Description
Book SynopsisWhile the early Platonic dialogues have often been explored and appreciated for their ethical content, the characteristc features of these dialogues are decidedly epistemological - Socrates'' method of questions and answers, known as elenchos, Socrates'' fascination with definition, Socrates'' profession of ignorance, and Socrates'' thesis that virtue is knowledge. Benson here attempts to uncover the epistemological view that underlies these previously neglected features of Socratic thought.
Trade ReviewScholars will welcome this book ... this is a thorough and important account of some central problems in Socratic thought. It is lucidly written, well argued and, precisely because of its lucidity, is likely to prove controversial, in the sense that it will give scholars plenty of meat to get their teeth into. * The Heythrop Journal *
Socratic Wisdom has a clear and articulate structure ... is serious and successful ... careful and systematic ... a work to be taken seriously by everyone concerned with Plato. * Mind *
Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1:: Socrates, The Epistemologist Part I: The Socratic Elenchos Chapter 2:: The Aims of the Elenchos Chapter 3:: The Problem of Elenchos Chapter 4:: The Dissolution of the Problem of the Elenchos Part II: Socratic Definition Chapter 5:: The "What is F-ness?" Question and Socratic Definition Chapter 6:: The Priority of Definitional Knowledge Chapter 7:: The Sufficiency of Definitional Knowledge Part III: Socratic Knowledge Chapter 8:: Socratic Ignorance Chapter 9:: A Socratic Theory of Knowledge Chapter 10:: Knowledge, Virtue, and Other Problems Chapter 11:: Meno, the Slave-Boy, and Plato Bibliography Index
