Plato's Parmenides

Samuel Scolnicov

Published by University of California Press 2003

Plato's Parmenides

Samuel Scolnicov

In the series Joan Palevsky Book in Classical Literature

https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520925113

Overview
Contents

About this book

Of all Plato’s dialogues, the Parmenides is notoriously the most difficult to interpret. Scholars of all periods have disagreed about its aims and subject matter. The interpretations have ranged from reading the dialogue as an introduction to the whole of Platonic metaphysics to seeing it as a collection of sophisticated tricks, or even as an elaborate joke. This work presents an illuminating new translation of the dialogue together with an extensive introduction and running commentary, giving a unified explanation of the Parmenides and integrating it firmly within the context of Plato's metaphysics and methodology.

Scolnicov shows that in the Parmenides Plato addresses the most serious challenge to his own philosophy: the monism of Parmenides and the Eleatics. In addition to providing a serious rebuttal to Parmenides, Plato here re-formulates his own theory of forms and participation, arguments that are central to the whole of Platonic thought, and provides these concepts with a rigorous logical and philosophical foundation. In Scolnicov's analysis, the Parmenides emerges as an extension of ideas from Plato's middle dialogues and as an opening to the later dialogues.

Scolnicov’s analysis is crisp and lucid, offering a persuasive approach to a complicated dialogue. This translation follows the Greek closely, and the commentary affords the Greekless reader a clear understanding of how Scolnicov’s interpretation emerges from the text. This volume will provide a valuable introduction and framework for understanding a dialogue that continues to generate lively discussion today.

Author / Editor information

Scolnicov Samuel :

Samuel Scolnicov is Associate Professor of Philosophy at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and author of Plato's Metaphysics of Education (1988).

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Tables and Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Parmenides Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
Index Locorum Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
Index Nominum Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
Index of Greek Words and Expressions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187
General Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189

Language: English
Publisher: University of California Press
Pages
- Main content: 205

eBook

Published: July 8, 2003
ISBN: 9780520925113