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Socrates in the Cave

On the Philosopher’s Motive in Plato

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  • © 2019

Overview

Editors:
  1. Paul J. Diduch

    1. University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

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  2. Michael P. Harding

    1. Montgomery College, Germantown, MD, USA

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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Collects Plato scholars from across philosophy and political theory
  • Engages the question of Socrates’ putative “philanthropy” or care for others
  • Rereads Plato's works to provide new insights into Socrates' motives for philosophic interlocution

Part of the book series: Recovering Political Philosophy (REPOPH)

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Table of contents (15 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiv
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  2. Editors’ Introduction: Why Clarifying Socrates’ Motives Matters for Platonic Philosophy

    • Paul J. Diduch, Michael P. Harding
    Pages 1-9

  3. The Strange Conversation of Plato’s Minos

    • Robert Goldberg
    Pages 11-38

  4. Platonic Beginnings

    • Mark Blitz
    Pages 39-52

  5. A Look at Socrates’ Motive in Plato’s Laches

    • Jason Lund
    Pages 53-75

  6. Socrates’ Self-Knowledge

    • David Levy
    Pages 77-106

  7. Socrates’ Exhortation to Follow the Logos

    • James Carey
    Pages 107-139

  8. Philosophy, Eros, and the Socratic Turn

    • Mark J. Lutz
    Pages 141-163

  9. Free to Care: Socrates’ Political Engagement

    • Roslyn Weiss
    Pages 165-183

  10. Socrates: Sisyphean or Overflowing?

    • Joshua Parens
    Pages 185-203

  11. Socrates’ Motives and Human Wisdom in Plato’s Theages

    • Travis S. Hadley
    Pages 205-231

  12. Plato’s Euthyphro on Divine and Human Wisdom

    • Wayne Ambler
    Pages 233-250

  13. On the Question of Socratic Benevolence

    • Gregory A. McBrayer
    Pages 251-263

  14. Philanthropy in the Action of the Euthyphro, Apology of Socrates, and Crito

    • Michael P. Harding
    Pages 265-285

  15. Philosophic Care in the Life of Plato’s Socrates

    • Mary P. Nichols
    Pages 287-314

  16. Plato’s Sons and the Library of Magnesia

    • Pavlos Leonidas Papadopoulos
    Pages 315-340

  17. Back Matter

    Pages 341-347
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Keywords

About this book

This book addresses the problem of fully explaining Socrates’ motives for philosophic interlocution in Plato’s dialogues. Why, for instance, does Socrates talk to many philosophically immature and seemingly incapable interlocutors? Are his motives in these cases moral, prudential, erotic, pedagogic, or intellectual? In any one case, can Socrates’ reasons for engaging an unlikely interlocutor be explained fully on the grounds of intellectual self-interest (i.e., the promise of advancing his own wisdom)? Or does his activity, including his self-presentation and staging of his death, require additional motives for adequate explanation? Finally, how, if at all, does our conception of Socrates’ motives help illuminate our understanding of the life of reason as Plato presents it? By inviting a multitude of authors to contribute their thoughts on these question—all of whom share a commitment to close reading, but by no means agree on the meaning of Plato’s dialogues—this book provides the reader with an excellent map of the terrain of these problems and aims to help the student of Plato clarify the tensions involved, showing especially how each major stance on Socrates entails problematic assumptions that prompt further critical reflection.

Reviews

“This volume will be of interest to the many scholars and advanced students of Plato, be they in departments of classics, philosophy, political science, or the liberal arts.”(Robert Bartlett, Behrakis Professor of Hellenic Political Studies, Boston College, USA)

“The essays… will be consulted by serious scholars of Plato for a long time to come… an important resource.”(Dustin Sebell, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Michigan State University, USA)

Editors and Affiliations

  • University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

    Paul J. Diduch

  • Montgomery College, Germantown, MD, USA

    Michael P. Harding

About the editors

Paul J. Diduch is an Instructor in the Herbst Program of Humanities for Engineers at the University of Colorado Boulder, USA. He has published articles and reviews on Plato and Thucydides and is currently working on Socrates’ critique of pre-Socratic science and the problems of virtue and knowledge in Plato’s thought.

Michael P. Harding is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Political Science at Montgomery College, USA. He earned his doctorate from the Institute of Philosophic Studies at the University of Dallas, USA.

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