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Plato's Republics: A Dramatic Interpretation Of The Early Cities In Plato's "Republic", Simeon Burns
Plato's Republics: A Dramatic Interpretation Of The Early Cities In Plato's "Republic", Simeon Burns
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation will demonstrate a new methodological approach to reading Plato’s Republic. I develop and apply a dramatic, dynamic hermeneutic to Book II and part of Book III in the text. This method holds that each speech is the product of a preceding agreement or disagreement between two speakers. Agreements lead to the argument’s advancement and disagreements result in a regression to a previous agreement from which to restart the exchange. The focus section is largely on the early exchange Socrates has with Adeimantus. I argue that Socrates is an unwilling participant in the famous discussion on the meaning …
The Lost City: Examining The Relationship Between Science, Philosophy And The Atlantis Myth, Kimberly Hurd
The Lost City: Examining The Relationship Between Science, Philosophy And The Atlantis Myth, Kimberly Hurd
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Francis Bacon, long considered a minor figure in the founding of modern political thought, is now recognized as one of its foremost thinkers. Bacon not only championed a new type and method of scientific inquiry, he also developed a plan for how modern society could be re-ordered to accommodate and promote scientific progress. Bacon’s scientific writings cannot be wholly understood apart from his political writings, and many of his works combine the two topics so subtly that it is difficult to even place them in a definitive category. My project expands on the previous literature with a detailed analysis of …
Athens And Byzantium: Platonic Political Philosophy In Religious Empire, Jeremiah Heath Russell
Athens And Byzantium: Platonic Political Philosophy In Religious Empire, Jeremiah Heath Russell
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
It is traditionally understood that there is a gap, which spans well over one thousand years, between Plato’s own political philosophy and its successor in medieval Islamic philosophy. A most likely bridge between Plato and these later philosophers is Neoplatonism. However, scholars argue that this philosophic school abandoned its predecessor’s emphasis on political philosophy. This dissertation challenges the traditional interpretation by reconstructing a political philosophy based on a Neoplatonic commentary on Plato’s Gorgias. The first two chapters place this commentary within its historical context, as well as its place within the larger Neoplatonic pedagogy. The remainder of the dissertation reconstructs …
Socrates As Citizen?: The Implications Of Socratic Eros For Contemporary Models Of Citizenship, Jeremy John Mhire
Socrates As Citizen?: The Implications Of Socratic Eros For Contemporary Models Of Citizenship, Jeremy John Mhire
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation evaluates the appropriateness of using Socrates as a model for contemporary citizenship. I examine the question of Socrates' civic character by inquiring about the relation of the philosopher (or political scientist) to the city (that is, to political life) without taking for granted that they share a common aim or purpose. Instead, I prepare the discussion with an examination of the treatment of Socrates by the comic poet Aristophanes in the Clouds. I suggest that Socrates' famed eros, his unwavering love of wisdom, was a problem, one that threatened the very foundations of political society. By conceiving of …
The Greek Sophists : Teachers Of Virtue, David Dwyer Corey
The Greek Sophists : Teachers Of Virtue, David Dwyer Corey
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation is a study of the Greek sophists as teachers of aretê (virtue or human excellence) and a study of the conflict between sophistic and Socratic political values as portrayed in the dialogues of Plato. The first section offers a new definition of the term "sophist" based on ancient sources and attempts to present as clear a picture as is historically possible of the sophists' activities. The second section examines and evaluates Plato's criticisms of the sophists drawing attention especially to the dependence of certain criticisms upon a questionable set of epistemological assumptions about the role of knowledge in …
Aisthetic Eros And Athenian Political Crisis: An Interpretation Of Plato's Seventh Letter, John Baltes
Aisthetic Eros And Athenian Political Crisis: An Interpretation Of Plato's Seventh Letter, John Baltes
LSU Master's Theses
This paper investigates Plato's solution to political and social disorder by analyzing his advice and epistemology in the Seventh Letter. The first of three primary divisions provides the historical context of Platonic philosophy. The second discusses the central themes of his metaphysics, with specific attention to the Phaedo and Republic. The third analyzes the importance of aisthetic eros for the ascent to the Agathon, culminating in an interpretation of the relevant sections of the Seventh Letter.