Plato's Utopia Recast His Later Ethics and Politics

by Bobonich, Christopher

• ISBN13: 9780199251438
• ISBN10: 0199251436
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-12-12
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

Plato's Utopia Recast is an illuminating reappraisal of Plato's later works, which reveals radical changes in his ethical and political theory. Christopher Bobonich examines later dialogues, with a special emphasis upon the Laws, and argues that in these late works, Plato both rethinks and revises the basic ethical and political positions that he held in his better-known earlier works, such as the Republic. This book will change our understanding of Plato. His controversial moral and political theory, so influential in Western thought, will henceforth be seen in a new light.

Author Biography

Christopher Bobonich is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University.

Table of Contents

Philosophers and Non-philosophers in the Phaedo and the Republic	1	(89)
Introduction	1	(12)
The Phaedo: Introduction	13	(1)
The Phaedo: Virtues and Ultimate Ends	14	(7)
The Phaedo: The Happiness of Non-philosophers	21	(2)
The Phaedo: The Psychology of Non-philosophers	23	(8)
The Phaedo: The Dependency Thesis	31	(3)
The Phaedo: Wisdom	34	(2)
The Phaedo: Political Implications	36	(4)
The Phaedo: Conclusion	40	(1)
The Republic: Introduction	41	(1)
The Republic: The Virtues of Non-philosophers	42	(4)
The Republic: The Ultimate Ends of Non-philosophers	46	(5)
The Republic: The Happiness of Non-philosophers	51	(7)
The Republic: Epistemology	58	(9)
The Republic: Non-philosophers: Solipsism and Instrumentality?	67	(5)
The Republic: Political Philosophy	72	(9)
The Republic: Conclusion	81	(8)
Virtue, Goods, and Happiness in the Laws	89	(127)
Overview	89	(4)
Reason and Law	93	(4)
Preludes to the Law	97	(9)
The Place of the Preludes	106	(13)
The Goal of the Laws	119	(4)
Dependent Goods in the Laws	123	(4)
Preliminary Clarifications	127	(4)
The Difficulties of Dependency	131	(5)
Previous Attempts to Ground the Dependency Thesis	136	(9)
Grounding Dependency	145	(8)
The Philebus	153	(26)
The Dependency Thesis	179	(30)
Virtue and Happiness	209	(7)
Parts of the Soul and the Psychology of Virtue	216	(77)
Introduction	216	(3)
Parts of the Soul and Akrasia in the Republic	219	(16)
Akrasia in the Republic	235	(12)
Problems with the Republic's Account of Akrasia	247	(11)
Plato's Later Views: Introduction	258	(2)
Akrasia and the Divine Puppets of the Laws	260	(7)
Varieties of Weak Akrasia	267	(6)
Psychic Intervention	273	(9)
Origins and Persistence	282	(6)
The Virtues	288	(5)
Parts of the Soul and Non-rational Motivations	293	(81)
Introduction	293	(2)
The Impoverishment of the Lower Parts of the Soul	295	(36)
Non-rational Motivations: An Overview	331	(4)
Psychology and Dependency	335	(8)
Spirited Emotions	343	(7)
Pleasure	350	(24)
The Citizens of Magnesia	374	(107)
Introduction	374	(1)
An Overview of Magnesia	374	(10)
A Second-best City: Women, Leisure, the Nocturnal Council, and Changing the Law	384	(25)
Citizenship and the Boundaries of the City	409	(9)
The Problems of Citizenship	418	(1)
The Question of Motivation	419	(17)
Political Rule and Citizenship	436	(14)
The Goodness of Ethical Activity	450	(23)
Transpolitical End	473	(8)
Notes	481	(105)
References	586	(27)
Index of Passages	613	(20)
General Index	633