value is reason rather than compassion, produce a distorted picture of our moral lives. Hume’s moral psychology gives compassion the place it…Read more
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2Unity and Development in Plato's MetaphysicsRoutledge. 1985.Studies of Plato’s metaphysics have tended to emphasise either the radical change between the early Theory of Forms and the late doctrines of the Timaeus and the Sophist, or to insist on a unity of approach that is unchanged throughout Plato’s career. The author lays out an alternative approach. Focussing on two metaphysical doctrines of central importance to Plato’s thought – the Theory of Forms and the doctrine of Being and Becoming – he suggests a continuous progress can be traced through Pla…Read more
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37Thomson on the moral specification of rightsPhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 56 (4): 837-845. 1996.
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6The Concept of "Paradeigma" [Greek] in Plato's Theory of FormsApeiron 17 (1): 33-42. 1983.Scholars often assume that when Plato said that Forms are paradeigmata he meant that they were exemplars of the property they represent. I argue that "paradeigma" is better read as "pattern" than "exemplar." This reading is compatible with Plato's use of the term in all passages except Parm. 132d, where Parmenides misinterprets the term to make the theory of Forms susceptible to the Third Man Argument.
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41Richard D. Mohr, "The Platonic Cosmology" (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 25 (4): 585. 1987.
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15Plato's Analysis of Being and Not‐Being in the SophistSouthern Journal of Philosophy 18 (2): 199-211. 1980.
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69Why Did Plato Write Socratic Dialogues?Apeiron 30 (4). 1997.I argue that it was not Plato's intention in his Socratic dialogues to provide a biography of Socrates. Rather, his intention was to describe and defend the philosophical life against its critics. The Socratic dialogues are "unhappy encounters" between Socrates, defender of the life of philosophy, and those who do not comprehend or who reject that life.
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10Alice Swift Riginos, "Platonica: The Anecdotes concerning the Life and Writings of Plato" (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 18 (1): 80. 1980.
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13The Historicity of Plato’s ApologyPolis 18 (1-2): 41-57. 2001.Scholars who seek in Plato's early dialogues an accurate account of the philosophy of the historical Socrates place special weight on the Apology as a source of historical information about him. Even scholars like Charles Kahn, who generally reject this historicist approach to the early dialogues, accept the Apology as a ‘quasi-historical’ document. In this paper I attempt to raise doubts about the historical reliability of the Apology. I argue that the claims used to support the historicity of …Read more
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Areas of Specialization
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Metaphysics |
Normative Ethics |