Playful philosophy and serious sophistry : a reading of Plato's Euthydemus / Georgia Sermamoglou-Soulmaidi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sermamoglou-Soulmaidi, Georgia, author.

Series:

Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte ; Band 115.

Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte, 1862-1112 ; Band 115

Language:

English

German

Subjects (All):

Philosophy.

Plato. Euthydemus.

Plato.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (213 p.)

Place of Publication:

Berlin, [Germany] ; Boston, [Massachusetts] : Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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?

Contents:

Front matter

Preface

Contents

Introduction

1 Playful Philosophy: The Protreptic Scenes

2 Serious Sophistry: The Eristic Scenes

3 Conflating Philosophy and Sophistry: The Framing Scenes

4 Reversals: Laughter, Play, and Seriousness

Conclusion: Overall Interpretation

Appendix: The Structure of the Euthydemus

Works Cited

Index of Proper Names

Greek Works Cited

General Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9783110391381

3110391384

9783110365870

3110365871

OCLC:

890071070