Just Prospering? Plato and the Sophistic Debate about Justice

This book argues that Plato’s Republic must be understood as developing out of a 5th Century sophistic debate. In Part One the author presents a new analysis of the sophists and their extant texts addressing the important topics of justice and its value. This part shows that already in the 5th Centu...

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Главный автор: Anderson, Merrick
Формат: Online
Язык:английский
Опубликовано: Liverpool University Press 2024
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Online-ссылка:OCN: 1429613510
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author Anderson, Merrick
author_browse Anderson, Merrick
author_facet Anderson, Merrick
author_sort Anderson, Merrick
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description This book argues that Plato’s Republic must be understood as developing out of a 5th Century sophistic debate. In Part One the author presents a new analysis of the sophists and their extant texts addressing the important topics of justice and its value. This part shows that already in the 5th Century there was a robust debate about whether the just or unjust life was better for the self-interested individual, and that multiple sophistic authors made inventive and philosophically sophisticated arguments on both sides of this debate. The Moral Cynics argues that the intelligent individual was better off being unjust, whereas the Friends of Justice defended the idea that the just life was better for human beings. Part Two argues that Plato was very much aware of this debate and that in a number of dialogues—but most importantly in Republic—he engaged with this debate. The immoralist challenge that Glaucon and Adeimantus pose to Socrates early in Republic draws from the arguments of the 5th Century Moral Cynics and moreover identifies problems with the arguments of the 5th Century Friends of Justice. By having Socrates make an argument that overcomes the theoretical weaknesses of the earlier Friends of Justice, Plato is able to pose a new defence of justice that is more effective at responding to the Moral Cynics. The book’s analysis of Republic suggests new readings for certain important passages, such as the division of goods.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1363522025-06-26T05:09:27Z Just Prospering? Plato and the Sophistic Debate about Justice Anderson, Merrick Justice Prospering [εὐδαιμονία] Plato The Sophists The History of Moral and Political Philosophy thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDH Philosophical traditions and schools of thought::QDHA Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy thema EDItEUR::L Law::LA Jurisprudence and general issues::LAB Methods, theory and philosophy of law thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTQ Ethics and moral philosophy thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3C BCE period – Protohistory thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1Q Other geographical groupings: Oceans and seas, historical, political etc::1QB Historical states, empires, territories and regions::1QBA Ancient World::1QBAG Ancient Greece This book argues that Plato’s Republic must be understood as developing out of a 5th Century sophistic debate. In Part One the author presents a new analysis of the sophists and their extant texts addressing the important topics of justice and its value. This part shows that already in the 5th Century there was a robust debate about whether the just or unjust life was better for the self-interested individual, and that multiple sophistic authors made inventive and philosophically sophisticated arguments on both sides of this debate. The Moral Cynics argues that the intelligent individual was better off being unjust, whereas the Friends of Justice defended the idea that the just life was better for human beings. Part Two argues that Plato was very much aware of this debate and that in a number of dialogues—but most importantly in Republic—he engaged with this debate. The immoralist challenge that Glaucon and Adeimantus pose to Socrates early in Republic draws from the arguments of the 5th Century Moral Cynics and moreover identifies problems with the arguments of the 5th Century Friends of Justice. By having Socrates make an argument that overcomes the theoretical weaknesses of the earlier Friends of Justice, Plato is able to pose a new defence of justice that is more effective at responding to the Moral Cynics. The book’s analysis of Republic suggests new readings for certain important passages, such as the division of goods. 2024-04-11T04:53:07Z 2024-04-11T04:53:07Z 2024-04-09T12:06:42Z 2024 book OCN: 1429613510 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/89739 9780197267660 9780198922575 9780198922568 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/136352 eng British Academy Monographs open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/89739/1/9780197267660.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/89739/1/9780197267660.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/89739/1/9780197267660.pdf Liverpool University Press aa5f0a3b-b4a0-4754-9840-b645b364c5ef British Academy 1f9d9f09-ced0-41ef-ba7d-e669f14238d1 9780197267660 9780198922575 9780198922568 238 Oxford open access
spellingShingle Justice Prospering [εὐδαιμονία] Plato The Sophists The History of Moral and Political Philosophy
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDH Philosophical traditions and schools of thought::QDHA Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy
thema EDItEUR::L Law::LA Jurisprudence and general issues::LAB Methods, theory and philosophy of law
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTQ Ethics and moral philosophy
thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3C BCE period – Protohistory
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1Q Other geographical groupings: Oceans and seas, historical, political etc::1QB Historical states, empires, territories and regions::1QBA Ancient World::1QBAG Ancient Greece
Anderson, Merrick
Just Prospering? Plato and the Sophistic Debate about Justice
title Just Prospering? Plato and the Sophistic Debate about Justice
title_full Just Prospering? Plato and the Sophistic Debate about Justice
title_fullStr Just Prospering? Plato and the Sophistic Debate about Justice
title_full_unstemmed Just Prospering? Plato and the Sophistic Debate about Justice
title_short Just Prospering? Plato and the Sophistic Debate about Justice
title_sort just prospering plato and the sophistic debate about justice
topic Justice Prospering [εὐδαιμονία] Plato The Sophists The History of Moral and Political Philosophy
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDH Philosophical traditions and schools of thought::QDHA Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy
thema EDItEUR::L Law::LA Jurisprudence and general issues::LAB Methods, theory and philosophy of law
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTQ Ethics and moral philosophy
thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3C BCE period – Protohistory
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1Q Other geographical groupings: Oceans and seas, historical, political etc::1QB Historical states, empires, territories and regions::1QBA Ancient World::1QBAG Ancient Greece
topic_facet Justice Prospering [εὐδαιμονία] Plato The Sophists The History of Moral and Political Philosophy
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDH Philosophical traditions and schools of thought::QDHA Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy
thema EDItEUR::L Law::LA Jurisprudence and general issues::LAB Methods, theory and philosophy of law
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTQ Ethics and moral philosophy
thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3C BCE period – Protohistory
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1Q Other geographical groupings: Oceans and seas, historical, political etc::1QB Historical states, empires, territories and regions::1QBA Ancient World::1QBAG Ancient Greece
url OCN: 1429613510
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