Bøker av Ronna Burger

Since antiquity the Phaedo has been considered the source of "the twin pillars of Platonism" - the theory of ideas and the immortality of the soul. Tracing the movement of the argument through the work as a whole, Burger is led to a radical rethinking of those doctrines. That movement is indicated by the structure of the dialogue, divided in two halves by a central interlude in which Socrates warns against the great danger of "misology," loss of trust in human reason.  The discussion that follows, with that danger in mind, brings about a transformation in the understanding of knowledge, the ideas, the soul, death, and immortality. With this "second sailing," as Socrates calls it, the Platonism presented in the Phaedo emerges as precisely the target of which the dialogue is a critique. This revised edition includes a new Preface and a reprint of Burger's essay on Plato's Euthyphro, originally published in German and English. "This is a comprehensive study of the Phaedo, thoroughly researched, and sparkling with insights into the text." - Paul Woodruff, University of Texas "Burger has a wonderfully fertile mind and supports her imaginative thesis with a close reading, extremely sensitive to nuance." - Jerome Schiller, The Journal of the History of Philosophy 1986 "On Plato's Euthyphro" presents a more thoughtful and careful analysis of the dialogue than any previous full-length commentary. -- Lewis Fallis, Interpretation 2016

Since antiquity the Phaedo has been considered the source of "the twin pillars of Platonism" -- the theory of ideas and the immortality of the soul. Burger's attempt to trace the underlying argument of the work as a whole leads to a radical rethinking of the status of those doctrinesThe movement of that argument is marked by the structural division of the dialogue into two halves, linked and separated by a central interlude in which Socrates warns against the great danger of "misology", or loss of trust in logos. That danger, which threatens the very possibility of philosophic inquiry, comes to overshadow the threat posed by the fear of death, which motivated the original series of arguments. The turn this necessitates, from the first to the second half of the dialogue, brings about a transformation of the understanding of knowledge, the ideas, the soul, death, and immortality. With this "second sailing", as Socrates calls it, the "Platonism" presented in the Phaedo emerges as precisely the target of which the dialogue is a critique.

Tracing the argument of the Ethics as it emerges through that approach, this book shows how Aristotle represents ethical virtue from the perspective of those devoted to it while standing back to examine its assumptions and implications.