Thomas M. Robinson

Beatriz Bossi

This book meets the need to revise the standard interpretations of an apparently aporetic dialogue, full of eloquent silences and tricky suggestions, as it explores, among many other topics, the dramatis personae, including Plato's self-references behind the scene and the role of Socrates on stage, the question of method and refutation and the way dialectics plays a part in the dialogue. More especifically, it contains a set of papers devoted to perception and Plato's criticism of Heraclitus and Protagoras. A section deals with the problem of the relation between knowledge and thinking, including the the aviary model and the possibility of error. It also emphasizes some positive contributions to the classical Platonic doctrines and his philosophy of education. The reception of the dialogue in antiquity and the medieval age closes the analysis. Representing different hermeneutical traditions, prestigious scholars engage with these issues in divergent ways, as they shed new light on a complex controversial work.

Plato’s ›Theaetetus‹ Revisited

This book consists of a selection of papers which throw new light on old problems in one of Plato's most difficult dialogues. The papers included fall into three broad categories: a) those dealing directly with the ostensible aim of the dialogue, the various definitions of a sophist from different perspectives (T. Robinson, F. Casadesús, J. Monserrat-P. Sandoval, A. Bernabé, M. Narcy and K. Dorter ; b) a number which tackle a specific question brought up in the dialogue, and that is, how Plato relates to Heraclitus and to Parmenides in the matter of his understanding of being and non-being (E. Hülsz, D. O'Brien, B. Bossi, P. Mesquita and N. Cordero) ; and c) those discussing various other broad issues brought to the fore in the dialogue, such as the 'greatest kinds', true and false statement, difference and mimesis (F. Fronterotta, J. de Garay, D. Ambuel and L. Palumbo).The variety of schools and backgrounds of the authors makes this book unique as a tool for the appreciation of the different approaches possible to well-known hermeneutical problems.

Beatriz Bossi

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