Plato's Introduction to the Question of Justice

by Stauffer, Devin

• ISBN13: 9780791447468
• ISBN10: 0791447464
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-11-01
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr

Summary

Plato's Introduction to the Question of Justice uncovers the heart of the Platonic analysis of justice by focusing on the crucial opening sections of the Republic. Stauffer argues that the dialectical confrontations with ordinary opinion presented in these sections provide the basis for Plato's view of justice, and that they also help to show how Plato's thought remains relevant today, especially as a rival to Kantianism.

Author Biography

Devin Stauffer is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Kenyon College.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction	1	(18)
The Opening of the Question of Justice: Socrates' Exchanges with Cephalus and Polemarchus	19	(38)
Socrates' Objection to Cephalus' View of Justice	21	(5)
Polemarchus' Defense of His Inheritance and the Question of Owed and Fitting	26	(5)
Socrates' Three-Part Critigue of Justice as Helping Friends and Harming Enemies	31	(26)
Thrasymachus and the Question of the Goodness of Justice	57	(64)
The Opening Exchange Between Thrasymachus and Socrates	58	(4)
Thrasymachus' Definition o f Justice	62	(6)
Rulers in the Strict Sense	68	(10)
Thrasymachus' Attack on Justice: The Shepherd Speech and Its Aftermath	78	(20)
Socrates' Three-Argument Defense of Justice	98	(23)
Glaucon and Adeimantus and Justice as the Proper Order of the Soul	121	(12)
Glaucon's and Adeimantus' Speeches	123	(5)
Justice as the Proper Order of the Soul	128	(5)
Conclusion	133	(4)
Bibliography	137	(6)
Index	143