Plato and the Socratic dialogue : the philosophical use of a literary form

Bibliographic Information

Plato and the Socratic dialogue : the philosophical use of a literary form

Charles H. Kahn

Cambridge University Press, 1998

  • : pbk

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 402-409) and indexes

Description and Table of Contents

Description

This book proposes a new paradigm for the interpretation of Plato's early and middle dialogues. Rejecting the usual assumption of a distinct 'Socratic' period in the development of Plato's thought, this view regards the earlier works as deliberate preparation for the exposition of Plato's mature philosophy. Differences between the dialogues do not represent different stages in Plato's own thinking but rather different aspects and moments in the presentation of a new and unfamiliar view of reality. Once the fictional character of the Socratic genre is recognised, there is no reason to regard Plato's early dialogues as representing the philosophy of the historical Socrates. The result is a unified interpretation of all of the dialogues down to the Republic and the Phaedrus.

Table of Contents

  • 1. Sokratikoi logoi: the literary and intellectual background of Plato's work
  • 2. The interpretation of Plato
  • 3. Socrates
  • 4. Plato as a minor Socratic: Ion and Hippias Minor
  • 5. Gorgias: Plato's manifesto for philosophy
  • 6. The priority of definition: from Laches to Meno
  • 7. Charmides and the search for beneficial knowledge
  • 8. Protagoras: virtue as knowledge
  • 9. The object of love
  • 10. The emergence of dialectic
  • 11. The presentation of the Forms
  • 12. Phaedrus and the limits of writing
  • Appendix
  • Bibliography.

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Details

  • NCID
    BA3695870X
  • ISBN
    • 0521648300
  • LCCN
    95048307
  • Country Code
    uk
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    Cambridge ; New York
  • Pages/Volumes
    xxi, 431 p.
  • Size
    24 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
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