Plato's Reception of Parmenides

by John A. Palmer

Overview

John Palmer presents a new and original account of Plato's uses and understanding of his most important Presocratic predecessor, Parmenides. Adopting an innovative approach to the appraisal of intellectual influence, Palmer first explores the Eleatic underpinnings of central elements in Plato's middle-period epistemology and metaphysics and then shows how in the later dialogues Plato confronts various sophistic appropriations of Parmenides.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198238003
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/30/1999
Pages:	308
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	1520L (what's this?)

About the Author

John A. Palmer is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Florida, Gainesville. He was previously Research fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge.

Table of Contents

PART I: PLATO'S MIDDLE-PERIOD RECEPTION OF PARMENIDES: 1. Introduction; 2. Eschatology and epistemology; 3. The argument from the possibility of knowledge; 4. Sight-lovers, mortals, and doxa; PART II: PLATO AND THE SOPHISTIC APPROPRIATIONS OF PARMENIDES: 5. Parmenides' thesis at issue; 6. Sophistic Parmenideanism in the Sophist; 7. Sophistic Parmenideanism in the Sophist and in the Parmenides' dialectical exercise; PART III: PLATO'S PARMENIDES IN THE LATER DIALOGUES: 8. Parmenides and Xenophanes in the Sophist and Timaeus; 9. Plato's Parmenides; 10. Plato's Parmenides and the Parmenides' Second Deduction; Appendices; Bibliography; Index locorum; General index.

Editorial Reviews

"This excellent and extensive survey is valuable reading for scholars and graduate students interested in Plato's metaphysics and epistemology."—Choice

From the Publisher