A History of Ancient Philosophy II: Plato and Aristotle

by Giovanni Reale

Overview

In this book Reale presents Plato and Aristotle.

At the center of Reale's interpretation of Plato is the fulcrum of the supersensible, the metaphysical discovery that Plato presented as a result of the Second Voyage. This discovery of the supersensible is, in Reale's view, not only the fundamental phase of ancient thought, but it also constitutes a milestone on the path of western philosophy.

Reale presents Plato in three different dimensions: the theoretic, the mystical-religious, and the political. Each of these components takes on meaning from the Second Voyage. In addition, Reale has shown that only in the light of the Unwritten Doctrines handed down through the indirect tradition, do these three components, and the Second Voyage itself, acquire their full meaning, and only in this way is a unitary conception of Plato's thought achieved.

The interpretation of Aristotle that Reale proposes depends on his interpretation of Plato. Aristotle read without preconceptions is not the antithesis of Plato. Reale points out that Aristotle was unique among thinkers close to Plato, in being the one who developed, at least in part, his Second Voyage. The systematic-unitary interpretation of Aristotle which Reale has previously supported converges with the new systematic-unitary interpretation of Plato. Certain doctrinal positions which are usually reserved to treatments in monographs will be explored, because only in this way can the two distinctive traits of Aristotle's thought emerge: the way in which he tries to overcome and confirm the Socratic-Platonic positions, and the way in which he formally creates the system of philosophical knowledge.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780791405178
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	11/08/1990
Series:	SUNY series in Philosophy
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	437
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Giovanni Reale is Professor and holder of the Chair in History of Ancient Philosophy at the Catholic University of Milan. John R. Catan is Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York, College at Brockport.

Table of Contents

Preface
Preface to the American Edition
Translator's Notes
First Part: PLATO AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE SUPERSENSIBLE CAUSE: THE SECOND VOYAGE First Section
THE GREAT RIFT BETWEEN THE WRITTEN CULTURE AND THE ORAL CULTURE AND THE DIFFERENT WAYS OF COMMUNICATING THE PHILOSOPHICAL DOCTRINE OF PLATO
I. The Mediation Attempted by Plato between the Written and the Oral and the Structural Relationship between the Written and the Unwritten
1. Why it is necessary to surpass the traditional criterion and acquire a new one to understand the thought of Plato
2. The judgment of Plato on writing in the Phaedrus
3. The self-testimony contained in the Seventh Letter
4. The essential attributes of the Unknown Doctrine of Plato were preserved through the indirect tradition
5. How the term esoteric is understood when referred to the Unwritten Doctrine of Plato
6. Significance, characteristics, and purpose of the Platonic writings
7. The assistance that the indirect tradition brings to the Platonic writings
II. The Important Problems that Have Beset the Interpretation of Plato and Their Most Plausible Solution in the Light of the New Research
1. The problem of the unity of Platonic thought
2. The problem of irony and its function in Platonic dialogues
3. The critical problem of the evolution of Platonic thought
4. Myth and logos in Plato
5. The multiphased and polyvalent character of Platonic philosophy
Second Section
THE METAPHYSICAL-DIALECTICAL COMPONENT OF PLATONIC THOUGHT I. The Second Voyage as a Journey from the Physical Inquiries of the Presocatics to the Metaphysical Level
1. The meeting with the Physicists and the verification of the inconsistency of their teachings
2. The meeting with Anaxagoras and the verification of the inadequacy of the Anaxagorean theory of cosmic mind as it was proposed by him
3. The important metaphor of the Second Voyage as a symbol of the ascent to the supersensible
4. The two phases of the Second Voyage: the theory of the Ideas and the doctrine of the Principles
5. The three great focal points of Platonic philosophy: the theories of the Ideas, of the Principles, and of the Demiurge
II. The Platonic Theory of Ideas and Some Problems Connected to It
1. Some determinations of the term Idea and its meaning
2. The metaphysical and ontological attributes of the Ideas
3. The highest metaphysical character of the unity of the ideas
4. Platonic dualism is an expression of transcendence
5. The important problems about the relationship between the world of Ideas and the world of the senses
III. The Unwritten Doctrines of the First Principles and the Highest and Most Important Metaphysical Concepts Connected to Them
1. The first Principles are identical with the One and the Dyad of the great-and-the-small
2. Being as the synthesis (mixture) of the two Principles
3. The categoreal division of reality
4. Ideal numbers and the numerical structure of reality
5. Mathematical entities
IV. The Metaphysics of the Ideas in the Light of the Protologic of the Unwritten Doctrine and the Allusions That Plato Makes to the Doctrine of the Principles
1. The interest paid by Plato in the Republic toward the Good and the remaining debt
2. The Parmenides and its meaning
3. The ontology of the highest genera in the Sophist and the metaphor of the parricide of Parmenides
4. The importance metaphysical theses of the Philebus: the bipolar structure of reality, the four highest genera, and the supreme Measure as Absolute
V. The Doctrine of the Demiurge and Cosmology
1. The position of the physical world in the sphere of the real according to Plato
2. The Demiurge and his metaphysical role
3. The material principle of the sensible world, its metaphysical role, and its connections with the Dyad
4. The One as an emblematic key to the activity and works of the Demiurge
5. The creationlike activities of the Platonic Demiurge against the Hellenic background
6. The Demiurge (and not the Idea of the Good) is the God of Plato
VI. Epistemology and Dialectic
1. Anamnesis, root, and condition of knowledge in the Meno
2. Reconfirmation of the doctrine of anamnesis in the subsequent dialogues
3. The kinds of knowledge delineated in the Republic
4. Dialectic
5. The protologic system of dialectic hinges on the one and the many
VII. The Conception of Art and Rhetoric
1. Art as far from being and truth
2. Rhetoric as the mystification of truth
Third Section
THE ETHICAL-RELIGIOUS-ASCETIC COMPONENT OF PLATONIC THOUGHT AND ITS NEXUSES WITH THE PROTOLOGIC OF THE UNWRITTEN DOCTRINES I. Relevance of the Mystical-Religious-Ascetic Component of Platonism
II. The Immortality of the Soul, Its Ultraterrestrial Destiny, and Its Reincarnation
1. The proofs of the immortality of the soul
2. The eschatological destiny of the soul
3. Metempsychosis
III. The New Moral Ascetic
1. Anthropological dualism and the importance of the paradox connected to it
2. The systematization and foundation of the new list of values
3. Platonic antihedonsim
4. The Purification of the soul, virtue, and knowledge
IV. The Mysticism of Philia and Eros
1. Friendship (love) and the "Primary Friend"
2. "Platonic love"
V. Plato a Prophet?
VI. The Ethical-Religious Component of Platonic Thought and Its Relationship with the Protologic of the Unwritten Doctrines
Fourth Section
THE POLITICAL COMPONENT OF PLATONISM AND ITS NEXUSES WITH THE PROTOLOGIC OF THE UNWRITTEN DOCTRINES I. The Importance and Significance of the Political Component of Platonism
1. The affirmations of the Seventh Letter
2. Differences between the Platonic conception and the modern conception of politics
II. The Republic or the Construction of the Ideal City-State
1. Perspectives for reading the Republic
2. The perfect City-State and the type of man corresponding to it
3. The system of community of life of the warriors and the education of women in the ideal City-State
4. The philosopher and the ideal City-State
5. The education of philosophers in the ideal City-State and "highest knowledge"
6. The corrupt City-State and the type of man corresponding to it
7. The City-State, terrestrial and ultraterrestrial happiness
8. The City-State in the interior of man
III. The Man of the State, Written Laws, and Constitutions
1. The problem of the Statesman
2. The forms of possible constitution
3. The "just mean" and the art of politics
IV. The "Second State" of the Laws
1. The purpose of the "Laws" and its relationship with the "Republic"
2. Some fundamental concepts of the "Laws"
V. The Political Component of Platonic Thought and Its Relationship with the Protologic of the Unwritten Doctrines
Fifth Section
CONCLUSIONS CONCERNING PLATONIC THOUGHT I. The Myth of the Cave as a Symbol of Platonic Thought in All Its Fundamental Valences
II. Some Summits of the Thought of Plato Remain Reference Points in the History of Western Thought
Second Part
ARISTOTLE AND THE SYSTEMIZATION OF PHILOSOPHICAL KNOWLEDGE

Editorial Reviews

Reale (history of ancient philosophy, Catholic U. of Milan) covers the first 500 years of the common era. These years witnessed the revivals of Aristotelianism, Epicureanism, Pyrrhonism, Cynicism, Pythagoreanism, and particularly the revival of Platonism under Plotinus. The translation (from the fifth Italian edition) is literal and not very fluid. No index or bibliography, but extensive, detailed endnotes. Paper edition (unseen), $17.95. Ably edited and translated from the 5th Italian edition by John R. Catan. At the center of Reale's (history of ancient philosophy, Catholic U. of Milan) interpretation of Plato is the fulcrum of the metaphysical discovery of the supersensible. His systematic-unitary interpretation of Aristotle depends on and converges with the new systematic-unitary interpretation of Plato. Paper edition (unseen), $21.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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