Studies in Plato's Metaphysics 2

by Reginald E. Allen (editor)

Studies in Plato's Metaphysics II is a selection of readings which is meant as an introduction to the study of Plato. An earlier version, Studies in Plato's Metaphysics, dealt with essays ranging from 1936 to 1965. The aim here is broader: to go back to the nineteenth century and to move forward with some of the main contributions to the scholarly literature on Plato. The hope is to redirect the student's interest in issues of Platonic metaphysics and epistemology.

Genres: Philosophy

450 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1965

Reviews

[Randal Samstag · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a remarkable collection of academic papers focusing on Plato's metaphysics. The introductory Cherniss article is a Cliff Notes version of his defense of the Theory of Ideas that he expanded upon in his other works. Akrill's article on the copula really gives you an idea of what Oxford dons do for a living. The Ryle article on the Parmenides is one of the clearest summaries and critiques of what Plato was doing in this most puzzling dialogue. The original Vlastos article on "The Third Man" (so-named by Aristotle) argument in the Parmenides that created so much of a stir is here republished, along with follow-up quarrels by Geach and a reply by Vlastos.

The battle between the "unitarians" and the "developmentalists" is here waged in full view with Vlastos noting the "disorderly motion" of the Timaeus and Cherniss attempting to demolish Owen's placement of the Timaeus in the life cycle of Plato's career; the "big question" being whether Plato abandoned the Theory of Ideas after the Parmenides as evidenced by seemingly clear statements of the TOI in the Timaeus and the Seventh Epistle. Vlastos thinks that the "disorderly motion" of the cosmos extends to the soul that was supposed to be in Plato's (earlier) system self-moving, and therefore separated from transient reality.

In Vlastos's "Creation in the "Timaeus": is it a fiction?", written as a gentlemanly criticism of the unitarians (including Cherniss), he says "The creation of the soul in the Timaeus is in flat contradiction with the doctrine of the Phaedrus (though not of the Laws) that the soul is uncreated, and appears to contradict also the doctrine of both the Phaedrus and the Laws that the soul is the first cause of all motion." Vlastos's final conclusion is that Plato held no theory of the eternity of the world, in contrast to Zeller, Cornford, and Cherniss.

This all reminds me of Reverend Gotama's (aka the Buddha) response to the wandering sramana, Vacchagotta, when asked about the eternity of the universe (among other metaphysical questions). His response was that he did not hold that this was true, false, neither, or both. He says that the view that he does hold is the one outlined in his second sermon, on the nature of self.

If gentlemanly pugilistics by Plato scholars get you going (as it does me!) this book is a must read!

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suspect I read this for Fr. Leo Sweeney's course on Plato's theory of forms during my first semester at Loyola University Chicago in 1980/81 and not for the course I took later with Reginald E. Allen on Plato's' Parmenides', but it's quite possible that this collection of essays was used for both courses. Whatever the case, this is a representative selection of the relevant issues.