Suzanne Obdrzalek
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199644384
- eISBN:
- 9780191743344
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199644384.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This chapter examines Plato's moral psychology in the Phaedrus. It argues against interpreters such as Burnyeat and Nussbaum that Plato's treatment of the soul is increasingly pessimistic: reason's ...
More
This chapter examines Plato's moral psychology in the Phaedrus. It argues against interpreters such as Burnyeat and Nussbaum that Plato's treatment of the soul is increasingly pessimistic: reason's desire to contemplate is at odds with its obligation to rule the soul, and psychic harmony can only be secured by violently suppressing the lower parts of the soul.Less
This chapter examines Plato's moral psychology in the Phaedrus. It argues against interpreters such as Burnyeat and Nussbaum that Plato's treatment of the soul is increasingly pessimistic: reason's desire to contemplate is at odds with its obligation to rule the soul, and psychic harmony can only be secured by violently suppressing the lower parts of the soul.
T. P. Wiseman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter explores the question of how far it is possible to establish the nature of the pantomime performance and the difference between ‘pantomime’ and ‘mime’. It engages with these questions ...
More
This chapter explores the question of how far it is possible to establish the nature of the pantomime performance and the difference between ‘pantomime’ and ‘mime’. It engages with these questions through looking at five problematic texts, ranging in date from the 50s bc to the mid‐first century ad: Cicero Pro Rabirio Postumo 35, Catullus ap. Schol. Bern. on Lucan 1.544, Manilius Astronomica 5.478–85, Phaedrus 5.7.23–7, Philo De legatione 96. The chapter is not concerned to propose a particular hypothesis in relation to these texts, but aims to understand what the texts presuppose in terms of dramatic genre and the use of the chorus. The discussion overall explores the limitations of what we know and challenges an overly schematic or static view of pantomime performance.Less
This chapter explores the question of how far it is possible to establish the nature of the pantomime performance and the difference between ‘pantomime’ and ‘mime’. It engages with these questions through looking at five problematic texts, ranging in date from the 50s bc to the mid‐first century ad: Cicero Pro Rabirio Postumo 35, Catullus ap. Schol. Bern. on Lucan 1.544, Manilius Astronomica 5.478–85, Phaedrus 5.7.23–7, Philo De legatione 96. The chapter is not concerned to propose a particular hypothesis in relation to these texts, but aims to understand what the texts presuppose in terms of dramatic genre and the use of the chorus. The discussion overall explores the limitations of what we know and challenges an overly schematic or static view of pantomime performance.
Lloyd P. Gerson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199288670
- eISBN:
- 9780191717789
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199288670.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
The chapter takes up the argument for the tripartition of the soul in Republic and the consequent deepening of the account of personhood. An embodied tripartite soul is a disunited person or self. ...
More
The chapter takes up the argument for the tripartition of the soul in Republic and the consequent deepening of the account of personhood. An embodied tripartite soul is a disunited person or self. Selfhood for the embodied person is chronically episodic and plastic. Self-transformation can now be articulated in terms of the unifying of the person into one part, the rational faculty. With tripartitioning, Plato deals more perspicuously with the relation of person to human being and body. The embodied person is an entity capable of self-reflexively identifying itself as the subject of one or another of its psychic capacities. The successful embodied person strives for and ultimately achieves a permanent identification with a subject of rational activity.Less
The chapter takes up the argument for the tripartition of the soul in Republic and the consequent deepening of the account of personhood. An embodied tripartite soul is a disunited person or self. Selfhood for the embodied person is chronically episodic and plastic. Self-transformation can now be articulated in terms of the unifying of the person into one part, the rational faculty. With tripartitioning, Plato deals more perspicuously with the relation of person to human being and body. The embodied person is an entity capable of self-reflexively identifying itself as the subject of one or another of its psychic capacities. The successful embodied person strives for and ultimately achieves a permanent identification with a subject of rational activity.
J. Warren Smith
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195369939
- eISBN:
- 9780199893362
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369939.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Having argued in Chapter 1 that for Ambrose the divisive tension between the soul and the body is not the proper relationship as God intended it in creation, but is the result of the fall, this ...
More
Having argued in Chapter 1 that for Ambrose the divisive tension between the soul and the body is not the proper relationship as God intended it in creation, but is the result of the fall, this chapter examines Ambrose’s understanding of the proper relationship between soul and body. It is argued that Ambrose subscribes to a hylomorphic anthropology akin to that of both Aristotle and Plotinus. Yet given his commitment to the immortality of the soul, Ambrose’s view is closer to Plotinus than Aristotle. This hylomorphic anthropology provides a model for understanding Ambrose’s view of human emotions or passions.Less
Having argued in Chapter 1 that for Ambrose the divisive tension between the soul and the body is not the proper relationship as God intended it in creation, but is the result of the fall, this chapter examines Ambrose’s understanding of the proper relationship between soul and body. It is argued that Ambrose subscribes to a hylomorphic anthropology akin to that of both Aristotle and Plotinus. Yet given his commitment to the immortality of the soul, Ambrose’s view is closer to Plotinus than Aristotle. This hylomorphic anthropology provides a model for understanding Ambrose’s view of human emotions or passions.
Frisbee C. C. Sheffield
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199286775
- eISBN:
- 9780191713194
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199286775.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
This chapter explores the relationship between Socrates and his predecessors, and gives a significant philosophical role to all the speeches of the dialogue. It argues that Socrates' speech is ...
More
This chapter explores the relationship between Socrates and his predecessors, and gives a significant philosophical role to all the speeches of the dialogue. It argues that Socrates' speech is continuous with his predecessors, and completes and resolves some of the issues raised in the previous speeches. In this way, the previous speeches can be compared to Aristotelian endoxa. The contrast between Socrates and his predecessors also exemplifies the contrast between the two sorts of lovers described in the lower and higher mysteries of Socrates' speech. Reading the speeches in light of this contrast provides a further reason to think that the previous speeches are for the sake of our philosophical education, in much the same way as the lower mysteries were taught to Socrates for the sake of the higher. The philosophy of the Symposium, in other words, is extended throughout the dialogue and is not limited to Socrates'speech.Less
This chapter explores the relationship between Socrates and his predecessors, and gives a significant philosophical role to all the speeches of the dialogue. It argues that Socrates' speech is continuous with his predecessors, and completes and resolves some of the issues raised in the previous speeches. In this way, the previous speeches can be compared to Aristotelian endoxa. The contrast between Socrates and his predecessors also exemplifies the contrast between the two sorts of lovers described in the lower and higher mysteries of Socrates' speech. Reading the speeches in light of this contrast provides a further reason to think that the previous speeches are for the sake of our philosophical education, in much the same way as the lower mysteries were taught to Socrates for the sake of the higher. The philosophy of the Symposium, in other words, is extended throughout the dialogue and is not limited to Socrates'speech.
Terryl L. Givens
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195313901
- eISBN:
- 9780199871933
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195313901.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Preexistence is associated with both Pythagoras and Orpheus, however. Plato is the most important classical source for ideas about pre-existence, writing about it in Phaedo, Meno, Phaedrus, Republic, ...
More
Preexistence is associated with both Pythagoras and Orpheus, however. Plato is the most important classical source for ideas about pre-existence, writing about it in Phaedo, Meno, Phaedrus, Republic, and Timaeus. Symposium also presents a version of soul-mate love as have premortal bases. Preexistence supports Plato's particular epistemology as well as a version of theodicy and his understanding of erotic desire. Plato also links preexistence to theosis, a connection that will contribute to the paradigms eventual demise.Less
Preexistence is associated with both Pythagoras and Orpheus, however. Plato is the most important classical source for ideas about pre-existence, writing about it in Phaedo, Meno, Phaedrus, Republic, and Timaeus. Symposium also presents a version of soul-mate love as have premortal bases. Preexistence supports Plato's particular epistemology as well as a version of theodicy and his understanding of erotic desire. Plato also links preexistence to theosis, a connection that will contribute to the paradigms eventual demise.
Stephen G. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520258334
- eISBN:
- 9780520943599
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520258334.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
This chapter examines the authenticity of the inscription, which has been described as a modern addition to an ancient herm shaft. It is in eight lines, divided into three distinct units. The first ...
More
This chapter examines the authenticity of the inscription, which has been described as a modern addition to an ancient herm shaft. It is in eight lines, divided into three distinct units. The first unit announces that the portrait is of Plato, the son of Ariston, the Athenian. The second unit is a quotation from Plato's Republic (617E). The third unit of text, located below the phallus socket, is also a quotation, this time from Plato's Phaedrus. The differences between the quotations and the received texts of Plato would suggest that the inscription was not copied from any text known in recent times. There is also another indication that the Berkeley Plato with its ribbons falls outside the mainstream of modern forgeries.Less
This chapter examines the authenticity of the inscription, which has been described as a modern addition to an ancient herm shaft. It is in eight lines, divided into three distinct units. The first unit announces that the portrait is of Plato, the son of Ariston, the Athenian. The second unit is a quotation from Plato's Republic (617E). The third unit of text, located below the phallus socket, is also a quotation, this time from Plato's Phaedrus. The differences between the quotations and the received texts of Plato would suggest that the inscription was not copied from any text known in recent times. There is also another indication that the Berkeley Plato with its ribbons falls outside the mainstream of modern forgeries.
Jessica Moss
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199666164
- eISBN:
- 9780191751936
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199666164.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
The Phaedrus claims that good logoi must be “put together like a living creature”, with parts that suit one another and the whole; but the dialogue itself seems to be a misshapen jumble. It begins as ...
More
The Phaedrus claims that good logoi must be “put together like a living creature”, with parts that suit one another and the whole; but the dialogue itself seems to be a misshapen jumble. It begins as a series of elegant rhetorical speeches about love, and ends as a dry philosophical discussion of rhetoric. What makes it hang together? This essay argues for a new reading: the Phaedrus is a treatise on the kind of persuasion that Plato calls soul-leading (psuchagōgia). Here as in other dialogues Plato is concerned with how a philosopher can lead people’s souls (that is, their attention and concern) away from worldly things and toward the goods of philosophy – a task at which Socrates’ typical methods often fail. The two parts of the Phaedrus consider two methods of such soul-leading, love and rhetoric, and the dialogue as a whole asks how either or both can be successful. The events of the dialogue dramatize the endeavour, and unify the two proposed methods: we see Socrates engaged in an attempt at soul-leading, using as his tool Phaedrus’s love, not of another person, but of rhetoric.Less
The Phaedrus claims that good logoi must be “put together like a living creature”, with parts that suit one another and the whole; but the dialogue itself seems to be a misshapen jumble. It begins as a series of elegant rhetorical speeches about love, and ends as a dry philosophical discussion of rhetoric. What makes it hang together? This essay argues for a new reading: the Phaedrus is a treatise on the kind of persuasion that Plato calls soul-leading (psuchagōgia). Here as in other dialogues Plato is concerned with how a philosopher can lead people’s souls (that is, their attention and concern) away from worldly things and toward the goods of philosophy – a task at which Socrates’ typical methods often fail. The two parts of the Phaedrus consider two methods of such soul-leading, love and rhetoric, and the dialogue as a whole asks how either or both can be successful. The events of the dialogue dramatize the endeavour, and unify the two proposed methods: we see Socrates engaged in an attempt at soul-leading, using as his tool Phaedrus’s love, not of another person, but of rhetoric.
Brian Vickers
- Published in print:
- 1989
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198117919
- eISBN:
- 9780191671128
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198117919.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
The very success of rhetoric was sometimes its own undoing. Rival disciplines challenged its eminence, and attacked its principles and methods. The most prominent attacks on rhetoric, from the ...
More
The very success of rhetoric was sometimes its own undoing. Rival disciplines challenged its eminence, and attacked its principles and methods. The most prominent attacks on rhetoric, from the ancient Greeks to the late 19th century, came from philosophy, which felt itself threatened by rhetoric's status in education and cultural life generally. Once attacked, rhetoric defended itself or counter-attacked, so that in this and other periods we find bitter disputes over the territory that each discipline occupied, with fundamental criticisms of the other's subject-matter and method. The first and most sustained attacks came from Plato, at the very beginning of the Western rhetorical tradition. Alarmed by the role of oratory in what he saw as the decline of values in Athenian society, and partly stung by the success of the Sophists, those rival teachers of philosophy, politics, and eloquence, Plato devoted large sections of two dialogues, Gorgias and Phaedrus, and a number of passages elsewhere, to attacking rhetoric. This chapter isolates the grounds of Plato's hostility towards rhetoric, and also the methods he used to express it.Less
The very success of rhetoric was sometimes its own undoing. Rival disciplines challenged its eminence, and attacked its principles and methods. The most prominent attacks on rhetoric, from the ancient Greeks to the late 19th century, came from philosophy, which felt itself threatened by rhetoric's status in education and cultural life generally. Once attacked, rhetoric defended itself or counter-attacked, so that in this and other periods we find bitter disputes over the territory that each discipline occupied, with fundamental criticisms of the other's subject-matter and method. The first and most sustained attacks came from Plato, at the very beginning of the Western rhetorical tradition. Alarmed by the role of oratory in what he saw as the decline of values in Athenian society, and partly stung by the success of the Sophists, those rival teachers of philosophy, politics, and eloquence, Plato devoted large sections of two dialogues, Gorgias and Phaedrus, and a number of passages elsewhere, to attacking rhetoric. This chapter isolates the grounds of Plato's hostility towards rhetoric, and also the methods he used to express it.
Steven Rendall
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198151807
- eISBN:
- 9780191672842
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198151807.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
In Plato's Symposium, Socrates reports a conversation he says he had with Diotima, in which she explains that all men seek fame and immortality, and suggests that this is why they have children. ...
More
In Plato's Symposium, Socrates reports a conversation he says he had with Diotima, in which she explains that all men seek fame and immortality, and suggests that this is why they have children. Montaigne says virtually the same in his essay ‘De l'affection desperes aux enfans’ and alludes to a similar passage in Plato's Phaedrus. Both Plato and Montaigne also see in writing an inherent, inescapable danger of expropriation. The threat of expropriation weighs heavily on the Essais, appearing at the outset in the guise of the goddess Fama. Meanwhile, the interpreter's natural but futile desire is to restore a unitary, original meaning that lies beyond his grasp, but no interpreter can avoid imposing his own perspective on a text.Less
In Plato's Symposium, Socrates reports a conversation he says he had with Diotima, in which she explains that all men seek fame and immortality, and suggests that this is why they have children. Montaigne says virtually the same in his essay ‘De l'affection desperes aux enfans’ and alludes to a similar passage in Plato's Phaedrus. Both Plato and Montaigne also see in writing an inherent, inescapable danger of expropriation. The threat of expropriation weighs heavily on the Essais, appearing at the outset in the guise of the goddess Fama. Meanwhile, the interpreter's natural but futile desire is to restore a unitary, original meaning that lies beyond his grasp, but no interpreter can avoid imposing his own perspective on a text.
Jill Mann
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199217687
- eISBN:
- 9780191712371
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199217687.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, European Literature
The Introduction provides a concise survey of the historical development of beast literature in western Europe, which will serve as background for later chapters. It traces the medieval tradition of ...
More
The Introduction provides a concise survey of the historical development of beast literature in western Europe, which will serve as background for later chapters. It traces the medieval tradition of beast fable from its origins in the late Roman writer Phaedrus (first century ad), and Avianus (fourth/fifth century ad), through later Latin adaptations and expansions, to translation into the vernacular languages of Europe. In contrast to the venerable ancestry of fable, beast epic is a purely medieval creation: some of its narrative material can be glimpsed in short animal‐poems dating back to the Carolingian period, but its real starting point is the Ysengrimus (1148 × 1152), which gave rise to the French Roman de Renart and other vernacular epics, making Reynard a household name. A final section deals with the essentially independent tradition of bestiaries.Less
The Introduction provides a concise survey of the historical development of beast literature in western Europe, which will serve as background for later chapters. It traces the medieval tradition of beast fable from its origins in the late Roman writer Phaedrus (first century ad), and Avianus (fourth/fifth century ad), through later Latin adaptations and expansions, to translation into the vernacular languages of Europe. In contrast to the venerable ancestry of fable, beast epic is a purely medieval creation: some of its narrative material can be glimpsed in short animal‐poems dating back to the Carolingian period, but its real starting point is the Ysengrimus (1148 × 1152), which gave rise to the French Roman de Renart and other vernacular epics, making Reynard a household name. A final section deals with the essentially independent tradition of bestiaries.
Christopher Bobonich
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199251438
- eISBN:
- 9780191597084
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199251436.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
Argues that Plato in his middle period (roughly at the time of the Phaedo and the Republic) had a radically pessimistic view of non‐philosophers: they could not be genuinely virtuous or happy, and ...
More
Argues that Plato in his middle period (roughly at the time of the Phaedo and the Republic) had a radically pessimistic view of non‐philosophers: they could not be genuinely virtuous or happy, and their lives were inevitably deeply undesirable ones to live. This pessimistic conclusion, I argue, rests on Plato's middle‐period epistemology, psychology, and metaphysics. But in the later dialogues (e.g. the Laws and the Statesman), Plato comes to a strikingly different conclusion. At least some non‐philosophers can be virtuous and lead lives that are well worth living. This book traces and explores the backward and forward connections to Plato's new estimate of non‐philosophers’ ethical capacities. On the backward side, these changes rest on significant developments in Plato's psychology and epistemology. In particular, in Plato's late period, he develops a more unified view of the soul's capacities and a richer understanding of how reason structures and influences the rest of the soul's capacities. On the forward side, these differences in non‐philosophers’ ethical capacities have significant implications for Plato's political philosophy. Since non‐philosophers are capable of more, the political and social institutions appropriate for them must also be differ ent.This book thus reads the Laws in the context provided by Plato's other post‐Republic dialogues—especially the Phaedrus, the Philebus, the Statesman, the Theaetetus, and the Timaeus—and tries to show how the Laws’ novel ethical and political conclusions depend on the epistemology, psychology, and metaphysics of these later dialogues.Less
Argues that Plato in his middle period (roughly at the time of the Phaedo and the Republic) had a radically pessimistic view of non‐philosophers: they could not be genuinely virtuous or happy, and their lives were inevitably deeply undesirable ones to live. This pessimistic conclusion, I argue, rests on Plato's middle‐period epistemology, psychology, and metaphysics. But in the later dialogues (e.g. the Laws and the Statesman), Plato comes to a strikingly different conclusion. At least some non‐philosophers can be virtuous and lead lives that are well worth living. This book traces and explores the backward and forward connections to Plato's new estimate of non‐philosophers’ ethical capacities. On the backward side, these changes rest on significant developments in Plato's psychology and epistemology. In particular, in Plato's late period, he develops a more unified view of the soul's capacities and a richer understanding of how reason structures and influences the rest of the soul's capacities. On the forward side, these differences in non‐philosophers’ ethical capacities have significant implications for Plato's political philosophy. Since non‐philosophers are capable of more, the political and social institutions appropriate for them must also be differ ent.
This book thus reads the Laws in the context provided by Plato's other post‐Republic dialogues—especially the Phaedrus, the Philebus, the Statesman, the Theaetetus, and the Timaeus—and tries to show how the Laws’ novel ethical and political conclusions depend on the epistemology, psychology, and metaphysics of these later dialogues.
Jennifer R. Rapp
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780823257430
- eISBN:
- 9780823261543
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823257430.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
Rapp begins with a question posed by poet Theodore Roethke: “should we say that the self, once perceived, becomes a soul?” Through her examination of Plato's Phaedrus and her insights about the place ...
More
Rapp begins with a question posed by poet Theodore Roethke: “should we say that the self, once perceived, becomes a soul?” Through her examination of Plato's Phaedrus and her insights about the place of forgetting in a life, Rapp answers Roethke's query with a resounding “yes.” In so doing, Rapp offers a re-imagined view onto the Phaedrus, a recast interpretation of Plato's relevance to contemporary life, and an innovative account of forgetting as a fertile fragility constitutive of humanity. The crux of Rapp's account of forgetting and her re-reading of Plato is the idea that ordinary forms of oblivion in a life are essential for change, knowledge, and truer seeing beyond the self. Ordinary moments of oblivion both saturate and fissure a life, as well as make possible the decomposing and generative processes of reading required--and risked--by Plato's texts. It is through these processes that the soul becomes forged, such that, argues Rapp, the religious dimension of Plato's philosophy rests not in metaphysics but arises from the texts themselves. Building upon Socrates’ suggested method of “forming an image of the soul through words” Rapp documents the vibrant, boundary-blurring images of the soul in the Phaedrus to illustrate how Plato's conception of the soul is not narrowly dualistic, but pliantly construed in a way befitting our porous nature. Her attention to the Phaedrus and her meditative apprehension of the permeable character of human life leave our understanding of both Plato and forgetting inescapably altered, if not resolved.Less
Rapp begins with a question posed by poet Theodore Roethke: “should we say that the self, once perceived, becomes a soul?” Through her examination of Plato's Phaedrus and her insights about the place of forgetting in a life, Rapp answers Roethke's query with a resounding “yes.” In so doing, Rapp offers a re-imagined view onto the Phaedrus, a recast interpretation of Plato's relevance to contemporary life, and an innovative account of forgetting as a fertile fragility constitutive of humanity. The crux of Rapp's account of forgetting and her re-reading of Plato is the idea that ordinary forms of oblivion in a life are essential for change, knowledge, and truer seeing beyond the self. Ordinary moments of oblivion both saturate and fissure a life, as well as make possible the decomposing and generative processes of reading required--and risked--by Plato's texts. It is through these processes that the soul becomes forged, such that, argues Rapp, the religious dimension of Plato's philosophy rests not in metaphysics but arises from the texts themselves. Building upon Socrates’ suggested method of “forming an image of the soul through words” Rapp documents the vibrant, boundary-blurring images of the soul in the Phaedrus to illustrate how Plato's conception of the soul is not narrowly dualistic, but pliantly construed in a way befitting our porous nature. Her attention to the Phaedrus and her meditative apprehension of the permeable character of human life leave our understanding of both Plato and forgetting inescapably altered, if not resolved.
A. W. Price
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198248996
- eISBN:
- 9780191681172
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198248996.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
As an account of love, Socrates' contribution to the Symposium has deficiencies to make one glad that it does not constitute Plato's final word. It invites supplementation in a number of respects. It ...
More
As an account of love, Socrates' contribution to the Symposium has deficiencies to make one glad that it does not constitute Plato's final word. It invites supplementation in a number of respects. It makes a distinction of being in love that it stands much closer to feeling in love than loving stands to feeling love. It would be possible, if unlikely, to love someone without ever feeling affectionate but not to be in love without ever, indeed frequently, feeling in love as feelings are part of the essence of being in love. Moreover, the distance from felt experience was achieved not only by a restriction of focus, but by a too simplified and sanguine psychology and ultimately, love is simply the desire for the good.Less
As an account of love, Socrates' contribution to the Symposium has deficiencies to make one glad that it does not constitute Plato's final word. It invites supplementation in a number of respects. It makes a distinction of being in love that it stands much closer to feeling in love than loving stands to feeling love. It would be possible, if unlikely, to love someone without ever feeling affectionate but not to be in love without ever, indeed frequently, feeling in love as feelings are part of the essence of being in love. Moreover, the distance from felt experience was achieved not only by a restriction of focus, but by a too simplified and sanguine psychology and ultimately, love is simply the desire for the good.
Christopher Bobonich
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199251438
- eISBN:
- 9780191597084
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199251436.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
Argues that the Phaedrus, the Theaetetus, and the Timaeus develop Plato's rationale for the abandonment of the Republic's psychological theory. In these dialogues, Plato comes to deny to the lower ...
More
Argues that the Phaedrus, the Theaetetus, and the Timaeus develop Plato's rationale for the abandonment of the Republic's psychological theory. In these dialogues, Plato comes to deny to the lower parts of the soul the sort of epistemic independence that they had in the Republic. The perceptual resources they drew upon in the Republic are no longer sufficient to allow them to be goal‐setting agents or the possessors of beliefs and desires. This chapter then examines the implications of Plato's later psychology for the place of the emotions and pleasure in the virtuous life.Less
Argues that the Phaedrus, the Theaetetus, and the Timaeus develop Plato's rationale for the abandonment of the Republic's psychological theory. In these dialogues, Plato comes to deny to the lower parts of the soul the sort of epistemic independence that they had in the Republic. The perceptual resources they drew upon in the Republic are no longer sufficient to allow them to be goal‐setting agents or the possessors of beliefs and desires. This chapter then examines the implications of Plato's later psychology for the place of the emotions and pleasure in the virtuous life.
Christopher Janaway
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198237921
- eISBN:
- 9780191597800
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198237928.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
In works later than the Republic, Plato continues to pursue many of the themes so far discussed in the book. In Phaedrus, he addresses issues concerned with rhetoric, poetry, and inspiration, seeming ...
More
In works later than the Republic, Plato continues to pursue many of the themes so far discussed in the book. In Phaedrus, he addresses issues concerned with rhetoric, poetry, and inspiration, seeming to give a more positive account. It is argued that his view is, however, not radically different from that taken in the Republic. Other later dialogues contain systematic discussions of mimesis and techne. The late dialogue Laws revisits the question of the place of the arts in the life of a community.Less
In works later than the Republic, Plato continues to pursue many of the themes so far discussed in the book. In Phaedrus, he addresses issues concerned with rhetoric, poetry, and inspiration, seeming to give a more positive account. It is argued that his view is, however, not radically different from that taken in the Republic. Other later dialogues contain systematic discussions of mimesis and techne. The late dialogue Laws revisits the question of the place of the arts in the life of a community.
C. D. C. Reeve
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199934430
- eISBN:
- 9780199980659
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199934430.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
Cephalus more or less begins the Republic; Odysseus more or less ends it. The two are seldom compared, yet each is portrayed as making good life choices despite being ignorant of philosophy. This ...
More
Cephalus more or less begins the Republic; Odysseus more or less ends it. The two are seldom compared, yet each is portrayed as making good life choices despite being ignorant of philosophy. This chapter argues that the reason for this is that experience is being recognized as having an important role to play in craft knowledge and so in the wisdom of the philosopher-kings. The chapter also discusses the dramatis personae of the Republic and their importance.Less
Cephalus more or less begins the Republic; Odysseus more or less ends it. The two are seldom compared, yet each is portrayed as making good life choices despite being ignorant of philosophy. This chapter argues that the reason for this is that experience is being recognized as having an important role to play in craft knowledge and so in the wisdom of the philosopher-kings. The chapter also discusses the dramatis personae of the Republic and their importance.
C. D. C. Reeve
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199934430
- eISBN:
- 9780199980659
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199934430.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This chapter discusses the nature of beauty and goodness and the relationship between them in part by exploring Diotima’s speech in the Symposium. It argues that her account of “begetting in beauty” ...
More
This chapter discusses the nature of beauty and goodness and the relationship between them in part by exploring Diotima’s speech in the Symposium. It argues that her account of “begetting in beauty” includes important gaps that the Republic will then fill. It also addresses the apparently paiderastic nature of philosophy (shared with the Phaedrus), in which the ascent to knowledge of Platonic forms must apparently begin in the correct sort of boy-love. The Republic, it argues, includes not just a radical reconception of the family, but of sexuality itself, severing, in the process, the connection between paiderasteia and Platonic philosophy.Less
This chapter discusses the nature of beauty and goodness and the relationship between them in part by exploring Diotima’s speech in the Symposium. It argues that her account of “begetting in beauty” includes important gaps that the Republic will then fill. It also addresses the apparently paiderastic nature of philosophy (shared with the Phaedrus), in which the ascent to knowledge of Platonic forms must apparently begin in the correct sort of boy-love. The Republic, it argues, includes not just a radical reconception of the family, but of sexuality itself, severing, in the process, the connection between paiderasteia and Platonic philosophy.
Rüdiger Bittner
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195143645
- eISBN:
- 9780199833085
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195143647.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Explores the ancestry of the desire‐belief‐theory. It is generally assumed to derive from David Hume's conception, epitomized in his statement that the impulse for action does not arise from reason, ...
More
Explores the ancestry of the desire‐belief‐theory. It is generally assumed to derive from David Hume's conception, epitomized in his statement that the impulse for action does not arise from reason, but is only directed by it. In fact, though, this view is not credibly supported by argument and must rest, rather, on traditional assumptions. Their source is Plato: the doctrine of the soul in Phaedrus expounds, contrary to many scholars’ opinion, essentially the understanding of action that we are familiar with from Hume. What made this understanding of action attractive becomes also apparent in considering Plato: if reason gives desire direction, there can be action in accordance with what there is. Nevertheless we should drop the idea: it brings with it domination within the soul.Less
Explores the ancestry of the desire‐belief‐theory. It is generally assumed to derive from David Hume's conception, epitomized in his statement that the impulse for action does not arise from reason, but is only directed by it. In fact, though, this view is not credibly supported by argument and must rest, rather, on traditional assumptions. Their source is Plato: the doctrine of the soul in Phaedrus expounds, contrary to many scholars’ opinion, essentially the understanding of action that we are familiar with from Hume. What made this understanding of action attractive becomes also apparent in considering Plato: if reason gives desire direction, there can be action in accordance with what there is. Nevertheless we should drop the idea: it brings with it domination within the soul.
Norma Thompson
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300088175
- eISBN:
- 9780300128055
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300088175.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter presents a reading of Plato's Republic and Phaedrus. It attempts to discern the balancing presence of Plato behind the masculine painted image of kallipolis (with all of its excesses) ...
More
This chapter presents a reading of Plato's Republic and Phaedrus. It attempts to discern the balancing presence of Plato behind the masculine painted image of kallipolis (with all of its excesses) and the feminine-oriented talk of the character Socrates (with all of his vulnerabilities and his concealed powers of persuasion).Less
This chapter presents a reading of Plato's Republic and Phaedrus. It attempts to discern the balancing presence of Plato behind the masculine painted image of kallipolis (with all of its excesses) and the feminine-oriented talk of the character Socrates (with all of his vulnerabilities and his concealed powers of persuasion).
