Socratic Wisdom: The Model of Knowledge in Plato's Early Dialogues

by Hugh H. Benson

Overview

While the early Platonic dialogues have often been explored and appreciated for their ethical content, this is the first book devoted solely to the epistemology of Plato's early dialogues. Author Hugh H. Benson argues that the characteristic features of these dialogues—Socrates' method of questions and answers (elenchos), his fascination with definition, his professions of ignorance, and his thesis that virtue is knowledge—are decidedly epistemological. In this thoughtful study, Benson uncovers the model of knowledge that underlies these distinctively Socratic views. What emerges is unfamiliar, yet closer to a contemporary conception of scientific understanding than ordinary knowledge.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195129182
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/03/2000
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)
Lexile:	1420L (what's this?)

About the Author

University of Oklahoma

Table of Contents

IntroductionChapter 1:. Socrates, The EpistemologistPart I: The Socratic ElenchosChapter 2:. The Aims of the ElenchosChapter 3:. The Problem of ElenchosChapter 4:. The Dissolution of the Problem of the ElenchosPart II: Socratic DefinitionChapter 5:. The "What is F-ness?" Question and Socratic DefinitionChapter 6:. The Priority of Definitional KnowledgeChapter 7:. The Sufficiency of Definitional KnowledgePart III: Socratic KnowledgeChapter 8:. Socratic IgnoranceChapter 9:. A Socratic Theory of KnowledgeChapter 10:. Knowledge, Virtue, and Other ProblemsChapter 11:. Meno, the Slave-Boy, and PlatoBibliographyIndex