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Full-Text Articles in History of Philosophy
Theory And Practice In Plato's Theaetetus: The Question Of Knowledge And The Primacy Of Dialectic, Tushar Irani
Theory And Practice In Plato's Theaetetus: The Question Of Knowledge And The Primacy Of Dialectic, Tushar Irani
The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter
Most studies of the Theaetetus concentrate on Plato’s examination of Protagoras’s ‘Man is the Measure’ doctrine— and rightly so. The bulk of the dialogue is after all devoted to an exhaustive critique of this doctrine and its consequences, and in order to understand Plato’s views it is surely crucial to determine what position he sets up in contrast to his own. Commentators differ, however, when it comes to the finer points of Protagoras’s position— particularly concerning the validity of Plato’s infamous self-refutation argument against the Measure Doctrine at 171A6-C7—and its relation to Heraclitean flux. After some preliminaries on the overall …
The ‘Digression’ In Plato’S Theaetetus: A New Interpretation, David Levy
The ‘Digression’ In Plato’S Theaetetus: A New Interpretation, David Levy
The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter
In this paper I argue that the “digression” (Tht. 172D-177C) plays a central role in Plato’s overall critique of Protagoras’s measure doctrine. Properly understood, the digression itself constitutes an argument against accepting a particular interpretation of the measure doctrine. This argument is based upon the unacceptable moral and political consequences that result from an institutional validation of extreme conventionalism. Commentators, such as Robin Waterfield and Gilbert Ryle, who dismiss this passage as pointless, and translators, such as Gwynneth Matthews, who omit the passage entirely, fail to draw the important connections among the measure doctrine, the Athenian legal system …
Foundationalism, Coherentism, And Aristotle, Robin A. Smith
Foundationalism, Coherentism, And Aristotle, Robin A. Smith
The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter
It is the need to respond to various forms of relativism, with their nihilistic consequences for philosophy and science, that was the primary epistemological goal for Plato and Aristotle. Such a goal is a far more credible and a far more urgent one for them than the refutation of Cartesian radical skepticism, a position they do not even seem to take seriously.
Paradox, Poetry, And Eternity: Socrates, Parmenides, And Nietzsche, Scott Austin
Paradox, Poetry, And Eternity: Socrates, Parmenides, And Nietzsche, Scott Austin
The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter
Abstractly, some metalanguages and their allied languages are such that the metalinguistic truths cannot be put into the language itself without a (fruitful or devastating) paradox which breaks the very rules which the metalanguage itself enunciates for the language. Others are such that the transposition of metalanguage into language occurs without difficulty. The status of philosophy as a purported "science of all sciences" from classical times to the present hangs on this difference; for, unless there can be speech about speech in one’s own (however elaborated) natural language, the metaphysical enterprise sooner or later topples, to be replaced by faith, …