The Unity of the Philebus: Continuity in Plato's Philosophy Pubblico
Lee, Jong Hwan (2013)
Abstract
The Philebus is Plato's answer to the question what the human good is. In my dissertation I maintain that this dialogue is a part of his grand philosophical picture. In the middle dialogues, Plato shows the way up to Forms, which is the foundation of knowledge for human beings living in the physical and sensible world. After the critical stage of his philosophy, Plato in the Philebus wants to return to the Cave, where ordinary people live their daily lives and tries to give an account of the good life there upon the firm foundation, forms. The main thesis of my dissertation is to show the consistency of the structure in the Philebus and to suggest a comprehensive interpretation of the Philebus with a perspective: ethic, especially Socratic question and answer, is the main theme. Understanding this dialogue in line with Socratic dialogues, and furthermore, interpretation on this dialogue upon an assumption that all Plato's dialogues are actually Plato's answer to Socrates' question, "how to live a good life?" will open another look on the Philebus with a more smooth and unifying presentation. Puzzling metaphysical account in the middle of the dialogue is indeed the necessary foundation for the ethical conclusion, that is an answer to Socrates' question raised mainly in the Socratic dialogues. My interpretation of this dialogue suggests that Plato never has given up the main claim of the middle dialogues, the separate forms and the two-world structure of beings. At the same time, however, this interpretation proposes that he does not remain at the unsolved metaphysical questions but progresses while answering the questions, which were raised against the theory of Forms. The Philebus is a philosopher's story of coming down to a daily shadowy life from the reality. In other words, this dialogue is a possible suggestion to find a way from a theoretical life to a practical life for the good to be realized on the earth as it is in the world of Forms.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
1. Hard Questions of The Philebus.......................................................................................... 1
2. The Human Good: A Mixture of Pleasure and Knowledge............................................ 4
3. The Structure of This Dissertation................................................................................... 10
3. 1. Characters in the Philebus (Chapter 1).................................................................... 12
3.2. Methods Used in the Philebus (Chapter 2 and 3)..................................................... 14
3.3. Metaphysics in the Philebus (Chapter 4).................................................................. 17
3.4. The Human Goods--Knowledge and True Pleasure (Chapter 5 and 6)............... 19
Chapter 1: Socratic Characters in the Philebus: The Ideal Conversation 21
1.1. Dramatic Characteristic of the Philebus...................................................................... 21
1.2. Plato's Dialogues and the Philebus............................................................................... 23
1.2.1. Three Thematic Groupings of Plato's Dialogues................................................. 23
1.2.2. The Philebus as An Unusual Late Dialogue......................................................... 27
1.2.2.1. Similarities with the Socratic Dialogues.................................................................. 27
1.2.2.2. Differences from the Socratic Dialogues: Three Distinctive Features...................... 29
1.2.3. Interpreting Plato's Intention in the Philebus................................................... 33
1.3. The Philebus: an Ideal Dialogue.................................................................................... 37
1.3.1. A Positive Conclusion?.............................................................................................. 38
1.3.2. Engaging Characters--Crito in the Crito?.............................................................. 39
1.3.3. Socrates' Own Thesis and Its Refutation--Only in the Philebus?................... 41
1.3.3.1. Socrates in the Gorgias--A Strong Belief without Refutation.................................. 42
1.3.2.2. Socrates in the Protagoras--Is He Serious?............................................................... 45
1.4. An Ideal Example of Plato's Philosophical Investigations................................... 50
Chapter 2: Dual Cross-Examination in the Philebus 52
2.1. Elenchus in the Ideal Conversation.............................................................................. 52
2.2. The Metaphysical Example at 15b and the Nature of Socrates' Method.............. 54
2.2.1. The Controversial Interpretations of Philebus 15b............................................ 54
2.2.2. Plato's Intention in the One and Many Problem in the Philebus.................. 57
2.3. Rejecting Initial Theses.................................................................................................. 61
2.3.1. The Original Question in the Philebus................................................................. 62
2.3.2. Three Conditions of the Human Good--Examination on a Life of Pleasure 63
2.3.3. An Examination of the Life Only with Knowledge............................................ 66
2.3.4. The Dual Cross-Examination in the Philebus..................................................... 69
2.4. Launching a New Systematic Investigation............................................................... 72
2.5. Two Major Interpretations of Socrates' Elenchus in the Philebus.......................... 76
2.5.1. Elenchus as ad hominem............................................................................................. 77
2.5.2. Elenchus as a Method of Acquiring the Moral Truth.......................................... 80
2.6. Plato's Ideal Method......................................................................................................... 84
Chapter 3. The Ideal Method in the Philebus 86
3.1. An Ideal Method in the Ideal Dialogue...................................................................... 86
3.2. Plato's Method in the Philebus as a Method of Investigation and Teaching..... 87
3.2.1. The Method of Hypothesis in the Philebus as a Developed Form of Elenchus 88
3.2.1.1 The Main Question of the Philebus.............................................................................. 89
3.2.1.2 'How' Question in the Meno and the Philebus............................................................. 92
3.2.1.3. The Limit of the Method of Hypothesis in Ethical Inquiries..................................... 95
3.3. The Method of Division and Collection in the Philebus......................................... 96
3.3.1. The Method of Division and Collection in the Phaedrus, Sophist and Statesman 96
3.3.2. The Example of Sound and the Method of Division and Collection in the Philebus 100
3.3.2.1. Music Example........................................................................................................ 103
3.3.2.2. Letter Example........................................................................................................ 107
3.3.3. The Divine Gift in the Philebus............................................................................. 111
3.4. The Ideal Method in the Philebus............................................................................... 116
3.4.1. Knowledge Seekers Who Lack Knowledge............................................................. 116
3.4.2. Socrates' Human Wisdom in the Philebus........................................................... 118
3.4.2.1. Socrates as a Teacher in the Meno........................................................................... 120
3.4.2.2. An Ideal Investigation in the Philebus................................................................... 123
3.4.3 The Method of Division and Collection as a Teaching Device........................ 125
3.5. The Method of Division and Collection-The Ideal Method................................... 127
Chapter 4: The Fourfold Distinction 129
4.1. A Difficult Passage in the Philebus............................................................................ 129
4.2. The Context of Philebus 23b-32b................................................................................... 132
4.2.1. Assumptions in Reading the Fourfold Distinction.......................................... 132
4.2.2. The Role of Fourfold Distinction Account in the Philebus............................. 133
4.2.3. Disagreement Between the Heavenly Tradition and the Fourfold Distinction 137
4.2.4. Differences Between the Heavenly Tradition and the Fourfold Distinction 141
4.2.5. Fourfold Distinction of the Universe as New Weapons.................................... 145
4.3. Several Interpretations of Philebus 23b, ff............................................................... 149
4.3.1. The Forms and the Fourfold Distinction in the Philebus............................... 149
4.3.2. Forms in the Fourfold Distinction........................................................................ 152
4.4. All Beings that Presently Exist in the Universe.................................................... 160
4.4.1. nun................................................................................................................................. 161
4.4.2. to pan............................................................................................................................ 163
4.4.3. The Forms in the Philebus....................................................................................... 164
4.5. The Philebus and the Timaeus..................................................................................... 166
4.5.1. Plato's Philosophical Project after the Republic............................................... 166
4.5.1.1. Restoration in the Philebus...................................................................................... 166
4.5.1.2. Timaeus and Philebus.............................................................................................. 169
4.5.2. The Composition of the Universe and Man in the Timaeus........................... 172
4.5.3. The Forms and Mathematical Intermediates.................................................... 174
4.5.4. Restoring the Good Life............................................................................................ 175
4.6. The Four Kinds of the Universe in the Philebus...................................................... 177
4.6.1. The Unlimited........................................................................................................... 178
4.6.2. The Limit..................................................................................................................... 181
4.6.3. The Third Kind: A Generation into a Being....................................................... 182
4.6.4. The Cause.................................................................................................................... 183
4.7. Pleasure and Pain in Human Lives........................................................................... 185
Chapter 5: Bad Pleasure 188
5.1. Pleasures to be Rejected from a Good Life................................................................. 188
5.2. Pleasure in the Philebus.............................................................................................. 190
5.2.1. Pleasure for Human Beings.................................................................................... 190
5.2.2. Memory and Recollection in Pleasure................................................................. 193
5.3. Possibility of False Pleasure........................................................................................ 196
5.3.1. Pleasure and Falsity: A Strange Mixture............................................................ 196
5.3.2. Gosling - False Judgment and True Pleasures.................................................. 197
5.3.3. Kenny and Harte - Pleasure and Beliefs............................................................ 200
5.3.4. Frede - Logos in the Soul....................................................................................... 205
5.3.5. Human Pleasure and Intention............................................................................ 208
5.4. Mixed Pleasure................................................................................................................. 211
5.4.1. Measuring Pleasure and pain................................................................................ 211
5.4.2. Three Kinds of Mixed Pleasure.............................................................................. 214
5.4.3. Vices in Mixed Pleasure........................................................................................... 215
Chapter 6: Fundamental Elements in a Good Life: Pure Pleasure, Knowledge and the Final List of the Philebus 218
6.1. Introduction..................................................................................................................... 218
6.2. Pure Pleasure.................................................................................................................... 222
6.2.1 Good Pleasures in Human Lives............................................................................ 222
6.2.2. Pure Pleasure in the Republic IX and the Philebus......................................... 223
6.2.3. Some Examples of Pure Pleasure in the Philebus............................................. 225
6.2.4. Pure Pleasure--An Essential Element of Human Lives.................................. 228
6.3. Knowledge......................................................................................................................... 230
6.3.1. The Classes of Knowledge........................................................................................ 230
6.3.2 The End of Divisions................................................................................................. 236
6.4. The Final List................................................................................................................... 237
6.4.1. Things to Be Collected............................................................................................. 237
6.4.2. The Nature of the Final List.................................................................................. 241
6.4.3. The Final List as Giving the Criteria of the Good Life................................... 246
6.4.4. Human Intelligence and Justice in the Cave................................................... 249
6.5. A Life That Is Worth Living.......................................................................................... 254
Conclusion 257
Bibliography 260
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