Philosophers in the "Republic": Plato's Two Paradigms

Roslyn Weiss

Published by Cornell University Press 2016

Philosophers in the "Republic"

Plato's Two Paradigms

Roslyn Weiss

https://doi.org/10.7591/9780801466052

Overview
Contents

About this book

In this smart and carefully argued book, Roslyn Weiss offers a new interpretation of Platonic moral philosophy based on an unconventional reading of the Republic.

Author / Editor information

Roslyn Weiss is Clara H. Stewardson Professor of Philosophy at Lehigh University. She is the author of The Socratic Paradox and Its Enemies, Virtue in the Cave: Moral Inquiry in Plato’s ‘Meno,’ and Socrates Dissatisfied: An Analysis of Plato’s ‘Crito.’

Reviews

Gerald M. Mara, Georgetown University, author of Socrates' Discursive Democracy:

Philosophers in the 'Republic' offers a new and challenging interpretation of Platonic moral philosophy. Roslyn Weiss focuses attention on a careful reading of the Republic as a philosophical and dramatic work and also has important things to say about the history of Western moral philosophy and the structure and identity of moral philosophy generally. Weiss develops her case with extraordinary care, meticulously examining both the form of the arguments and the dramatic character of the dialogue.

In Philosophers in the 'Republic,' Roslyn Weiss argues that Plato’s Republic contains two ‘distinct and irreconcilable’ portrayals of the philosopher: what Weiss calls the ‘philosopher by nature’ and the ‘philosopher by design.’ Through close reading of the arguments and the dramatic action of the Republic, Weiss convincingly shows the distinctness of these two types while also educing a third: that of Socrates himself. Weiss illuminates the multifaceted arguments of the Republic anew with deft intelligence, calling attention to conspicuous absences as well as important inconsistencies that ought to shift conventional readings of the dialogue from any approach.

Richard D. Parry:

What we expect from Roslyn Weiss is close textual argument and unusual readings. Her book on philosophers in the Republic does not disappoint.... The audacity of this close reading of the dialogue is a welcomed challenge to settled habits. Whether you agree with the conclusion or not, you will learn a lot about the text.

Jill Frank:

Weiss develops her bold and refreshing alternative to standard interperetations of the Republic by way of close readings of the dialogue that attend with nuance to its language and arguments and also its dramatic structure. Weiss's exceptionally rich footnotes supplement the careful arguments of her text, while also offering, over the course of the book, a sustained set of insightful gestures to undernoted proximities between Plato and Aristotle.

This important book takes Plato at his word. Delicately attuned to nuances and alterations in Plato's language, Roslyn Weiss painstakingly—but never uninterestingly—accumulates convincing textual evidence in support of three main thesis: (1) The Republic contains two distinct and irreconcilable portrayals of the philosopher: the philosophers by nature of books five and six and the philosophers by design of book seven (chapters one through three); (2) Socrates is superior to both of these philosophical types because he displays the virtue, deliberately suppressed in the Republic, of piety (chapter four); (3) Socrates intentionally blurs the difference between the other-regarding virtue of justice and the self-regarding virtue of moderation (chapter five). These theses are internally connected by Weiss's guiding intuition that the example of Socrates, who puts himself in harm's way in the course of caring for the souls of others, furnishes the proper measure of philosophy and justice in the Republic.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Introduction: Two Paradigms Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Philosophers by Nature Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
2. Philosophers by Design I: The Making of a Philosopher Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	49
3. Philosophers by Design II: The Making of a Ruler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	85
4. Socratic Piety: The Fifth Cardinal Virtue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
5. Justice as Moderation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	164
Conclusion: “In a Healthy Way” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	208
Works Cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 248
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 419
- Coloured Illustrations: 414
Keywords: Republic; Plato; philosophers; piety; virue; moral and political philosophy

eBook

Published: August 16, 2012
ISBN: 9780801466052