Sermamoglou-Soulmaidi Playful Philosophy and Serious Sophistry

A Reading of Plato’s "Euthydemus"
1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-3-11-036587-0
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, Band 115, 242 Seiten

Reihe: Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte

This book provides an interpretation of Plato’s Euthydemus as a unified piece of literature, taking into account both its dramatic and its philosophical aspects. It aims to do justice to a major Platonic work which has so far received comparatively little treatment. Except for the sections of the dialogue in which Socrates presents an argument on the pursuit of eudaimonia, the Euthydemus seems to have been largely ignored. The reason for this is that much of the work’s philosophical import lies hidden underneath a veil of riotous comedy. This book shows how a reading of the dialogue as a whole, rather than a limited focus on the Socratic scenes, sheds light on the work’s central philosophical questions. It argues the Euthydemus points not only to the differences between Socrates and the sophists, but also to actual and alleged similarities between them. The framing scenes comment precisely on this aspect of the internal dialogue, with Crito still lumping together philosophy and eristic shortly before his discussion with Socrates comes to an end. Hence the question that permeates the Euthydemus is raised afresh at the end of the dialogue: what is properly to be termed philosophy?

Zielgruppe

All those interested in ancient Greek philosophy

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sermamoglou-Soulmaidi, Georgia

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Architektur Geschichte der Architektur, Baugeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Kunstgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Architektur Gebäudetypen Palastbauten, Burgen, Festungen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Preface;7
2;Contents;9
3;Introduction;11
4;1. Playful Philosophy: The Protreptic Scenes;19
4.1;1.1 The First Protreptic;20
4.1.1;1.1.1 The Initial List of Goods;21
4.1.2;1.1.2 The Argument on Good Fortune;24
4.1.3;1.1.3 Using the Goods;31
4.1.4;1.1.4 Using the Goods Rightly;33
4.1.5;1.1.5 Knowledge / Wisdom;36
4.1.6;1.1.6 Appendix: Conventional Goods as Potential Evils;36
4.1.7;1.1.7 The Relation between Virtue and Knowledge;38
4.1.8;1.1.8 Providers of Wisdom;45
4.1.9;1.1.9 Evaluation of the Argument: The Relation between Wisdom and Happiness;46
4.1.10;1.1.10 Socrates the “Sophist”: Similarities between the Socratic and Eristic Method;54
4.1.11;1.1.11 Conclusion: The Aim of the First Protreptic;57
4.2;1.2 The Second Protreptic;58
4.2.1;1.2.1 Redefining Knowledge: Production and Use;58
4.2.2;1.2.2 Which Form of Knowledge?;61
4.2.3;1.2.3 Crito’s Intervention;66
4.2.4;1.2.4 The Art of Politics;67
4.2.5;1.2.5 A Note on Socrates’ Method;74
4.2.6;1.2.6 Conclusion;75
5;2. Serious Sophistry: The Eristic Scenes;77
5.1;2.1 The Individual Scenes;78
5.1.1;2.1.1 The First Eristic Scene;78
5.1.2;2.1.2 The Second Eristic Scene;82
5.1.3;2.1.3 The Third Eristic Scene;98
5.2;2.2 The Three Eristic Scenes as a Continuum;113
5.2.1;2.2.1 Forms and Recollection in the Third Eristic Scene;113
5.2.2;2.2.2 The Continuum;115
5.2.3;2.2.3 Two Eristic Assumptions;120
5.2.4;2.2.4 Back to the Continuum;129
6;3. Conflating Philosophy and Sophistry: The Framing Scenes;135
6.1;3.1 Introductory Framing Scene;135
6.2;3.2 Interruption;144
6.3;3.3 Final Framing Scene;146
6.3.1;3.3.1 Socrates’ Speech of Praise;146
6.3.2;3.3.2 Crito as a Student;147
6.3.3;3.3.3 Crito and Socrates;148
6.3.4;3.3.4 Conclusion: The Contribution of the Final Scene;162
7;4. Reversals: Laughter, Play, and Seriousness;165
7.1;4.1 The Primary Theme of Laughter;166
7.2;4.2 The Secondary Theme of Play and Seriousness;173
7.3;4.3 The Return of the Primary Theme of Laughter;183
7.4;4.4 The Theme of Laughter in the Framing Scenes;192
7.5;4.5 Summary and Interpretation;195
8;Conclusion: Overall Interpretation;198
9;Appendix: The Structure of the Euthydemus;201
10;Works Cited;202
11;Index of Proper Names;210
12;Greek Works Cited;211
13;General Index;212

Über Autor(innen)

Georgia Sermamoglou-Soulmaidi, Foundation of the Hellenic World, Athens.