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The Origin Of Aristotle's Metaphysical Aporiae, Edward Halper

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

That the fifteen aporiae to whose exposition Aristotle devotes all of Metaphysics B originate from Platonism is widely accepted. However, the text provides no account of how Aristotle constructed these aporiae, and the exact path by which they developed remains shrouded by our lack of knowledge of Aristotle's contemporaries and of the discussions in Plato's Academy. Book B has been a focal point for various, conflicting accounts of Aristotle's development, for scholars assume that the aporiae presented here are problems that troubled Aristotle and remained unsolved when he wrote Metaphysics B. In this paper I shall present an alternative account …

On 'Essentially' (Hoper) In Aristotle, Alban Urbanas

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

In this paper I shall examine the notion of ταὐτόν - commonly translated as 'same' or 'identical' - and its relevance to so-called essential predications, as effected through the use of ὅπερ in Aristotle. It will be shown that propositions of the type 'A is ὅπερ B' involve an essential predication where either a genus is affirmed of a species, or a species of an individual. The possibility of such predications will be founded upon the doctrine of the categories and the ontological distinction between essence and accident. Besides predications involving generic or specific identity, others effected through propositions of …

How Learning Mathematics Helps Us Be Virtuous, Joan Kung

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

A number of passages in the Timaeus make a connection that strikes us as odd, even bizarre perhaps. Who nowadays thinks that the study of geometry or number theory has anything to do with being a good person? Yet these passages emphasize the importance for human virtue and happiness of mathematical studies, especially the study of the ratios of numbers and the geometry of solids in motion, the harmonies and revolutions of the world or of the god. We are told, for example, that by learning to know and compute these rightly we shall bring our souls into order and …

Eudemian Ethical Method, Lawrence J. Jost

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Are there any distinctive contributions that the EE, as opposed to the NE, makes to the study of ethical method? The fact that the Eudemian environment is particularly hospitable to endoxic method by comparison with the NE is surely worthy of note, even extended examination. We look first at undoubtedly NE passages for methodological remarks, noting how spare such as can be found really are when compared with undoubtedly EE material. Eventually we shall be in position to suggest that it is the EE and not the NE which must be given the credit for containing the fullest account of …

Sagp Newsletter 1985/6.2 (November), Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Announcement of the panels of the Society with the Eastern Division and the American Philological Association in December 1985.

Sagp/Ssips Program 1985, Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Episteme - Scientia - *Ilm

Scientific Knowledge in Antiquity and in Christian and Islamic Philosophy

Fourth Annual SAGP /SSIPS conference, at Baruch College

Program of papers presented

Sagp Newsletter 1985.2 (September), Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Announcement of the annual meeting of the Society with the Society for the Study of Islamic Philosophy and Science, at Baruch College CUNY, October 1985.

Plato's Reply To The 'Worst Difficulty' Argument Of The Parmenides: Sophist 248a-249d, Mark L. Mcpherran

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

I offer a plausible reading of Sophist 248a-249d and its relation to Parmenides 133a-135a. My thesis supports the reconstruction of the 'worst difficulty' as a valid argument, thus allowing it to live up to its description in the text. This view contributes to a portrait of Plato who developed a sophisticated theory of relations, who then had the honesty and insight to see and record the 'worst difficulty' that the theory had for the hard-won theory of Forms, and who then tenaciously worked out a viable and integrated solution to that difficulty. It should come as no surprise - and …

How Does Plato Solve The Paradox Of Inquiry In The Meno?, Michael Morgan

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

In this paper I shall focus on a passage in Plato’s dialogue, the Meno, that has received wide and serious attention of late. It is that stretch of the Meno (80d-86c) that incorporates Meno’s eristic puzzle, the doctrine of recollection, Socrates’ interrogation of Meno’s slave-boy, and the sequel to that interrogation. I shall try to show that this text is transitional and doubly so, for, on the one hand, within the context of the Meno it marks the transition between the earlier elenchoi concerning the nature of arete and the employment of the method of hypothesis concerning whether arete is …

Aristotle On Temperance, Charles Young

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

A straightforward application on the Doctrine of the Mean to the case of temperance, such as Aristotle offers in Eudemian Ethics III.2, does not do justice to the problems the virtue raises, problems that he sees clearly and effectively addresses in Nicomachean Ethics III.10-12.

Plato's Refutation Of Thrasymachus: The Craft Argument, Edward Warren

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

I argue that in Plato's view the nature and existence of knowledge refutes Thrasymachus and that in employing the craft argument to this end Plato presupposes that 1) knowledge is always of Form, 2) knowledge, being, and power are united, and 3) the Good confers value upon being.

Sagp Newsletter 1985.1 (February), Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Program for the meeting of the Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy with the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association, February 1985.