Plato: Meno (Aris & Phillips Classical Texts) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0856682497 ISBN 13: 9780856682490

Publisher: Aris & Phillips Ltd, 1985

Synopsis

Plato’s Meno is the dialogue which more than any other occupies a transitional position between the early Socratic dialogues and the developed middle period theory of the Phaedo, Symposium and Republic. It is thus of particular interest for the insights that it gives us into the process by which Plato arrived at that theory. The issues which it raises are philosophically interesting in themselves: how can we know that we have the right answer to a question, unless we knew what the answer was before we asked the question in the first place? Is excellence (aretē) something that we can acquire by being taught, or is it something that we are born with? And the dialogue is of historical interest for the evidence it provides, both for ancient Greek notions of what constitutes excellence, and for contemporary attitudes to the Sophists, who claimed to teach excellence and took larger fees for doing so. First published in 1985, this edition was revised in 1991, and the preface and bibliography updated in 2004. Greek text with facing-page English translation, introduction, notes and commentary.

About this title

About the Author

†R.W. Sharples was Professor of Classics at University College London. He published widely on ancient philosophy, especially the Aristotelian tradition (Theophrastus, Alexander of Aphrodisias). His books include 'Stoics, Epicureans and Sceptics' (Routledge, 1996), 'Nemesius: On Fate' (Liverpool University Press, 2008), and 'Cicero: On Fate with Boethius: The Consolation of Philosophy IV.5–7 and V' and 'Plato: Meno' in the Aris & Phillips Classical Texts series.

Edition details

• Publisher: Aris & Phillips Ltd
• Publication date: 1985
• Language: Greek, Ancient (to 1453)
• ISBN 10: 0856682497
• ISBN 13: 9780856682490
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 206