Essays on Being

by Charles H. Kahn

Overview

This volume presents a series of essays published by Charles Kahn over a period of forty years, in which he seeks to explicate the ancient Greek concept of Being. He addresses two distinct but intimately related problems, one linguistic and one historical and philosophical. The linguistic problem concerns the theory of the Greek verb einai, 'to be': how to replace the conventional but misleading distinction between copula and existential verb with a more adequate theoretical account. The philosophical problem is in principle quite distinct: to understand how the concept of Being became the central topic in Greek philosophy from Parmenides to Aristotle. But these two problems converge on what Kahn calls the veridical use of einai. In the earlier papers he takes that connection between the verb and the concept of truth to be the key to the central role of Being in Greek philosophy. In the later papers he interprets the veridical in terms of a more general semantic function of the verb, which comprises the notions of existence and instantiation as well as truth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199654352
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/25/2012
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	294
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Charles H. Kahn is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Introduction1. The Greek verb 'to be' and the concept of Being2. The terminology for copula and existence3. Why existence does not emerge as a distinct concept in Greek philosophy4. Some philosophical uses of 'to be' in Plato5. A return to the verb 'to be' and the concept of Being6. The thesis of Parmenides7. Being in Parmenides and Plato8. Parmenides and Plato once morePostscript on Parmenides: Parmenides and physics. The direction of the chariot ride in the proem. The epistemic preference for Fire.

Editorial Reviews

"[T]his book should be of great value not only for those interested in ancient Greek philosophy, Greek intellectual culture, Greek language and Greek linguistics, but also for those with interest in the history of ontology and metaphysics.... the book is well argued, makes a meaningful contribution to the interpretation of the Greek verb 'einai', informs the reader about the different scholarly views on the topic, and provides ground and inspiration for future developments."—Simon Noriega-Olmos, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

From the Publisher