Plato's Ethics

By: Terence Irwin

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Paperback | 12 January 1995

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460 Pages

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22.86 x 15.24 x 2.59

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This exceptional book examines and explains Plato's answer to the normative question, "How ought we to live?" It discusses Plato's conception of the virtues; his views about the connection between the virtues and happiness; and the account of reason, desire, and motivation that underlies his arguments about the virtues. Plato's answer to the epistemological question, "How can we know how we ought to live?" is also discussed. His views on knowledge, belief, and inquiry, and his theory of Forms, are examined, insofar as they are relevant to his ethical view. Terence Irwin traces the development of Plato's moral philosophy, from the Socratic dialogues to its fullest exposition in the Republic. Plato's Ethics discusses Plato's reasons for abandoning or modifying some aspects of Socratic ethics, and for believing that he preserves Socrates' essential insights. A brief and selective discussion of the Statesmen, Philebus, and Laws is included. Replacing Irwin's earlier Plato's Moral
Theory (Oxford, 1977), this book gives a clearer and fuller account of the main questions and discusses some recent controversies in the interpretation of Plato's ethics. It does not presuppose any knowledge of Greek or any extensive knowledge of Plato.

Industry Reviews

"Many will regard the new work as one of the better places to begin their background reading on the ethics of Plato....Recommended."--Choice "Plato's Ethics is a model of how to enter into another's mind by making full use of one's own. Reflective readers will gain many insights into Plato's philosophy, and into the art of doing ancient philosophy."--Ancient Philosophy "...Plato's Ethics is an exceptionally coherent and cogent book. Its arguments set a standard of clarity worthy of emulation by champions and critics alike, and I suspect this book will appear as a regular entry in bibliographies for some time,"--E.E. Benitez, The Review of Metaphysics "Plato's Moral Theory was one of the classic works of ancient philosophy scholarship of this century and Plato's Ethics should be at least as influential. Its clarity, rigor, and philosophical sophistication and imagination are rarely matched even by the best work in the history of philosophy."--The Philosophical Review "Many will regard the new work as one of the better places to begin their background reading on the ethics of Plato....Recommended."--Choice "Plato's Ethics is a model of how to enter into another's mind by making full use of one's own. Reflective readers will gain many insights into Plato's philosophy, and into the art of doing ancient philosophy."--Ancient Philosophy "...Plato's Ethics is an exceptionally coherent and cogent book. Its arguments set a standard of clarity worthy of emulation by champions and critics alike, and I suspect this book will appear as a regular entry in bibliographies for some time,"--E.E. Benitez, The Review of Metaphysics "Plato's Moral Theory was one of the classic works of ancient philosophy scholarship of this century and Plato's Ethics should be at least as influential. Its clarity, rigor, and philosophical sophistication and imagination are rarely matched even by the best work in the history of philosophy."--The Philosophical Review

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Non-Fiction Philosophy History of Western Philosophy Ancient Western Philosophy Ethics & Moral Philosophy Economics Philosophy of The Mind

Plato, Socrates, and the Dialogues	p. 3
Preliminary	p. 3
Approaches to the Dialogues	p. 4
Aristotle and the Dialogues	p. 5
Why Dialogues?	p. 7
Aristotle and Socrates	p. 8
The Order of the Dialogues	p. 11
Plato's Attitude to Socrates	p. 13
Socrates in the History of Greek Ethics	p. 15
Socrates' Method	p. 17
Socratic Ignorance and Socratic Method	p. 17
Uses of the Elenchos	p. 18
Socrates' Constructive Method	p. 20
The Demand for an Account	p. 21
Accounts and Definitions	p. 22
Adequate Definitions	p. 23
Types of Definition	p. 25
Knowledge and Definition	p. 27
Difficulties about Socratic Ignorance	p. 28
Difficulties in Socratic Method	p. 29
Socrates' Arguments about the Virtues	p. 31
The Character of the Dialogues	p. 31
Common Beliefs	p. 32
Happiness	p. 32
Virtue	p. 33
Virtue and the Virtues	p. 35
Action, Character, and Virtue	p. 36
The Fine and the Good	p. 37
Temperance and Knowledge	p. 38
Bravery and Knowledge	p. 40
Temperance and the Unity of the Virtues	p. 41
Bravery and the Unity of the Virtues	p. 42
Justice and the Good of the Agent	p. 44
Justice and the Good of Others	p. 46
The Guiding Principles of Socratic Inquiry	p. 48
The Elenchos and the Search for Definitions	p. 49
Socrates' Treatment of Common Beliefs	p. 50
Socrates: From Happiness to Virtue	p. 52
The Importance of the Euthydemus	p. 52
Eudaemonism	p. 52
Why Eudaemonism?	p. 53
Happiness, Wisdom, and Fortune	p. 55
Wisdom and the Correct Use of Assets	p. 56
Wisdom as the Only Good	p. 56
The Sufficiency of Virtue for Happiness	p. 58
Use and Misuse of Knowledge	p. 60
Socrates' Defence of His Guiding Principles	p. 61
Questions about Socrates' Defence	p. 63
Difficulties for Socrates	p. 65
The Questions about Happiness	p. 65
Is Virtue Instrumental to Happiness?	p. 67
Is Virtue a Craft?	p. 68
Aristotle on Virtue and Craft	p. 70
Aristotle on Production and Action	p. 71
Virtues, Crafts, and Instrumental Means	p. 72
Why Is Virtue Sufficient for Happiness?	p. 73
Virtue, Craft, and Non-Rational Desires	p. 75
Implications of an Instrumental View	p. 76
The Protagoras	p. 78
The Aims of the Dialogue	p. 78
Protagoras and Socrates on Virtue	p. 79
Preliminary Arguments for the Unity of the Virtues	p. 80
The Appeal to Hedonism	p. 81
The Denial of Incontinence	p. 83
The Last Argument for the Unity of the Virtues	p. 84
Questions about Socratic Hedonism	p. 85
Eudaemonism and Hedonism	p. 87
Advantages of Hedonism	p. 88
Hedonism and Instrumentalism	p. 89
Hedonism and the Virtues	p. 90
Socratic Method in the Protagoras	p. 92
The Argument of the Gorgias	p. 95
The Main Issues	p. 95
Objections to Rhetoric	p. 96
Rhetoric and Justice	p. 97
Power and Justice	p. 99
The Argument with Callicles	p. 101
Callicles' Moral Position	p. 102
Callicles' Conception of Happiness	p. 104
Socrates' Conception of Happiness	p. 106
Socrates' Reply to Callicles	p. 106
Rhetoric and Pleasure	p. 108
Happiness and Rational Order	p. 109
Implications of the Gorgias	p. 111
Quantitative Hedonism	p. 111
Pleasure and Good	p. 113
Psychic Order	p. 114
Socratic Eudaemonism in the Gorgias	p. 116
The Adaptive Conception of Happiness	p. 117
Wisdom and Happiness	p. 118
Happiness and External Goods	p. 118
Happiness, Virtue, and Justice	p. 120
The Treatment of the Interlocutor	p. 121
The Constructive Use of the Elenchos	p. 122
The Contribution of the Gorgias to Socratic Moral Theory	p. 124
Socratic Method and Socratic Ethics: The Meno	p. 127
Questions about Socratic Method	p. 127
Inquiry and Knowledge	p. 128
Accounts and Definitions	p. 129
Definition, Explanation, and Knowledge	p. 130
The Paradox of Inquiry	p. 130
A Successful Inquiry	p. 132
A Defence of Socratic Inquiry	p. 133
Aspects of Recollection	p. 135
Virtue as Knowledge: For and Against	p. 136
Virtue and Benefit	p. 137
Psychological Eudaemonism in the Meno	p. 138
Knowledge and Teaching	p. 140
Knowledge, Belief, and Socratic Inquiry	p. 141
Knowledge, Belief, and Stability	p. 143
Knowledge, Belief, and Virtue	p. 145
The Meno and Socratic Ethics	p. 146
The Theory of Forms	p. 148
Socratic Method and Platonic Metaphysics	p. 148
Definition and Unity	p. 149
Convention and Objectivity	p. 150
Epistemological Requirements for a Definition	p. 152
Compresence of Opposites	p. 154
Compresence and Explanation	p. 155
The Form and the 'Many'	p. 156
The Role of the Senses	p. 157
Sensible Properties	p. 160
Objections to the Senses: Types of Flux	p. 161
The Senses and the Compresence of Opposites	p. 163
Difficulties about Moral Properties	p. 163
Definitions and Hypotheses	p. 166
Republic I	p. 169
The Significance of Book I	p. 169
Cephalus	p. 170
Polemarchus	p. 171
Simonides on Justice	p. 172
Thrasymachus' Account	p. 174
Objections to Thrasymachus: Rulers and Crafts	p. 176
Thrasymachus on Justice and Virtue	p. 177
Psychic Order	p. 178
The Human Function	p. 179
Results of Book I	p. 180
Republic II: Objections to Justice	p. 181
The Question about Justice	p. 181
Justice and Its Consequences	p. 182
Gyges' Ring	p. 184
The Choice of Lives	p. 185
Apparent and Real Justice	p. 187
Glaucon, Adeimantus, and Thrasymachus	p. 188
The Division of Goods	p. 189
The Superiority of Justice	p. 191
The Relation of Justice to Happiness	p. 192
Virtue and Reliability	p. 194
Admiration for Virtue	p. 195
Virtue, Knowledge, and Perfection	p. 197
Socrates and the Praise of Justice	p. 198
Socrates and the Relation of Virtue to Happiness	p. 199
Socrates and the Definition of Justice	p. 200
Are Plato's Questions Reasonable?	p. 201
Republic IV: The Division of the Soul	p. 203
The Argument of Book IV	p. 203
Plato's Argument for the Division of the Soul	p. 203
Conflicts between Desires	p. 205
Rational Desires versus Appetites	p. 206
Desire and Contrariety	p. 207
The Appetitive Part	p. 209
The Spirited Part	p. 211
The Rational Part	p. 214
Reasons for the Tripartition of the Soul	p. 216
Parts of the Soul as Agents	p. 217
The Unity of a Part of the Soul	p. 218
Relations between Parts of the Soul	p. 220
Republic IV: The Virtues	p. 223
The Division of the Soul and the Account of the Virtues	p. 223
Connexions between the Virtues: Bravery	p. 224
Connexions between the Virtues: Temperance	p. 226
Justice and the Other Virtues	p. 227
Is Knowledge Necessary for Virtue? The Political Analogy	p. 229
Virtue without Wisdom?	p. 230
Knowledge and Stability	p. 231
Knowledge, Reasons, and Virtue	p. 233
Degrees of Virtue	p. 234
Virtue, Knowledge, and Autonomy	p. 235
Is Knowledge Sufficient for Virtue?	p. 236
The Reciprocity and Unity of the Virtues	p. 237
The Republic and the Socratic Dialogues	p. 239
Socratic and Platonic Doctrines in Greek Ethics	p. 242
Republic IV: Justice and Happiness	p. 244
The Questions about Justice	p. 244
The Function of the Rational Part	p. 245
The Role of Practical Reason	p. 247
Socrates on Happiness: Some Objections	p. 248
Socrates on Happiness: Some Ambiguities	p. 250
Happiness and the Human Function	p. 252
Justice and the Human Function	p. 253
The Dominance of Justice	p. 254
An Objection to Plato's Account of Justice	p. 256
Common Views about Justice	p. 257
An Answer to Thrasymachus?	p. 260
Republic V-VII	p. 262
Socratic Definition in the Republic	p. 262
The Philosophers and the Sight-Lovers	p. 264
The Importance of the Sight-Lovers	p. 265
Knowledge and Belief	p. 266
Plato's Objection to the Sight-Lovers	p. 268
Are the Sight-Lovers Refuted?	p. 269
The Sun	p. 271
The Form of the Good	p. 272
The Divided Line	p. 274
The Cave on Belief	p. 275
The Cave on Knowledge	p. 277
Epistemology and Moral Theory	p. 279
Republic VIII-IX on Justice	p. 281
The Place of Books VIII-IX	p. 281
Sources of Psychic Injustice	p. 282
The Decline of the Soul	p. 283
Choices in Unjust Souls	p. 284
Rational Choices in the Decline of the Soul	p. 285
The Rational Part of an Unjust Soul	p. 287
The Functions of the Rational Part	p. 288
The Rational Part and the Choice of Ends	p. 290
The Pleasures of the Rational Part	p. 291
The Special Concerns of the Rational Part	p. 292
The Good of the Whole Soul	p. 294
A Fuller Conception of Psychic Justice	p. 295
Platonic Love	p. 298
The Questions about Justice and Interest	p. 298
Philosophers as Rulers	p. 299
The Aims of the Rational Part	p. 301
The Puzzles about Love in the Republic	p. 302
Aspects of Eros	p. 303
Concern for the Future	p. 306
Concern for Others	p. 308
Propagation and Love of Other Persons	p. 310
Platonic Love and Platonic Justice	p. 311
The Justice of the Philosopher-Rulers	p. 313
Conclusions from the Republic	p. 316
Pleasure, Intelligence, and the Good	p. 318
The Scope of the Philebus	p. 318
The Diversity of Pleasures	p. 319
One and Many	p. 321
Limit and Unlimited	p. 323
Limit and Norm	p. 324
Questions about Limit and Unlimited	p. 325
The Choice of Pleasures	p. 327
False Pleasures	p. 328
Better and Worse Pleasures	p. 330
The Character of the Good	p. 332
Completeness and External Goods	p. 335
The Special Role of Intelligence	p. 337
Reason and Virtue	p. 339
Questions Raised in the Late Dialogues	p. 339
The Disunity of the Virtues	p. 339
Pleasure and Desire	p. 342
Pleasure and Happiness	p. 343
Virtue and Happiness	p. 345
The Cardinal Virtues	p. 347
Wisdom and Virtue	p. 349
Conditions for Wisdom	p. 350
Notes	p. 355
References	p. 393
Index Locorum	p. 407
Index Nominum	p. 419
General Index	p. 423
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Plato's Ethics

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