Playful Philosophy and Serious Sophistry (eBook)

A Reading of Plato's 'Euthydemus'

Georgia Sermamoglou-Soulmaidi (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF | EPUB

2014 | 1. Auflage
242 Seiten
Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co.KG (Verlag)
978-3-11-036587-0 (ISBN)

Infos

This book provides an interpretation of Plato’s Euthydemus as a unified piece of literature, taking into account both its dramatic and its philosophical aspects. It sheds new light on some old questions, including the relation between knowledge, virtue and happiness. Further, it pays due attention to the arguments of the sophists that are often neglected, focusing on the similarities between Socrates and his eristic opponents.

Inhalt

Preface 7
Contents 9
Introduction 11
1. Playful Philosophy: The Protreptic Scenes 19
1.1 The First Protreptic 20
1.1.1 The Initial List of Goods 21
1.1.2 The Argument on Good Fortune 24
1.1.3 Using the Goods 31
1.1.4 Using the Goods Rightly 33
1.1.5 Knowledge / Wisdom 36
1.1.6 Appendix: Conventional Goods as Potential Evils 36
1.1.7 The Relation between Virtue and Knowledge 38
1.1.8 Providers of Wisdom 45
1.1.9 Evaluation of the Argument: The Relation between Wisdom and Happiness 46
1.1.10 Socrates the “Sophist”: Similarities between the Socratic and Eristic Method 54
1.1.11 Conclusion: The Aim of the First Protreptic 57
1.2 The Second Protreptic 58
1.2.1 Redefining Knowledge: Production and Use 58
1.2.2 Which Form of Knowledge? 61
1.2.3 Crito’s Intervention 66
1.2.4 The Art of Politics 67
1.2.5 A Note on Socrates’ Method 74
1.2.6 Conclusion 75
2. Serious Sophistry: The Eristic Scenes 77
2.1 The Individual Scenes 78
2.1.1 The First Eristic Scene 78
2.1.2 The Second Eristic Scene 82
2.1.3 The Third Eristic Scene 98
2.2 The Three Eristic Scenes as a Continuum 113
2.2.1 Forms and Recollection in the Third Eristic Scene 113
2.2.2 The Continuum 115
2.2.3 Two Eristic Assumptions 120
2.2.4 Back to the Continuum 129
3. Conflating Philosophy and Sophistry: The Framing Scenes 135
3.1 Introductory Framing Scene 135
3.2 Interruption 144
3.3 Final Framing Scene 146
3.3.1 Socrates’ Speech of Praise 146
3.3.2 Crito as a Student 147
3.3.3 Crito and Socrates 148
3.3.4 Conclusion: The Contribution of the Final Scene 162
4. Reversals: Laughter, Play, and Seriousness 165
4.1 The Primary Theme of Laughter 166
4.2 The Secondary Theme of Play and Seriousness 173
4.3 The Return of the Primary Theme of Laughter 183
4.4 The Theme of Laughter in the Framing Scenes 192
4.5 Summary and Interpretation 195
Conclusion: Overall Interpretation 198
Appendix: The Structure of the Euthydemus 201
Works Cited 202
Index of Proper Names 210
Greek Works Cited 211
General Index 212

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 29.8.2014
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Geschichte der Philosophie
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Philosophie Altertum / Antike
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Anglistik / Amerikanistik
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft
• ISBN-10: 3-11-036587-1 / 3110365871
• ISBN-13: 978-3-11-036587-0 / 9783110365870