Rational Spirituality and Divine Virtue in Plato : A Modern Interpretation and Philosophical Defense of Platonism

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

LaFargue, Michael.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Virtue.

Platonists.

Plato.

Local Subjects:

Virtue.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (286 p.)

Place of Publication:

Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, 2016.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Michael LaFargue presents an important and accessible aspect of Plato's legacy largely overlooked today: a variety of personal spirituality based on reason and centered on virtue. Plato's Virtue-Forms are transcendent in their goodness, ideals that Platonists can use to improve character and become like God so far as is humanly possible. LaFargue constructs a model of inductive Socratic reasoning capable of acquiring knowledge of these perfect Virtue-Forms, then scales back claims about these Forms to what can be supported by this kind of reasoning. This is a critical theory, but also a pluralistic one that accommodates modern cultural diversity. A how-to chapter provides detailed descriptions of the rules of Socratic reasoning basic to this spirituality, which any interested individual can practice today. LaFargue supports his interpretation by a close reading of the Greek text of key passages in Plato's dialogues. The work also undertakes a broader philosophical consideration, discussing the philosophical foundations proposed for this Platonism in relation to the thought of G. E. Moore, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Martin Heidegger, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Richard Rorty.

Contents:

Contents; Preface; Introduction; Platonist Spirituality versus "Platonist Metaphysics"; Rational Foundations; Ethical Realism; What Is Philosophy?; Chapter Outline; Chapter One: Overview; Socrates's Search for Truth about Virtue; Existential Questions: What Finally Matters; Plato's Two Worlds; Philosophy as a Way of Life; Individualist Platonism and Critical Reconstruction; Virtue-Models, not Rules for Conduct; Platonism as a Difficult Way of Life; How Can We Get "Over There" from "Here"?; Does Perfect Courage Exist?; Individualist Reasoning and the Midwife Principle

Asking the Right QuestionAn Illustration: Socratic Discussion of Courage in the Laches; A Basic Problem; A Socratic Discussion of Rightness; Method in Inductive Socratic Reasoning.; Some Practical Examples; Disillusionment in Love; Disillusionment with Heroes; Disillusionment with Conventional Morality; Moral Skepticism Due to Focusing on Moral Dilemmas; Skepticism about Moral Rules; Chapter Two: The Objectivity of the Good; The Problem; The Life-World versus the Science-World; Two Tables and Two Worlds; Practical Significance and the Objectivity of Funniness; Significance in the Life-World

The Priority of the Significance-Filled Life-WorldSoft Objectivity and Ethical Deserving; Ethical Interest and the Metaphor of "Perspective"; The Context of Philosophizing, Ancient and Modern; George Edward Moore and Analytic Philosophy; Transcendental Philosophy; Platonism with a Pragmatist Foundation; Disagreements with Rorty; Chapter Three: Limits; A Modern Textbook Summary of "Plato's Doctrines"; Plato on What Is "Real"; Critical Reconstruction on a Pragmatist Basis; Platonic Forms as Separately Existing Entities; Platonic Forms as Timeless and Eternal Universal Truths; Critical Pluralism

Plato's Form-Theory as a Purely Formal TheoryAppendix: A Socratic Perspective on the Causes of Ethical Diversity; Chapter Four: Elaborations; Virtue-Centered versus Behavior-Centered Ethics; Reason, Virtue, and Behavior; Cultivating Virtue; "Admirable"; Plato's Otherworldly "Worldview"; Worldviews without Relativism; The Platonist Worldview-Some Details; The Platonism of Iris Murdoch; Chapter Five: Rules of Socratic Method; Summary Review; The Positive Function of Ethical Perceptions in Clear Concrete Cases; The Negative Use of Immediate Ethical Perceptions as Counterexamples

The Four and The FifthChapter Six: Text and Commentary (1); An Initial Summary; Plato's Interest in "Contradictory" Sense-Impressions; Parallels between Ethical Perceptions and Perceptions without Ethical Content; A Dialogue Concerning Aisthe ̄sis,; and the Puzzling Finger; Wisdom-Lovers, Sight-Lovers, and Doxa-Lovers; Appendix: On the Meaning of Doxa; Chapter Seven: Text and Commentary (2); The True Philosopher and the Otherworldly "Being" of Platonic Virtue-Forms; The Allegory of the Cave; Plato's Ladder in the Symposium; Chapter Eight: Implications and Examples

The Case of Nietzsche and the Importance of Internal Criticism

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

ISBN:

9781438460260

1438460260