Socrates on the Life of Philosophical Inquiry: A Companion to Plato’s Laches (SpringerBriefs in Philosophy)

This book offers the first systematic reading of Plato’s __Laches__ in Englishafter three decades of scholarly silence. It rekindles interest in this much-neglected dialogue by providing a fresh discussion of the major issues that arise from the text. Among these issues, pride of place is taken by the virtue of courage, for the definition of which Socrates is depicted as engaging in some long-winded dialectical exchange with his interlocutors. Yet, although there is no room for doubt that the __Laches__ is Plato’s most explicit treatment of courage, this dialogue ends in perplexity and is thus traditionally thought of as an unsuccessful attempt to define what courage is. The present study challenges this suggestion. This book proposes a new paradigm for the interpretation of Plato’s __Laches__. In fact, it constitutes the first systematic attempt to study the dialogue in light of the idea that its composition could well have formed part of Plato’s overall plan to establish a well-defined and rigorous justification of the life of philosophical inquiryThe book will be of key interest to classicists, philosophers, and intellectual historians, but will also appeal to students or anyone interested in ancient Greek philosophy. Tiré du site de l'éditeur : "This book offers the first systematic reading of Plato's Laches in English after three decades of scholarly silence. It rekindles interest in this much-neglected dialogue by providing a fresh discussion of the major issues that arise from the text. Among these issues, pride of place is taken by the virtue of courage, for the definition of which Socrates is depicted as engaging in some long-winded dialectical exchange with his interlocutors. Yet, although there is no room for doubt that the Laches is Plato's most explicit treatment of courage, this dialogue ends in perplexity and is thus traditionally thought of as an unsuccessful attempt to define what courage is. The present study challenges this suggestion. This book proposes a new paradigm for the interpretation of Plato's Laches. In fact, it constitutes the first systematic attempt to study the dialogue in light of the idea that its composition could well have formed part of Plato's overall plan to establish a well-defined and rigorous justification of the life of philosophical inquiry. The book will be of key interest to classicists, philosophers, and intellectual historians, but will also appeal to students or anyone interested in ancient Greek philosophy." Front Matter ....Pages i-xiii The Preamble (178a1–181d7) (Konstantinos Stefou)....Pages 1-13 Nicias’ and Laches’ Speeches on ‘Fighting in Armor’ (Hoplomachia) (181d8–184d4) (Konstantinos Stefou)....Pages 15-25 Socrates’ Proposed Methodology (184d5–187b7) (Konstantinos Stefou)....Pages 27-37 Nicias and Laches Give Their Consent to Socrates’ Cross-Questioning (187b8–189d3) (Konstantinos Stefou)....Pages 39-45 Socrates Initiates the Dialectic Discussion (189d4–190e3) (Konstantinos Stefou)....Pages 47-53 Laches’ First Definition of Andreia (190e4–192b8) (Konstantinos Stefou)....Pages 55-60 Laches’ Second Definition of Andreia (192b9–194b7) (Konstantinos Stefou)....Pages 61-68 Invitation of Nicias to the Discussion (194b8–194e10) (Konstantinos Stefou)....Pages 69-72 Nicias’ Definition of Andreia and Its Elenchus Led by Laches (194e11–196b7) (Konstantinos Stefou)....Pages 73-77 Socrates’ First Examination of Nicias’ Definition, After Laches Steps Back (196c1–197e5) (Konstantinos Stefou)....Pages 79-83 Socrates’ Refutation of Nicias’ Definition (197e6–200a3) (Konstantinos Stefou)....Pages 85-91 The End of the Dialogue (200a4–201c5) (Konstantinos Stefou)....Pages 93-98 Back Matter ....Pages 99-107 Acknowledgements 6 Contents 7 Abbreviations and Conventions 9 I. Abbreviations 9 II. Conventions 10 Introduction 11 References 13 1 The Preamble (178a1–181d7) 14 References 26 2 Nicias’ and Laches’ Speeches on ‘Fighting in Armor’ (Hoplomachia) (181d8–184d4) 27 References 37 3 Socrates’ Proposed Methodology (184d5–187b7) 38 3.1 ‘That for the Sake of Which’ (Hou Heneka) 42 References 48 4 Nicias and Laches Give Their Consent to Socrates’ Cross-Questioning (187b8–189d3) 49 4.1 Laches’ Turn to Accept the Socratic Elenchus 52 References 55 5 Socrates Initiates the Dialectic Discussion (189d4–190e3) 56 References 62 6 Laches’ First Definition of Andreia (190e4–192b8) 63 References 68 7 Laches’ Second Definition of Andreia (192b9–194b7) 69 References 75 8 Invitation of Nicias to the Discussion (194b8–194e10) 77 References 80 9 Nicias’ Definition of Andreia and Its Elenchus Led by Laches (194e11–196b7) 81 References 85 10 Socrates’ First Examination of Nicias’ Definition, After Laches Steps Back (196c1–197e5) 86 References 90 11 Socrates’ Refutation of Nicias’ Definition (197e6–200a3) 91 References 96 12 The End of the Dialogue (200a4–201c5) 98 References 103 Conclusion 104 Index 107