Author: Mark L. McPherran
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 9780271040325
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 372
Book Description
This study argues that to understand Socrates we must uncover and analyze his religious views, since his philosophical and religious views are part of one seamless whole. Mark McPherran provides a close analysis of the relevant Socratic texts, an analysis that yields a comprehensive and original account of Socrates' commitments to religion (e.g., the nature of the gods, the immortality of the soul). McPherran contends that Socrates saw his religious commitments as integral to his philosophical mission of moral examination and, in turn, used the rationally derived convictions underlying that mission to reshape the religious conventions of his time. As a result, Socrates made important contributions to the rational reformation of Greek religion, contributions that incited and informed the theology of his brilliant pupil, Plato.
Religion of Socrates
Author: Mark L. McPherran
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 9780271040325
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 372
Book Description
This study argues that to understand Socrates we must uncover and analyze his religious views, since his philosophical and religious views are part of one seamless whole. Mark McPherran provides a close analysis of the relevant Socratic texts, an analysis that yields a comprehensive and original account of Socrates' commitments to religion (e.g., the nature of the gods, the immortality of the soul). McPherran contends that Socrates saw his religious commitments as integral to his philosophical mission of moral examination and, in turn, used the rationally derived convictions underlying that mission to reshape the religious conventions of his time. As a result, Socrates made important contributions to the rational reformation of Greek religion, contributions that incited and informed the theology of his brilliant pupil, Plato.
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 9780271040325
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 372
Book Description
This study argues that to understand Socrates we must uncover and analyze his religious views, since his philosophical and religious views are part of one seamless whole. Mark McPherran provides a close analysis of the relevant Socratic texts, an analysis that yields a comprehensive and original account of Socrates' commitments to religion (e.g., the nature of the gods, the immortality of the soul). McPherran contends that Socrates saw his religious commitments as integral to his philosophical mission of moral examination and, in turn, used the rationally derived convictions underlying that mission to reshape the religious conventions of his time. As a result, Socrates made important contributions to the rational reformation of Greek religion, contributions that incited and informed the theology of his brilliant pupil, Plato.
Socrates, Ironist and Moral Philosopher
Author: Gregory Vlastos
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801497872
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 356
Book Description
"The author shows us a Socrates who, though he has been long overshadowed by his successors Plato and Aristotle, represented the true turning point in Greek philosophy, religion and ethics. In his quest for the historical Socrates, the author focuses on Plato's earlier dialogues, setting the Socrates we find there in sharp contrast to the Socrates of later dialogues, in which he is used as a mouthpiece for Plato's own doctrines, many of them anti-Socratic in nature." [Back cover].
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801497872
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 356
Book Description
"The author shows us a Socrates who, though he has been long overshadowed by his successors Plato and Aristotle, represented the true turning point in Greek philosophy, religion and ethics. In his quest for the historical Socrates, the author focuses on Plato's earlier dialogues, setting the Socrates we find there in sharp contrast to the Socrates of later dialogues, in which he is used as a mouthpiece for Plato's own doctrines, many of them anti-Socratic in nature." [Back cover].
Socrates and the Gods
Author: Nalin Ranasinghe
Publisher: St Augustine PressInc
ISBN: 9781587317798
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
"In this outstanding and ambitious book, Ranasinghe argues powerfully that Plato's Apology has to be read in the light of Euthyphro, and that we can understand the implications Plato saw in Socrates' trail by studying the Crito in the light of those 'earlier' dialogues. It is essential reading for all with an interest in the 'last days of Socrates,' and will change the views of anyone who reads it." --Back cover.
Publisher: St Augustine PressInc
ISBN: 9781587317798
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
"In this outstanding and ambitious book, Ranasinghe argues powerfully that Plato's Apology has to be read in the light of Euthyphro, and that we can understand the implications Plato saw in Socrates' trail by studying the Crito in the light of those 'earlier' dialogues. It is essential reading for all with an interest in the 'last days of Socrates,' and will change the views of anyone who reads it." --Back cover.
Battling the Gods
Author: Tim Whitmarsh
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307958337
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
How new is atheism? Although adherents and opponents alike today present it as an invention of the European Enlightenment, when the forces of science and secularism broadly challenged those of faith, disbelief in the gods, in fact, originated in a far more remote past. In Battling the Gods, Tim Whitmarsh journeys into the ancient Mediterranean, a world almost unimaginably different from our own, to recover the stories and voices of those who first refused the divinities. Homer’s epic poems of human striving, journeying, and passion were ancient Greece’s only “sacred texts,” but no ancient Greek thought twice about questioning or mocking his stories of the gods. Priests were functionaries rather than sources of moral or cosmological wisdom. The absence of centralized religious authority made for an extraordinary variety of perspectives on sacred matters, from the devotional to the atheos, or “godless.” Whitmarsh explores this kaleidoscopic range of ideas about the gods, focusing on the colorful individuals who challenged their existence. Among these were some of the greatest ancient poets and philosophers and writers, as well as the less well known: Diagoras of Melos, perhaps the first self-professed atheist; Democritus, the first materialist; Socrates, executed for rejecting the gods of the Athenian state; Epicurus and his followers, who thought gods could not intervene in human affairs; the brilliantly mischievous satirist Lucian of Samosata. Before the revolutions of late antiquity, which saw the scriptural religions of Christianity and Islam enforced by imperial might, there were few constraints on belief. Everything changed, however, in the millennium between the appearance of the Homeric poems and Christianity’s establishment as Rome’s state religion in the fourth century AD. As successive Greco-Roman empires grew in size and complexity, and power was increasingly concentrated in central capitals, states sought to impose collective religious adherence, first to cults devoted to individual rulers, and ultimately to monotheism. In this new world, there was no room for outright disbelief: the label “atheist” was used now to demonize anyone who merely disagreed with the orthodoxy—and so it would remain for centuries. As the twenty-first century shapes up into a time of mass information, but also, paradoxically, of collective amnesia concerning the tangled histories of religions, Whitmarsh provides a bracing antidote to our assumptions about the roots of freethinking. By shining a light on atheism’s first thousand years, Battling the Gods offers a timely reminder that nonbelief has a wealth of tradition of its own, and, indeed, its own heroes.
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307958337
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306
Book Description
How new is atheism? Although adherents and opponents alike today present it as an invention of the European Enlightenment, when the forces of science and secularism broadly challenged those of faith, disbelief in the gods, in fact, originated in a far more remote past. In Battling the Gods, Tim Whitmarsh journeys into the ancient Mediterranean, a world almost unimaginably different from our own, to recover the stories and voices of those who first refused the divinities. Homer’s epic poems of human striving, journeying, and passion were ancient Greece’s only “sacred texts,” but no ancient Greek thought twice about questioning or mocking his stories of the gods. Priests were functionaries rather than sources of moral or cosmological wisdom. The absence of centralized religious authority made for an extraordinary variety of perspectives on sacred matters, from the devotional to the atheos, or “godless.” Whitmarsh explores this kaleidoscopic range of ideas about the gods, focusing on the colorful individuals who challenged their existence. Among these were some of the greatest ancient poets and philosophers and writers, as well as the less well known: Diagoras of Melos, perhaps the first self-professed atheist; Democritus, the first materialist; Socrates, executed for rejecting the gods of the Athenian state; Epicurus and his followers, who thought gods could not intervene in human affairs; the brilliantly mischievous satirist Lucian of Samosata. Before the revolutions of late antiquity, which saw the scriptural religions of Christianity and Islam enforced by imperial might, there were few constraints on belief. Everything changed, however, in the millennium between the appearance of the Homeric poems and Christianity’s establishment as Rome’s state religion in the fourth century AD. As successive Greco-Roman empires grew in size and complexity, and power was increasingly concentrated in central capitals, states sought to impose collective religious adherence, first to cults devoted to individual rulers, and ultimately to monotheism. In this new world, there was no room for outright disbelief: the label “atheist” was used now to demonize anyone who merely disagreed with the orthodoxy—and so it would remain for centuries. As the twenty-first century shapes up into a time of mass information, but also, paradoxically, of collective amnesia concerning the tangled histories of religions, Whitmarsh provides a bracing antidote to our assumptions about the roots of freethinking. By shining a light on atheism’s first thousand years, Battling the Gods offers a timely reminder that nonbelief has a wealth of tradition of its own, and, indeed, its own heroes.
Four Dialogues
Author: Plato
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
ISBN: 1434458164
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 90
Book Description
Included in this volume are "Euthyphro," "Apology," "Crito," and the Death Scene from "Phaedo." Translated by F.J. Church. Revisions and Introduction by Robert D. Cumming.
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
ISBN: 1434458164
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 90
Book Description
Included in this volume are "Euthyphro," "Apology," "Crito," and the Death Scene from "Phaedo." Translated by F.J. Church. Revisions and Introduction by Robert D. Cumming.
Explorations in Ancient and Modern Philosophy
Author: M. F. Burnyeat
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521750725
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 393
Book Description
The first of two volumes collecting the published work of one of the greatest living ancient philosophers, M.F. Burnyeat.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521750725
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 393
Book Description
The first of two volumes collecting the published work of one of the greatest living ancient philosophers, M.F. Burnyeat.
Plato's Theology
Author: Friedrich Solmsen
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780801466694
Category : God
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
Friedrich Solmsen’s book is a thorough exploration of Plato's ideas about God and religion. Solmsen focuses on Plato’s theology primarily as it is presented in Book 10 of the Laws, a work previously neglected as a source of Plato's conception of religion because of its problematic place within fifth-century discussions of new legal provisions concerning offences against the gods. The author, by way of introduction, outlines the role religion had played in the old Greek city-states, emphasizing the fact that there had been no religion of a nonpolitical character, and describes the way the old religion had been destroyed by the "Enlightenment" of the fifth century. Solmsen then traces the development of Plato's religious ideas, addressing such topics as Plato as the expurgator and reformer; his theological approach; the philosophy of movement; and the role of the Soul as the source of all movement. Plato's later religious philosophy, Solmsen shows, is marked by a more lenient attitude towards popular and poetic religion. He characterizes Plato's later thinking on religion, as disclosed in Book 10 of the Laws, as a revival of the old idea of a city religion. The content of this new Civic Religion, however, would be remodeled in accordance with Plato's own theological conceptions. Solmsen calls this attitude both archaic and Hellenistic. As to the Hellenistic element, the author points to the influence of the mystery cults and of Persian religion, the latter revealing itself most clearly in Plato's conception of the two antagonistic World-Souls. He also discusses at length such issues as Plato's ideas of a divine justice, his tendency towards monotheism, and the influence of his theology on later Greek philosophy and on Christian thought, especially Origen.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780801466694
Category : God
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
Friedrich Solmsen’s book is a thorough exploration of Plato's ideas about God and religion. Solmsen focuses on Plato’s theology primarily as it is presented in Book 10 of the Laws, a work previously neglected as a source of Plato's conception of religion because of its problematic place within fifth-century discussions of new legal provisions concerning offences against the gods. The author, by way of introduction, outlines the role religion had played in the old Greek city-states, emphasizing the fact that there had been no religion of a nonpolitical character, and describes the way the old religion had been destroyed by the "Enlightenment" of the fifth century. Solmsen then traces the development of Plato's religious ideas, addressing such topics as Plato as the expurgator and reformer; his theological approach; the philosophy of movement; and the role of the Soul as the source of all movement. Plato's later religious philosophy, Solmsen shows, is marked by a more lenient attitude towards popular and poetic religion. He characterizes Plato's later thinking on religion, as disclosed in Book 10 of the Laws, as a revival of the old idea of a city religion. The content of this new Civic Religion, however, would be remodeled in accordance with Plato's own theological conceptions. Solmsen calls this attitude both archaic and Hellenistic. As to the Hellenistic element, the author points to the influence of the mystery cults and of Persian religion, the latter revealing itself most clearly in Plato's conception of the two antagonistic World-Souls. He also discusses at length such issues as Plato's ideas of a divine justice, his tendency towards monotheism, and the influence of his theology on later Greek philosophy and on Christian thought, especially Origen.
Socrates' Divine Sign
Author: Nicholas D. Smith
Publisher: Kelowna, BC : Academic Print. & Pub.
ISBN: 9780920980910
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 180
Book Description
Publisher: Kelowna, BC : Academic Print. & Pub.
ISBN: 9780920980910
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 180
Book Description
The Final Days of Socrates
Author: Plato
Publisher: Cosimo, Inc.
ISBN: 1616403691
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 140
Book Description
The Final Days of Socrates is a book of four dialogues by Plato-Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo-centering, as most of Plato's dialogues do, around Socrates. These four dialogues cover the time leading up to Socrates' trial and through his death and depiction of the afterlife. Euthyphro concerns Socrates and Euthyphro, a known so-called religious expert, as they try to determine a definition for piety. Apology is Plato's version of Socrates' speech as he defends himself against the criminal charges of corrupting the youth and not believing in the same deities as the state. The Crito is a dialogue between Socrates and a friend about justice, injustice, and the reaction to injustice. Finally Phaedo, one of Plato's most famous Socratic dialogues, depicts the death of Socrates and his argument for the existence of an afterlife. All four works are also included in the Cosimo omnibus editions of The Works of Plato. One of the greatest Western philosophers who ever lived, PLATO (c. 428-347 B.C.) was a student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle. Plato was greatly influenced by Socrates' teachings, often using him as a character in scripts and plays (Socratic dialogues), which he used to demonstrate philosophical ideas. Plato's dialogues were and still are used to teach a wide range of subjects, including politics, mathematics, rhetoric, logic, and, naturally, philosophy.
Publisher: Cosimo, Inc.
ISBN: 1616403691
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 140
Book Description
The Final Days of Socrates is a book of four dialogues by Plato-Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo-centering, as most of Plato's dialogues do, around Socrates. These four dialogues cover the time leading up to Socrates' trial and through his death and depiction of the afterlife. Euthyphro concerns Socrates and Euthyphro, a known so-called religious expert, as they try to determine a definition for piety. Apology is Plato's version of Socrates' speech as he defends himself against the criminal charges of corrupting the youth and not believing in the same deities as the state. The Crito is a dialogue between Socrates and a friend about justice, injustice, and the reaction to injustice. Finally Phaedo, one of Plato's most famous Socratic dialogues, depicts the death of Socrates and his argument for the existence of an afterlife. All four works are also included in the Cosimo omnibus editions of The Works of Plato. One of the greatest Western philosophers who ever lived, PLATO (c. 428-347 B.C.) was a student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle. Plato was greatly influenced by Socrates' teachings, often using him as a character in scripts and plays (Socratic dialogues), which he used to demonstrate philosophical ideas. Plato's dialogues were and still are used to teach a wide range of subjects, including politics, mathematics, rhetoric, logic, and, naturally, philosophy.
Complete Works
Author: Plato
Publisher: Hackett Publishing
ISBN: 9780872203495
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 1852
Book Description
Gathers translations of Plato's works and includes guidance on approaching their reading and study
Publisher: Hackett Publishing
ISBN: 9780872203495
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 1852
Book Description
Gathers translations of Plato's works and includes guidance on approaching their reading and study