A Companion to Plato

This broad-ranging Companion comprises original contributions from leading Platonic scholars and reflects the different ways in which they are dealing with Plato’s legacy.

• Covers an exceptionally broad range of subjects from diverse perspectives
  
  
• Contributions are devoted to topics, ranging from perception and knowledge to politics and cosmology
  
  
• Allows readers to see how a position advocated in one of Plato’s dialogues compares with positions advocated in others
  
  
• Permits readers to engage the debate concerning Plato’s philosophical development on particular topics
  
  
• Also includes overviews of Plato’s life, works and philosophical method
  

Notes on Contributors viii

Preface xii

Abbreviations xiv

1 The Life of Plato of Athens 1
DEBRA NAILS

2 Interpreting Plato 13
CHRISTOPHER ROWE

3 The Socratic Problem 25
WILLIAM J. PRIOR

Part I PLATONIC METHOD AND THE DIALOGUE FORM 37

4 Form and the Platonic Dialogues 39
MARY MARGARET MCCABE

5 The Socratic Elenchus 55
CHARLES M. YOUNG

6 Platonic Definitions and Forms 70
R. M. DANCY

7 Plato’s Method of Dialectic 85
HUGH H. BENSON

Part II PLATONIC EPISTEMOLOGY 101

8 Socratic Ignorance 103
GARETH B. MATTHEWS

9 Plato on Recollection 119
CHARLES KAHN

10 Plato: A Theory of Perception or a Nod to Sensation? 133
DEBORAH K. W. MODRAK

11 Knowledge and the Forms in Plato 146
MICHAEL FEREJOHN

Part III PLATONIC METAPHYSICS 163

12 The Forms and the Sciences in Socrates and Plato 165
TERRY PENNER

13 Problems for Forms 184
MARY LOUISE GILL

14 The Role of Cosmology in Plato’s Philosophy 199
CYNTHIA FREELAND

15 Plato on Language 214
DAVID SEDLEY

16 Plato and Mathematics 228
MICHAEL J. WHITE

17 Platonic Religion 244
MARK L. MCPHERRAN

Part IV PLATONIC PSYCHOLOGY 261

18 The Socratic Paradoxes 263
THOMAS C. BRICKHOUSE and NICHOLAS D. SMITH

19 The Platonic Soul 278
FRED D. MILLER, JR.

20 Plato on Eros and Friendship 294
C. D. C. REEVE

21 Plato on Pleasure as the Human Good 308
GERASIMOS SANTAS

Part V PLATONIC ETHICS, POLITICS, AND AESTHETICS 323

22 The Unity of the Virtues 325
DANIEL DEVEREUX

23 Plato on Justice 341
DAVID KEYT

24 Plato’s Concept of Goodness 356
NICHOLAS WHITE

25 Plato on the Law 373
SUSAN SAUVÉ MEYER

26 Plato and the Arts 388
CHRISTOPHER JANAWAY

Part VI PLATONIC LEGACY 401

27 Learning about Plato from Aristotle 403
CHRISTOPHER SHIELDS

28 Plato and Hellenistic Philosophy 418
A. A. LONG

29 Plato’s Influence on Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Philosophy 434
SARA AHBEL-RAPPE

Index 452

"This compendium of 29 essays by leading scholars, on every aspect of Plato from his biography and literary style to his metaphysics and politics to his reception by later philosophical and religious traditions, is a welcome addition to the resources available to students of Plato. A number of essays distill cutting-edge research developed in greater detail in the authors’ monographs. The result is a book every student of Plato will want to consult."
Rachana Kamtekar, University of Arizona

"This is a valuable collection of essays from a distinguished cast of contributors. It should prove useful to a wide variety of readers."
Chris Bobonich, Stanford University

"This hefty volume differs from many anthologies on Plato in its comprehensiveness...The essays represent recent scholarship on Plato, with bibliographical references at the end of each essay to literature almost exclusively within the last 50 years...To a lover of Plato, another volume of essays on his thought is always welcome."
Choice

"A work avowedly for the philosopher and the student philosopher, but accessible too by other students, this will be a welcome addition in a wide range of libraries from undergraduate level upwards."
Reference Reviews

Hugh H. Benson is Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Oklahoma. He is the editor of Essays on the Philosophy of Socrates (1992) and author of Socratic Wisdom (2000) as well as various articles on the philosophy of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Plato and Platonism remain fundamental to the practice of philosophy. This broad-ranging Companion comprises original contributions from some of the best Platonic scholars in the world today and reflects the various ways in which they are dealing with Plato’s legacy.

The Companion is ordered on three principles. First, the contributions are devoted to topics in Platonic philosophy, ranging from perception and knowledge to politics and cosmology. This allows readers to see how a position advocated in one of Plato’s dialogues compares with positions advocated in others. Second, reading Plato in this way raises issues concerning the chronological order of the composition of the dialogues and Plato’s philosophical development; various sides of the debate on these subjects are argued. Finally, topics have been selected for their philosophical rather than their historical significance.

The volume will be welcomed for the wide range of topics and the multiplicity of perspectives it presents. As an aid to fuller understanding, it also includes overviews of Plato’s life, works, and philosophical method.