Overview
Offers an innovative reading of the Platonic Dialogues of Definition
Resolves interpretive issues in Socratic philosophy
Provides systematic interpretations
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Table of contents (8 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
In each of Plato’s “dialogues of definition” (Euthyphro, Laches, Meno, Charmides, Lysis, Republic I, Hippias Major), Socrates motivates philosophical discussion by posing a question of the form “What is F-ness?” Yet these dialogues are notorious for coming up empty. Socrates’ interlocutors repeatedly fail to deliver satisfactory answers. Thus, the dialogues of definition are often considered negative— empty of any positive philosophical content. Justin C. Clark resists the negative reading, arguing that the dialogues of definition contain positive “Socratic” answers. In order to see the positive theory, however, one must recognize what Clark calls the "dual function" of the “What is F-ness?” question. Socrates is not looking for a single type of answer. Rather, Socrates is looking for two distinct types of answers. The “What is F-ness?” question serves as a springboard for two types of investigation— conceptual and causal. The key to understanding any of the dialogues of definition, therefore, is to decipher between them. Clark offers a way to do just that, at once resolving interpretive issues in Socratic philosophy, providing systematic interpretations of the negative endings, and generating important new readings of the Charmides and Lysis, whilst casting further doubt on the authenticity of the Hippias Major.
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Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Plato’s Dialogues of Definition
Book Subtitle: Causal and Conceptual Investigations
Authors: Justin C. Clark
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07849-1
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-07848-4Published: 22 July 2022
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-07851-4Published: 22 July 2023
eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-07849-1Published: 21 July 2022
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VII, 203
Number of Illustrations: 5 b/w illustrations
Topics: Classical Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Epistemology