Plato's essentialism : reinterpreting the theory of forms / Vasilis Politis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Politis, Vasilis, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Plato.

Form (Philosophy).

Essentialism (Philosophy).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 251 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2021.

Summary:

In this book, Vasilis Politis argues that Plato's Forms are essences, not merely things that have an essence. Politis shows that understanding Plato's theory of Forms as a theory of essence presents a serious challenge to contemporary philosophers who regard essentialism as little more than an optional item on the philosophical menu. This approach, he suggests, also constitutes a sharp critique of those who view Aristotelian essentialism as the only sensible position: Plato's essentialism, Politis demonstrates, is a well-argued, rigorous, and coherent theory, and a viable competitor to that of Aristotle. This book will appeal to students and scholars with an interest in the intersection between philosophy and the history of ]philosophy.

Contents:

Cover

Half-title

Title page

Copyright information

Dedication

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Addendum

Chapter 1 Why cannot the ti esti question be answered by example and exemplar?: Hippias Major

Chapter 2 Why cannot essences, or Forms, be perceived by the senses?: Hippias Major. Phaedo. Republic

2.1 Problems with the standard answer, and in defence of a very different answer

2.2 The origin of this answer in the Hippias Major

2.3 This is what is behind the claim in the Phaedo that essences and Forms cannot be perceived by the senses

2.4 From beautiful to equal and one

2.5 From beautiful, equal and one to human and bed

2.6 What about numbers? Does Plato's argument extend to them?

2.7 That Forms cannot be perceived by the senses does not imply that they can be known only a priori

Chapter 3 Why are essences, or Forms, unitary, uniform and non-composite? Why are they changeless? Eternal? Are they logically independent of each other?: Phaedo and Republic

3.1 The unity, uniformity and non-compositeness of Forms

3.1.1 A false start

3.1.2 Unitary accounts and unitary things

3.2 Plato's reasoning for the claim that Forms are unitary, uniform and non-composite

3.3 Are Forms logically independent of each other?

3.4 The changelessness and the eternality of Forms

3.5 A false start, on the changelessness of Forms

3.6 Plato's reasoning for the claim that Forms are changeless

3.7 Whether the eternality of Forms can be defended in a similar way

Chapter 4 The relation between knowledge and enquiry in the Phaedo

4.1 Two seemingly conflicting epistemological claims in the Phaedo

4.2 Why sense-perception is necessary to think of a Form

4.3 How to reconcile the two epistemological claims in the Phaedo.

4.4 The question (How can Plato's two claims be reconciled?) answered

4.5 The priority of enquiry over knowledge in the Phaedo

Chapter 5 Why are essences, or Forms, distinct from sense-perceptible things?: Phaedo 74 and Republic V. 478-479

5.1 Phaedo 74a9-c10

5.2 Republic V. 478e7-479d5

Chapter 6 Why are essences, or Forms, the basis of all causation and explanation?: Phaedo 95-105

6.1 What is new?

6.2 Plato's aporia about explanation (Phaedo 95e8-99d3)

6.3 Plato's resolution of the aporia about explanation: explanantia are, primarily, essences (Phaedo 99d4-102b3)

6.4 The sufficiency claim

6.5 The necessity claim

6.6 The simple and the complex schema of explanation (Phaedo 102b3-105c7)

6.7 Addendum: The interlude about good-based (teleological) explanations (Phaedo 97b8-99d3)

Chapter 7 What is the role of essences, or Forms, in judgements about sense-perceptible and physical things?: Republic VII. 523-525

7.1 To whom is the argument in Republic VII. 523a-525a addressed?

7.2 The general structure, and aim, of Plato's argument in Republic 523a-525a

7.2.1 Is the passage basically about the conversion-inducing power of arithmetic?

7.2.2 A summary view of Plato's argument and its structure

7.2.3 The crux (both substantial and interpretative) of Plato's argument

7.2.4 What judgements, as reported by sense-perception, need to be investigated further by thought, before they can be allowed to stand?

7.3 An analysis of Plato's argument, and his verbal means of indicating it, in greater detail

7.3.1 The 'finger' passage and its place in the overall argument (523a1-524b2)

7.3.2 The locus of a problem with sense-perception, and the general character of this problem

7.3.3 In response to an objection

7.3.4 Why unity and number are brought into the argument (524b1-c14).

7.3.5 The meaning of the phrase tí oun pot' esti to mega au kai to smikron: a question of how to individuate the object of perception (524c10-11)

7.3.6 The distinction between sense-perceptible things and intelligible things (524c13-14)

7.3.7 Socrates' last question: How can we specify a concept of unity? (524d1-525a3)

7.3.8 Glaucon's answer (524d1-525a14)

7.3.9 Unity (to hen) once again

Chapter 8 Why does thinking of things require essences, or Forms?: Parmenides

8.1 The relation between thinking and being, and its relevance for the dispute about Forms, in the first part of the dialogue

8.2 Forms here, in the first part of the dialogue, are basically essences

8.3 The transition to the second part of the dialogue

8.4 Being, thinking, and the Form of oneness in the second part of the dialogue

8.5 Conclusion

Chapter 9 Why are essences, or Forms, separate from physical things?: Also Timaeus and Philebus

9.1 Immortality and separation in the Phaedo

9.2 Unitary (etc.) versus human (etc.) in Parmenides 130

9.3 Is the Parmenides (130) passage consonant with, and confirmed by, dialogues that went before?

9.4 How is the Parmenides (130) passage taken further, and worked out, in dialogues that come after?

9.5 Aristotle's testimony

Chapter 10 What yokes together mind and world?: Phaedo 99-100 and Republic VI. 505-509

10.1 Addendum

Conclusion: Forms simply are essences, not things that have essences

Bibliography

General Index

Index Locorum.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 29 Jun 2021).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-108-98853-9

1-108-98335-9

1-108-98624-2

OCLC:

1258782850