John Malcolm
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198239062
- eISBN:
- 9780191679827
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198239062.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
Much of the recent literature published on Plato's metaphysics has involved the Third Man Argument found in his dialogue Parmenides. This argument depends upon construing Forms both as universals and ...
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Much of the recent literature published on Plato's metaphysics has involved the Third Man Argument found in his dialogue Parmenides. This argument depends upon construing Forms both as universals and as paradigm examples, and thus as being subject to self-predication. This book first presents a new and radical interpretation of Plato's earlier dialogues. It argues that the few cases of self-predication contained therein are acceptable simply as statements concerning universals (for example, ‘beauty is beautiful’), and that therefore Plato is not vulnerable in these cases to the Third Man Argument. In considering the middle dialogues, the book takes a conservative stance, rejecting influential current doctrines which portray the Forms as being not self-predicative. It shows that the middle dialogues do indeed take Forms to be both universals and paradigms, and thus to exemplify themselves. The book goes on to consider why Plato should have been unsuccessful in avoiding self-predication. It shows that Plato's concern to explain how the truths of mathematics can indeed be true played an important role in his postulation of the Form as an Ideal Individual. The book concludes with the claim that reflection on the ambiguity of such notions as the ‘Standard Yard’ may help us to appreciate why Plato failed to distinguish Forms as universals from Forms as paradigm cases.Less
Much of the recent literature published on Plato's metaphysics has involved the Third Man Argument found in his dialogue Parmenides. This argument depends upon construing Forms both as universals and as paradigm examples, and thus as being subject to self-predication. This book first presents a new and radical interpretation of Plato's earlier dialogues. It argues that the few cases of self-predication contained therein are acceptable simply as statements concerning universals (for example, ‘beauty is beautiful’), and that therefore Plato is not vulnerable in these cases to the Third Man Argument. In considering the middle dialogues, the book takes a conservative stance, rejecting influential current doctrines which portray the Forms as being not self-predicative. It shows that the middle dialogues do indeed take Forms to be both universals and paradigms, and thus to exemplify themselves. The book goes on to consider why Plato should have been unsuccessful in avoiding self-predication. It shows that Plato's concern to explain how the truths of mathematics can indeed be true played an important role in his postulation of the Form as an Ideal Individual. The book concludes with the claim that reflection on the ambiguity of such notions as the ‘Standard Yard’ may help us to appreciate why Plato failed to distinguish Forms as universals from Forms as paradigm cases.
David Sedley
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199267033
- eISBN:
- 9780191601828
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199267030.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
Plato’s Theaetetus is thought to have been written after his main middle-period dialogues, in which he expounded his celebrated metaphysical doctrine of Forms. Yet, it is an open-ended Socratic ...
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Plato’s Theaetetus is thought to have been written after his main middle-period dialogues, in which he expounded his celebrated metaphysical doctrine of Forms. Yet, it is an open-ended Socratic dialogue and investigates the question ‘What is knowledge?’ without positive result, and with an unexpected restraint about invoking the metaphysical theory. Why? This book develops a new solution to the old question. Plato wants to demonstrate the continuity of his mature work with that of his master Socrates and does so by invoking the now famous image, unique to this dialogue, of Socrates as the barren midwife of others’ brainchildren. The message is that Socrates, although not himself a Platonist, was the midwife of Platonism. This is brought out by portraying a Socrates who, rather than Plato’s current spokesman, is a throwback to the semi-historical figure immortalized in the early dialogues. We see this Socrates, in the course of his characteristic dialectical investigations, pointing us to recognizably Platonic solutions, but himself unable to articulate them that way because of his lack of a Platonic metaphysics. In addition to linking Plato’s Socratic past to his Platonic present, the same device also points forward to Plato’s future work in such dialogues as Sophist and Timaeus.Less
Plato’s Theaetetus is thought to have been written after his main middle-period dialogues, in which he expounded his celebrated metaphysical doctrine of Forms. Yet, it is an open-ended Socratic dialogue and investigates the question ‘What is knowledge?’ without positive result, and with an unexpected restraint about invoking the metaphysical theory. Why? This book develops a new solution to the old question. Plato wants to demonstrate the continuity of his mature work with that of his master Socrates and does so by invoking the now famous image, unique to this dialogue, of Socrates as the barren midwife of others’ brainchildren. The message is that Socrates, although not himself a Platonist, was the midwife of Platonism. This is brought out by portraying a Socrates who, rather than Plato’s current spokesman, is a throwback to the semi-historical figure immortalized in the early dialogues. We see this Socrates, in the course of his characteristic dialectical investigations, pointing us to recognizably Platonic solutions, but himself unable to articulate them that way because of his lack of a Platonic metaphysics. In addition to linking Plato’s Socratic past to his Platonic present, the same device also points forward to Plato’s future work in such dialogues as Sophist and Timaeus.
George E. Karamanolis
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199264568
- eISBN:
- 9780191603990
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199264562.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This chapter begins with a discussion of Antiochus’ debate with Philo of Larissa. It then analyses Antiochus’ thesis on the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics. According to Antiochus, ...
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This chapter begins with a discussion of Antiochus’ debate with Philo of Larissa. It then analyses Antiochus’ thesis on the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics. According to Antiochus, the most essential part of philosophy, particularly Plato’s philosophy, is ethics, and his most crucial doctrine is about how to achieve a good life. Antiochus shares the Stoic view that virtue requires secure knowledge; without such knowledge, no ethical system can exist. He is convinced that Plato has coherent and systematic ethics, which he reconstructs from that of Aristotle and Polemo. Antiochus is neither an eclectic nor a syncretist, as has often been claimed. Antiochus did not muddle various doctrines from Plato and Platonists, Aristotle, and the Stoics. Rather, he had a certain conception of Plato’s philosophy which he tried to reconstruct as faithfully as he could through the testimonies of the early Academics, Aristotle, and the Stoics, according to the degree to which they were indebted to Plato.Less
This chapter begins with a discussion of Antiochus’ debate with Philo of Larissa. It then analyses Antiochus’ thesis on the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics. According to Antiochus, the most essential part of philosophy, particularly Plato’s philosophy, is ethics, and his most crucial doctrine is about how to achieve a good life. Antiochus shares the Stoic view that virtue requires secure knowledge; without such knowledge, no ethical system can exist. He is convinced that Plato has coherent and systematic ethics, which he reconstructs from that of Aristotle and Polemo. Antiochus is neither an eclectic nor a syncretist, as has often been claimed. Antiochus did not muddle various doctrines from Plato and Platonists, Aristotle, and the Stoics. Rather, he had a certain conception of Plato’s philosophy which he tried to reconstruct as faithfully as he could through the testimonies of the early Academics, Aristotle, and the Stoics, according to the degree to which they were indebted to Plato.
George E. Karamanolis
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199264568
- eISBN:
- 9780191603990
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199264562.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This chapter contends that Atticus wrote with the aim of castigating the widespread use of Aristotle’s work by Platonists and Peripatetics, who tended to use Aristotle as a guide to Plato’s ...
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This chapter contends that Atticus wrote with the aim of castigating the widespread use of Aristotle’s work by Platonists and Peripatetics, who tended to use Aristotle as a guide to Plato’s philosophy on the assumption that Aristotle preserved Plato’s doctrines and/or often also followed them. Atticus argues that Aristotle opposed Plato’s philosophy systematically and that no doctrine of his can be of help in understanding Plato, or for doing philosophy in general. He holds such a view because, like Numenius, he construes Plato’s philosophy as a system based on the metaphysics of the transcendent Forms, which determine all entities including ethical values, and considers immanent Forms derivative from them. Also crucial for the evaluation of Aristotle’s doctrine is his tendency to be inspired by Stoicism and to reconstruct Plato’s doctrines relying on the parts of Plato which inspired the Stoics, as is the case with his view on the divine providence or with his view that the soul is essentially rational and yet a separable substance (against the Stoics). For Atticus, Aristotle’s difference on the Forms, the providence, and the nature of the soul entails a substantially different position in ethics. Since for Atticus ethics is the purpose of all philosophy, Aristotle’s divergence from Plato in this is taken as indicative of the fundamental conflict between Aristotle and Plato.Less
This chapter contends that Atticus wrote with the aim of castigating the widespread use of Aristotle’s work by Platonists and Peripatetics, who tended to use Aristotle as a guide to Plato’s philosophy on the assumption that Aristotle preserved Plato’s doctrines and/or often also followed them. Atticus argues that Aristotle opposed Plato’s philosophy systematically and that no doctrine of his can be of help in understanding Plato, or for doing philosophy in general. He holds such a view because, like Numenius, he construes Plato’s philosophy as a system based on the metaphysics of the transcendent Forms, which determine all entities including ethical values, and considers immanent Forms derivative from them. Also crucial for the evaluation of Aristotle’s doctrine is his tendency to be inspired by Stoicism and to reconstruct Plato’s doctrines relying on the parts of Plato which inspired the Stoics, as is the case with his view on the divine providence or with his view that the soul is essentially rational and yet a separable substance (against the Stoics). For Atticus, Aristotle’s difference on the Forms, the providence, and the nature of the soul entails a substantially different position in ethics. Since for Atticus ethics is the purpose of all philosophy, Aristotle’s divergence from Plato in this is taken as indicative of the fundamental conflict between Aristotle and Plato.
Timothy Clarke
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199644384
- eISBN:
- 9780191743344
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199644384.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
In his commentary on Metaphysics A 9 Alexander of Aphrodisias describes a number of Platonist arguments for Forms, drawing upon Aristotle's now lost work Peri ideȏn. The chapter is a detailed ...
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In his commentary on Metaphysics A 9 Alexander of Aphrodisias describes a number of Platonist arguments for Forms, drawing upon Aristotle's now lost work Peri ideȏn. The chapter is a detailed examination of the most complex of these Platonist arguments, the so‐called ‘Argument from Relatives’. It is shown that this argument is best understood as a reductio ad absurdum of anti‐Platonism. The anti‐Platonist's rejection of a paradigmatic Form of Equal commits him to the claim that equality is predicated of the sensible equals homonymously. If he is to avoid this unwelcome consequence, he must grant the existence of the Form.Less
In his commentary on Metaphysics A 9 Alexander of Aphrodisias describes a number of Platonist arguments for Forms, drawing upon Aristotle's now lost work Peri ideȏn. The chapter is a detailed examination of the most complex of these Platonist arguments, the so‐called ‘Argument from Relatives’. It is shown that this argument is best understood as a reductio ad absurdum of anti‐Platonism. The anti‐Platonist's rejection of a paradigmatic Form of Equal commits him to the claim that equality is predicated of the sensible equals homonymously. If he is to avoid this unwelcome consequence, he must grant the existence of the Form.
Jon McGinnis
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195331479
- eISBN:
- 9780199868032
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331479.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter focuses on Avicenna’s treatment of the most general principles of natural things, that is, those things that are in some way subject to motion or change. It begins with Avicenna’s ...
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This chapter focuses on Avicenna’s treatment of the most general principles of natural things, that is, those things that are in some way subject to motion or change. It begins with Avicenna’s enumeration and account of the principles of nature or causes required for motion. The discussion then turns to Avicenna’s analysis of motion and certain purported necessary conditions needed if there is to be motion, such as place, void, time, and the continuum as well as Avicenna’s arguments against atomism. Next, Avicenna’s theory of inclination (mayl) is considered as well as its role in his dynamics. The chapter concludes with his account of substantial change, the elements, and his initial introduction of a “Giver of Forms.”Less
This chapter focuses on Avicenna’s treatment of the most general principles of natural things, that is, those things that are in some way subject to motion or change. It begins with Avicenna’s enumeration and account of the principles of nature or causes required for motion. The discussion then turns to Avicenna’s analysis of motion and certain purported necessary conditions needed if there is to be motion, such as place, void, time, and the continuum as well as Avicenna’s arguments against atomism. Next, Avicenna’s theory of inclination (mayl) is considered as well as its role in his dynamics. The chapter concludes with his account of substantial change, the elements, and his initial introduction of a “Giver of Forms.”
Jonathan Z. Smith
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195165272
- eISBN:
- 9780199784554
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195165276.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter begins with a discussion on the different ways of introducing Durkheim to college students. It presents four rules: the first rule is to always begin with the question of definition. ...
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This chapter begins with a discussion on the different ways of introducing Durkheim to college students. It presents four rules: the first rule is to always begin with the question of definition. Before opening Elementary Forms, after discussing the logic and forms of definition, it is useful to take time in class to have the students write out their definitions of terms such as religion, sacred/profane, and church and, later, to have them rewrite their definitions in light of Durkheim's definitions, accounting for each revision with specific reference to Durkheim's counterintuitive proposals. The second rule of introducing Durkheim insists on the importance of making arguments explicit. The third rule of introducing Durkheim is that nothing must stand alone, with the idea that comparison opens up space for criticism. The fourth rule states that that students should be asked to demonstrate their mastery of Durkheim by exhibiting a capacity to “play” with the argument, applying it to an example quite different from the Australian aboriginal data on which Elementary Forms is based.Less
This chapter begins with a discussion on the different ways of introducing Durkheim to college students. It presents four rules: the first rule is to always begin with the question of definition. Before opening Elementary Forms, after discussing the logic and forms of definition, it is useful to take time in class to have the students write out their definitions of terms such as religion, sacred/profane, and church and, later, to have them rewrite their definitions in light of Durkheim's definitions, accounting for each revision with specific reference to Durkheim's counterintuitive proposals. The second rule of introducing Durkheim insists on the importance of making arguments explicit. The third rule of introducing Durkheim is that nothing must stand alone, with the idea that comparison opens up space for criticism. The fourth rule states that that students should be asked to demonstrate their mastery of Durkheim by exhibiting a capacity to “play” with the argument, applying it to an example quite different from the Australian aboriginal data on which Elementary Forms is based.
Karen E. Fields
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195165272
- eISBN:
- 9780199784554
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195165276.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
A gap exists between Durkheim's original text and the translated English. The phrase “does not exist” (n'existe pas) as a translation doesn't quite have the same meaning as the French original. ...
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A gap exists between Durkheim's original text and the translated English. The phrase “does not exist” (n'existe pas) as a translation doesn't quite have the same meaning as the French original. Durkheim writes: faire évanouir. If literally translated, he is indicting a science that “makes [its own subject] disappear” or “vanish into thin air” like a ghost or a phantom. The distance between the original sentence and the translated sentence displays a general feature of translation, as a process and as a product. This is explored using three editions of Forms that seeks to improve on Swain's work: excerpts by W.S.F. Pickering and Jacqueline Redding (1975); the author's own complete retranslation (1995), and an Oxford World's Classics Abridgement by Mark S. Cladis and Carol Cosman (2001).Less
A gap exists between Durkheim's original text and the translated English. The phrase “does not exist” (n'existe pas) as a translation doesn't quite have the same meaning as the French original. Durkheim writes: faire évanouir. If literally translated, he is indicting a science that “makes [its own subject] disappear” or “vanish into thin air” like a ghost or a phantom. The distance between the original sentence and the translated sentence displays a general feature of translation, as a process and as a product. This is explored using three editions of Forms that seeks to improve on Swain's work: excerpts by W.S.F. Pickering and Jacqueline Redding (1975); the author's own complete retranslation (1995), and an Oxford World's Classics Abridgement by Mark S. Cladis and Carol Cosman (2001).
Terry F. Godlove, Jr.
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195165272
- eISBN:
- 9780199784554
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195165276.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter presents a sympathetic portrayal of Durkheim's “theory of religion” in the Elementary Forms of Religious Life (EF) in the context of major criticisms of that work. It shows that EF puts ...
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This chapter presents a sympathetic portrayal of Durkheim's “theory of religion” in the Elementary Forms of Religious Life (EF) in the context of major criticisms of that work. It shows that EF puts forward two independent approaches to its subject. One approach is functionalist; it tries to account for the existence and persistence of religion by appealing to the cohesion religion supplies to society; it accounts for the behavior and beliefs of individuals as an appeal to the needs of the whole. The other approach posits a causal mechanism by which religious ideas and symbols are generated in the very act of assembly — the theory of collective effervescence — what William Pickering calls “effervescent assembly” and Randall Collins “ritual solidarity”.Less
This chapter presents a sympathetic portrayal of Durkheim's “theory of religion” in the Elementary Forms of Religious Life (EF) in the context of major criticisms of that work. It shows that EF puts forward two independent approaches to its subject. One approach is functionalist; it tries to account for the existence and persistence of religion by appealing to the cohesion religion supplies to society; it accounts for the behavior and beliefs of individuals as an appeal to the needs of the whole. The other approach posits a causal mechanism by which religious ideas and symbols are generated in the very act of assembly — the theory of collective effervescence — what William Pickering calls “effervescent assembly” and Randall Collins “ritual solidarity”.
Warren Schmaus
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195165272
- eISBN:
- 9780199784554
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195165276.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter traces the development of Durkheim's thinking about religion in terms of courses in philosophy, sociology, and education that deal with religious topics. Durkheim's sociological view ...
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This chapter traces the development of Durkheim's thinking about religion in terms of courses in philosophy, sociology, and education that deal with religious topics. Durkheim's sociological view about religion is interpreted as a natural outgrowth of the metaphysical views he expressed in his earliest teaching about religion as a lycée philosophy professor, and it is argued that it was through his teaching that he developed the sociology of religion of The Elementary Forms of Religious Life.Less
This chapter traces the development of Durkheim's thinking about religion in terms of courses in philosophy, sociology, and education that deal with religious topics. Durkheim's sociological view about religion is interpreted as a natural outgrowth of the metaphysical views he expressed in his earliest teaching about religion as a lycée philosophy professor, and it is argued that it was through his teaching that he developed the sociology of religion of The Elementary Forms of Religious Life.
Stephen P. Turner and Carlos Bertha
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195165272
- eISBN:
- 9780199784554
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195165276.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter discusses pedagogical uses of Durkheim that serve to make sense of obligation by enabling students to see how these and related moral concepts are based on, and express, actual moral ...
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This chapter discusses pedagogical uses of Durkheim that serve to make sense of obligation by enabling students to see how these and related moral concepts are based on, and express, actual moral feelings and bear on actual moral experience. The chapter looks at a course taught by this bookʇs author to a multidisciplinary audience, including students interested in political philosophy, sociological theory, and political theory. The discussion centres on a four-week section of the course devoted to Durkheim, which focused on readings from Pickering's Sociology of Religion. The course readings also included substantial material from selections in Durkheim's Elementary Forms of Religious Life.Less
This chapter discusses pedagogical uses of Durkheim that serve to make sense of obligation by enabling students to see how these and related moral concepts are based on, and express, actual moral feelings and bear on actual moral experience. The chapter looks at a course taught by this bookʇs author to a multidisciplinary audience, including students interested in political philosophy, sociological theory, and political theory. The discussion centres on a four-week section of the course devoted to Durkheim, which focused on readings from Pickering's Sociology of Religion. The course readings also included substantial material from selections in Durkheim's Elementary Forms of Religious Life.
John Malcolm
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198239062
- eISBN:
- 9780191679827
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198239062.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This chapter rejects four versions of Thesis A, the position that the F itself is not an F thing at all, statements of self-predication being given analyses which preclude positing an (ideal) entity ...
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This chapter rejects four versions of Thesis A, the position that the F itself is not an F thing at all, statements of self-predication being given analyses which preclude positing an (ideal) entity itself to be characterized as (an) F. Thesis A, therefore, renders the Theory of Forms invulnerable to the Third Man Argument (TMA). The four versions of Thesis A are: A(i) Plato's concepts of homonymy and eponymy show that the ‘F’ in ‘F-ness is F’ functions as a proper name; A(ii) the Form is a particular and a standard, but Wittgenstein has taught us that such a standard cannot be described as an instance of the property of which it is the standard; A(iii) the Form is only a general essence and not an F thing; A(iv), or Pauline predication, the ‘F’ in ‘F-ness is F’ is to be attributed (in the ordinary sense of ‘attribution’) to things falling under the Form, but not to the Form itself.Less
This chapter rejects four versions of Thesis A, the position that the F itself is not an F thing at all, statements of self-predication being given analyses which preclude positing an (ideal) entity itself to be characterized as (an) F. Thesis A, therefore, renders the Theory of Forms invulnerable to the Third Man Argument (TMA). The four versions of Thesis A are: A(i) Plato's concepts of homonymy and eponymy show that the ‘F’ in ‘F-ness is F’ functions as a proper name; A(ii) the Form is a particular and a standard, but Wittgenstein has taught us that such a standard cannot be described as an instance of the property of which it is the standard; A(iii) the Form is only a general essence and not an F thing; A(iv), or Pauline predication, the ‘F’ in ‘F-ness is F’ is to be attributed (in the ordinary sense of ‘attribution’) to things falling under the Form, but not to the Form itself.
Katja Maria Vogt
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199916818
- eISBN:
- 9780199980291
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199916818.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
In Plato's Republic, knowledge and doxa have their own respective domains: “what is” in the case of knowledge, and “what participates in what is and in what is not” in the case of doxa. This division ...
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In Plato's Republic, knowledge and doxa have their own respective domains: “what is” in the case of knowledge, and “what participates in what is and in what is not” in the case of doxa. This division should be recognized as a central part of Plato's proposal in the Republic. At the same time it cannot be quite as clear-cut as it might initially appear. Otherwise it should be impossible to begin to investigate justice by thinking through someone's beliefs about justice—and that is precisely what the interlocutors do in Book I. Notably, Socrates is not prepared to put forward his beliefs about justice. Staying true to the intuition that mere doxa is “shameful and ugly,” he prefers hypotheses and similes as methods of investigation. But others are less cautious. An interpretation of the Republic's epistemology must account for an, albeit deficient, way in which mere doxa can relate to objects of knowledge.Less
In Plato's Republic, knowledge and doxa have their own respective domains: “what is” in the case of knowledge, and “what participates in what is and in what is not” in the case of doxa. This division should be recognized as a central part of Plato's proposal in the Republic. At the same time it cannot be quite as clear-cut as it might initially appear. Otherwise it should be impossible to begin to investigate justice by thinking through someone's beliefs about justice—and that is precisely what the interlocutors do in Book I. Notably, Socrates is not prepared to put forward his beliefs about justice. Staying true to the intuition that mere doxa is “shameful and ugly,” he prefers hypotheses and similes as methods of investigation. But others are less cautious. An interpretation of the Republic's epistemology must account for an, albeit deficient, way in which mere doxa can relate to objects of knowledge.
David Keane and Annapurna Waughray (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781784993047
- eISBN:
- 9781526132284
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781784993047.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
Fifty Years of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is the very first edited collection on ICERD, the oldest of the UN human rights treaties. With a ...
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Fifty Years of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is the very first edited collection on ICERD, the oldest of the UN human rights treaties. With a major Introduction and 13 chapters, it provides a unique combination of members of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and academic and other experts, to discuss the importance of the treaty on its 50th anniversary.Less
Fifty Years of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is the very first edited collection on ICERD, the oldest of the UN human rights treaties. With a major Introduction and 13 chapters, it provides a unique combination of members of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and academic and other experts, to discuss the importance of the treaty on its 50th anniversary.
Carlos Steel
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199639984
- eISBN:
- 9780191743337
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199639984.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
In chapter 6 Aristotle introduces Plato's views on the first principles. In the first part Aristotle offers a plausible account on how Plato came to develop the doctrine of the Forms. The second ...
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In chapter 6 Aristotle introduces Plato's views on the first principles. In the first part Aristotle offers a plausible account on how Plato came to develop the doctrine of the Forms. The second part, on the relation between numbers and Forms and on the ultimate principles of whatever exists (the One and the Great and the Small) , has inspired numerous speculations on the ‘unwritten’ doctrine of Plato Notwithstanding some misgivings we may have about Aristotle's transposition of Plato's doctrine in his own format, chapter 6 occupies within the composition of Alpha a central place as Aristotle expounds here how he understands the views, not of some remote predecessor, but of the philosopher who had the greatest influence on the formation of his own thought and who kept dominating and haunting the Academy to which Aristotle still intellectually belonged. Although his insistence on similarities with the Pythagoreans may have led him to integrate too easily the doctrine of the Forms and numbers — probably because in the Academy this Pythagorizing current was dominant — he recognizes Plato's essential contribution in the search for the first principles. Plato, is indeed, the first to have developed the doctrine of a formal cause, which is also central in Aristotle's explaining of the world. It is also Plato who first developed a notion of a material principle that is quite different from the material cause of the natural philosophers, a purely receptive principle that can only functions when ‘given form’ by the Forms. It is not without reason that this chapter set for centuries the perspective to understand Plato.Less
In chapter 6 Aristotle introduces Plato's views on the first principles. In the first part Aristotle offers a plausible account on how Plato came to develop the doctrine of the Forms. The second part, on the relation between numbers and Forms and on the ultimate principles of whatever exists (the One and the Great and the Small) , has inspired numerous speculations on the ‘unwritten’ doctrine of Plato Notwithstanding some misgivings we may have about Aristotle's transposition of Plato's doctrine in his own format, chapter 6 occupies within the composition of Alpha a central place as Aristotle expounds here how he understands the views, not of some remote predecessor, but of the philosopher who had the greatest influence on the formation of his own thought and who kept dominating and haunting the Academy to which Aristotle still intellectually belonged. Although his insistence on similarities with the Pythagoreans may have led him to integrate too easily the doctrine of the Forms and numbers — probably because in the Academy this Pythagorizing current was dominant — he recognizes Plato's essential contribution in the search for the first principles. Plato, is indeed, the first to have developed the doctrine of a formal cause, which is also central in Aristotle's explaining of the world. It is also Plato who first developed a notion of a material principle that is quite different from the material cause of the natural philosophers, a purely receptive principle that can only functions when ‘given form’ by the Forms. It is not without reason that this chapter set for centuries the perspective to understand Plato.
Svetla Slaveva-Griffin
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195377194
- eISBN:
- 9780199869572
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195377194.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
This chapter analyzes the relationship between number and substance in the intelligible realm. Plotinus formulates three hypotheses about the existence of number in the intelligible: 1) number is ...
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This chapter analyzes the relationship between number and substance in the intelligible realm. Plotinus formulates three hypotheses about the existence of number in the intelligible: 1) number is posterior to the Forms; 2) number is simultaneous with the Forms; and 3) number is anterior to the Forms. He proves that the last hypothesis is true. Based on the distinction between substance as ontological actualization of beings and quantity as the countability of individual units, he defines two kinds of number: Substantial Number, which is the activity of substance and a power of being; and Monadic Number, which enumerates individual things. As an activity of substance, the former enacts the limiting role of the Monad, while, as a power of substance, it enacts the role of the Indefinite Dyad as potentiality, limited into existence by the Monad. While substantial number actualizes the existence of that which has separated from the One in the intelligible, monadic number expresses quantitatively that which has been already defined by substantial number. Plotinus also pioneers the view of the substantial number as henad and, in turn, shapes the development of later Neoplatonic theory of number.Less
This chapter analyzes the relationship between number and substance in the intelligible realm. Plotinus formulates three hypotheses about the existence of number in the intelligible: 1) number is posterior to the Forms; 2) number is simultaneous with the Forms; and 3) number is anterior to the Forms. He proves that the last hypothesis is true. Based on the distinction between substance as ontological actualization of beings and quantity as the countability of individual units, he defines two kinds of number: Substantial Number, which is the activity of substance and a power of being; and Monadic Number, which enumerates individual things. As an activity of substance, the former enacts the limiting role of the Monad, while, as a power of substance, it enacts the role of the Indefinite Dyad as potentiality, limited into existence by the Monad. While substantial number actualizes the existence of that which has separated from the One in the intelligible, monadic number expresses quantitatively that which has been already defined by substantial number. Plotinus also pioneers the view of the substantial number as henad and, in turn, shapes the development of later Neoplatonic theory of number.
Roger Keys
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198151609
- eISBN:
- 9780191672767
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198151609.003.0010
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism, European Literature
This chapter examines Andrei Belyi's interest in the homogeneity of music and literature. In the article ‘Forms of Art’, the literal link between music and poetry as acoustic arts developing in time ...
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This chapter examines Andrei Belyi's interest in the homogeneity of music and literature. In the article ‘Forms of Art’, the literal link between music and poetry as acoustic arts developing in time was identified as rhythm, and in later years, Belyi would go on to develop an esoteric theory according to which poetry, like music re-enacts the fundamental rhythms of creation.Less
This chapter examines Andrei Belyi's interest in the homogeneity of music and literature. In the article ‘Forms of Art’, the literal link between music and poetry as acoustic arts developing in time was identified as rhythm, and in later years, Belyi would go on to develop an esoteric theory according to which poetry, like music re-enacts the fundamental rhythms of creation.
Barbara Hannan
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195378948
- eISBN:
- 9780199869589
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195378948.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Schopenhauer's views on the meaning of art and music are presented and evaluated in this chapter. Schopenhauer argues that art reveals the “Platonic Forms.” He seems undecided as to whether art ...
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Schopenhauer's views on the meaning of art and music are presented and evaluated in this chapter. Schopenhauer argues that art reveals the “Platonic Forms.” He seems undecided as to whether art reveals the nature of the thing-in-itself or merely the nature of the not-quite-real “world as representation.” It is argued that Schopenhauer should have clearly said that art reveals the natural kinds or basic forces of nature, which are noumenal, not merely phenomenal, by Schopenhauer's own terms. Music, among the fine arts, is special in that it depicts all the forms and forces of nature at once, rather than depicting this or that natural form or force in particular. Schopenhauer argues that aesthetic experience involves a state of pure, will-less contemplation. Such a state ought to be impossible, given Schopenhauer's account of human psychology. Nevertheless, there is a kind of aesthetic experience that approaches such a state. In addition, there is a more common kind of aesthetic experience involving amplification, not suppression, of emotion. Both kinds of aesthetic experience have metaphysical significance, since they reveal truths about mind-independent reality. Some of Schopenhauer's remarks on the nature of genius are criticized, and it is argued that geniuses are characterized by a powerful will-to-truth.Less
Schopenhauer's views on the meaning of art and music are presented and evaluated in this chapter. Schopenhauer argues that art reveals the “Platonic Forms.” He seems undecided as to whether art reveals the nature of the thing-in-itself or merely the nature of the not-quite-real “world as representation.” It is argued that Schopenhauer should have clearly said that art reveals the natural kinds or basic forces of nature, which are noumenal, not merely phenomenal, by Schopenhauer's own terms. Music, among the fine arts, is special in that it depicts all the forms and forces of nature at once, rather than depicting this or that natural form or force in particular. Schopenhauer argues that aesthetic experience involves a state of pure, will-less contemplation. Such a state ought to be impossible, given Schopenhauer's account of human psychology. Nevertheless, there is a kind of aesthetic experience that approaches such a state. In addition, there is a more common kind of aesthetic experience involving amplification, not suppression, of emotion. Both kinds of aesthetic experience have metaphysical significance, since they reveal truths about mind-independent reality. Some of Schopenhauer's remarks on the nature of genius are criticized, and it is argued that geniuses are characterized by a powerful will-to-truth.
Adelyn Lim
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9789888139378
- eISBN:
- 9789888313174
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888139378.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Gender Studies
This chapter outlines the major historical aspects of women's activism during the British colonial period (1843–1997) and the emergence of feminist politics in the lead up to governance under the PRC ...
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This chapter outlines the major historical aspects of women's activism during the British colonial period (1843–1997) and the emergence of feminist politics in the lead up to governance under the PRC (1997–present), with an overview of major figures, organizations, campaigns, and strategies. In Hong Kong, women have always been absent in the political arena and leadership positions–during the British colonial period, they were excluded from positions of governance and, in the lead up to sovereignty under the PRC, their views were not solicited in the organizing of social movements. The historical accounts of women's movements and the narratives of women activists suggest the purposeful development of a women-driven and women-centered critique, initiated by elite expatriate and Chinese women and, thereafter, embraced by local Chinese women's groups. In the development of a discrete space for women's organizing, feminism as a frame is continuously being constituted, contested, reproduced, and displaced by other frames during the course of mobilization. The socio-cultural, economic, and political context is important in shaping the various frames in terms of the ideas they incorporate and articulate. These frames also compete in an uneven playing field with asymmetrical power relations and unequal resources.Less
This chapter outlines the major historical aspects of women's activism during the British colonial period (1843–1997) and the emergence of feminist politics in the lead up to governance under the PRC (1997–present), with an overview of major figures, organizations, campaigns, and strategies. In Hong Kong, women have always been absent in the political arena and leadership positions–during the British colonial period, they were excluded from positions of governance and, in the lead up to sovereignty under the PRC, their views were not solicited in the organizing of social movements. The historical accounts of women's movements and the narratives of women activists suggest the purposeful development of a women-driven and women-centered critique, initiated by elite expatriate and Chinese women and, thereafter, embraced by local Chinese women's groups. In the development of a discrete space for women's organizing, feminism as a frame is continuously being constituted, contested, reproduced, and displaced by other frames during the course of mobilization. The socio-cultural, economic, and political context is important in shaping the various frames in terms of the ideas they incorporate and articulate. These frames also compete in an uneven playing field with asymmetrical power relations and unequal resources.
Thora Bayer
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300083316
- eISBN:
- 9780300127171
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300083316.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This book—a commentary on Ernst Cassirer's Metaphysics of Symbolic Forms—provides an introduction to the metaphysical views that underlie the philosopher's conceptions of symbolic form and human ...
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This book—a commentary on Ernst Cassirer's Metaphysics of Symbolic Forms—provides an introduction to the metaphysical views that underlie the philosopher's conceptions of symbolic form and human culture. It focuses on the meaning of Cassirer's claim that philosophy is not itself a symbolic form but the thought around which all aspects of human activity are seen as a whole. Underlying the symbolic forms are Cassirer's two metaphysical principles, spirit (Geist) and life, which interact to produce the reality of the human world. The book shows how these two principles of Cassirer's early philosophy are connected with the phenomenology of his later philosophy, which centers on his conception of “basis phenomena”—self, will, and work.Less
This book—a commentary on Ernst Cassirer's Metaphysics of Symbolic Forms—provides an introduction to the metaphysical views that underlie the philosopher's conceptions of symbolic form and human culture. It focuses on the meaning of Cassirer's claim that philosophy is not itself a symbolic form but the thought around which all aspects of human activity are seen as a whole. Underlying the symbolic forms are Cassirer's two metaphysical principles, spirit (Geist) and life, which interact to produce the reality of the human world. The book shows how these two principles of Cassirer's early philosophy are connected with the phenomenology of his later philosophy, which centers on his conception of “basis phenomena”—self, will, and work.
