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Unity And Logos: A Reading Of Theaetetus 201c-210a, Mitchell Miller

Mitchell Miller

Abstract for “Unity and Logos” (Anc Phil 12.1:87-111):

A close reading of Socrates' refutation of the final proposed definition of knowledge, "true opinion with an account." I examine the provocations to further thinking Socrates poses with his dilemma of simplicity and complexity and then by his rejections of the three senses of "account," and I argue that these provocations guide the responsive reader to that rich and determinate understanding of the sort of 'object' which knowledge requires that the Parmenides and the Eleatic dialogues will go on to explicate.

This paper is available at http://pages.vassar.edu/mitchellmiller/.

Climate And Teleology In Aristotle's Physics Ii.8, Yancy Hughes Dominick

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Weather, including rain, happens as a result of natural and teleological processes, but that is compatible with the claim that rain falls not for the sake of something, but of necessity, and any benefit from the rain comes by chance. Aristotle need not embrace the conclusion, therefore, that it rains for the sake of the crops. Climate, on the other hand, is regular and beneficial. If the disjunct from Physics II.8 holds, climate ought to be for the sake of something even while rain is not.

The Transformation Of The Investigation Of F In Plato's Dramas Of Definition, David Wolfsdorf

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

In this paper I consider which formal characteristics, if any, occur in the investigations. In addition, I am interested in whether there is a transformation of formal characteristics among the dramas of definition.

Methodologically, the paper focuses on what I call the surface claims and arguments of the text. By that I mean the explicit claims and arguments Socrates and his interlocutors make about the identity of F. This aspect of the texts is distinguished from their literary or dramatic aspects as well as any indirect claims and arguments about F, however these might occur. The neglect of the literary …

Energeia And Entelecheia: Their Conception, Development And Relation, Thomas Olshewsky

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Stephen Menn, in his recent article on energeia and dynamis, has stirred the coals of recent controversy about understandings of Aristotle’s terms 'energeia' and ‘entelecheia', controversy about which he himself seemed totally oblivious. While he offered us careful explorations of Aristotle’s texts, he took no note of similar studies from over a quarter century ago by Chen Chuang-Hwan and by George Blair, nor of the more recent works by Blair, Daniel Graham and John Rist. So much the worse for his efforts, since these cover much of the same territory with conclusions rather divergent from his own. He has been …

Unity And Logos: A Reading Of Theaetetus 201c-210a, Mitchell Miller

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Abstract for “Unity and Logos” (Anc Phil 12.1:87-111):

A close reading of Socrates' refutation of the final proposed definition of knowledge, "true opinion with an account." I examine the provocations to further thinking Socrates poses with his dilemma of simplicity and complexity and then by his rejections of the three senses of "account," and I argue that these provocations guide the responsive reader to that rich and determinate understanding of the sort of 'object' which knowledge requires that the Parmenides and the Eleatic dialogues will go on to explicate.

This paper is available at http://pages.vassar.edu/mitchellmiller/.

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 …

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 …

The 'Third Man Argument' And The Text Of The Parmenides, Robert G. Turnbull

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

I attempt to show that the 'Large' argument of Parmenides 132 must be understood as part of the attempt to clarify Socrates' response to Zeno. The threat to that response is to the requirement that each form be one and not many. But it is also a threat to the very idea of having a share of a form. In context, the argument is underbrush clearing, getting an unworkable idea out of the way.