Plato and the Question of BeautyDrew A. Hyland, one of Continental philosophy's keenest interpreters of Plato, takes up the question of beauty in three Platonic dialogues, the Hippias Major, Symposium, and Phaedrus. What Plato meant by beauty is not easily characterized, and Hyland's close readings show that Plato ultimately gives up on the possibility of a definition. Plato's failure, however, tells us something important about beauty—that it cannot be reduced to logos. Exploring questions surrounding love, memory, and ideal form, Hyland draws out the connections between beauty, the possibility of philosophy, and philosophical living. This new reading of Plato provides a serious investigation into the meaning of beauty and places it at the very heart of philosophy. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
1 The Question of Beauty in the Hippias Major | 7 |
2 The Question of Beauty in the Symposium | 27 |
3 The Question of Beauty in the Phaedrus | 64 |
4 The Second and Seventh Letters | 91 |
5 The Critique of Rhetoric and Writing in the Phaedrus | 115 |
Notes | 137 |
Bibliography | 145 |
Preface and Acknowledgments | 166 |
Introduction | 1 |
1 The Question of Beauty in the Hippias Major | 7 |
2 The Question of Beauty in the Symposium | 27 |
3 The Question of Beauty in the Phaedrus | 64 |
4 The Second and Seventh Letters | 91 |
5 The Critique of Rhetoric and Writing in the Phaedrus | 115 |
Notes | 137 |
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Common terms and phrases
adequate Agathon Alcibiades aporia apparently Aristophanes ascent beautiful beloved become begins body character charioteer Charmides claim complicated contest creativity Critias critique crucial definition desire Dionysus Diotima discussion divine madness dwelling-with elenchus episteme eros and beauty eros's erotic experience Eryximachus Euthyphro experience of beauty formulation gods Greek Heraclitus Hippias Major Hippias's human important insight into beauty inspiration issue kalon kalos knowledge least logos Lysias Lysias's speech matter for thought memory mnemes myth noetic non-discursive experience object oude tis palinode Parmenides passage Pausanias Pausanias's pederasty perhaps Phaedrus Phaedrus's philosophic living philosophy Plato Platonic dialogues Platonic Socrates play portrayed possible present question of beauty reason refuted regarding reminding rhetoric seems self-motion sense Seventh Letter sexual Socrates sophists sophrosyne soul speak suggests surely Symposium teaching Thamus Thamus's Theaetetus Theuth things tion truth turn ugly understand virtue wisdom writing written young Zeus Zeus lover