In David Keyt and Christopher Shields (eds.), Principles and Praxis in Ancient Greek Philosophy - Studies of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle in Honor of Fred D. Miller, Jr. Cham: Springer., 2024
In Aristotle's views on cognition a series of terms – hupolêpsis, doxa, and epistêmê – play ... more In Aristotle's views on cognition a series of terms – hupolêpsis, doxa, and epistêmê – play key roles. But it has not been noticed that each of these comes in two kinds – one unqualified ( haplôs) and the other qualified. When these and their interrelations are properly explored, a deeply systematic picture of cognition emerges, in which doxa is best understood as ‘belief’, hupolêpsis as ‘supposition’, and epistêmê (‘scientific knowledge’) as a sort of belief, so that – contrary to orthodoxy – we can have belief and knowledge of the same things at the same time. Many of these conclusions are shown to mark a continuity with Plato, in that neither thinker, it is argued, holds a so-called ‘two-worlds’ picture of cognition.
What is the deliberative part (to bouleutikon) of the soul for Aristotle and what does it mean fo... more What is the deliberative part (to bouleutikon) of the soul for Aristotle and what does it mean for it to be akuron in women, incomplete in children, and missing in natural slaves? A new answer is proposed to this question based, first, on an account of deliberation, and the role of understanding (nous), imagination, memory, and virtue of character in it; second, on an account of male marital rule and its nature and justification; and, third, on an account of what akuron means, stemming from its connection to the decrees (psêphismata) in which deliberation terminates. The biological and metaphysical correlates of the account, which serve to support it, are then explored.
This is the very full Index to my 2014 translation of NE (Hackett), of which a new edition with a... more This is the very full Index to my 2014 translation of NE (Hackett), of which a new edition with a shorter Index will appear probably in 2019. Since references are to Bekker pages, it can be used with any edition.
An integrated interpretation of (1) the Alcibiades episode in Plato's Symposium that bases its sk... more An integrated interpretation of (1) the Alcibiades episode in Plato's Symposium that bases its skepticism about his reliability as a narrator on the evidence provided by the text itself, especially its use of the terms agalmata, exaiphnês, and epi dexia; (2) Socrates' claim that he an expert on ta erôtika; and (3) Diotima's account of the ergon of love as tokos en kalô[i], that uncovers some concealed deontological elements in Platonic ethics.
A catalogue essay for Alex Kanevsky: Some Paintings in No Particular Style at Hollis Taggart Gall... more A catalogue essay for Alex Kanevsky: Some Paintings in No Particular Style at Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York (March 9 – April 8, 2017).
Two erotic mysteries lie at the heart of the Odyssey: the mystery of why Odysseus leaves Calypso ... more Two erotic mysteries lie at the heart of the Odyssey: the mystery of why Odysseus leaves Calypso and the mystery of why the suitors are so hot for Penelope. Two others are equally perplexing, though not, perhaps, equally erotic. The first of these concerns the savage punishment imposed on the suitors. What have they done to deserve it? Finally, there is the deep mystery presented by the form of the Odyssey itself, with its odd mixture of realism (the suitors and Penelope) and magic (the unreality of the realms Odysseus visits between the fall of Troy and his return home). For the fantastic nature of these realms seems completely mismatched to the reality of what is taking place in Ithaca. The paper argues that these four apparently diverse mysteries have the same solution.
In David Keyt and Christopher Shields (eds.), Principles and Praxis in Ancient Greek Philosophy - Studies of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle in Honor of Fred D. Miller, Jr. Cham: Springer., 2024
In Aristotle's views on cognition a series of terms – hupolêpsis, doxa, and epistêmê – play ... more In Aristotle's views on cognition a series of terms – hupolêpsis, doxa, and epistêmê – play key roles. But it has not been noticed that each of these comes in two kinds – one unqualified ( haplôs) and the other qualified. When these and their interrelations are properly explored, a deeply systematic picture of cognition emerges, in which doxa is best understood as ‘belief’, hupolêpsis as ‘supposition’, and epistêmê (‘scientific knowledge’) as a sort of belief, so that – contrary to orthodoxy – we can have belief and knowledge of the same things at the same time. Many of these conclusions are shown to mark a continuity with Plato, in that neither thinker, it is argued, holds a so-called ‘two-worlds’ picture of cognition.
What is the deliberative part (to bouleutikon) of the soul for Aristotle and what does it mean fo... more What is the deliberative part (to bouleutikon) of the soul for Aristotle and what does it mean for it to be akuron in women, incomplete in children, and missing in natural slaves? A new answer is proposed to this question based, first, on an account of deliberation, and the role of understanding (nous), imagination, memory, and virtue of character in it; second, on an account of male marital rule and its nature and justification; and, third, on an account of what akuron means, stemming from its connection to the decrees (psêphismata) in which deliberation terminates. The biological and metaphysical correlates of the account, which serve to support it, are then explored.
This is the very full Index to my 2014 translation of NE (Hackett), of which a new edition with a... more This is the very full Index to my 2014 translation of NE (Hackett), of which a new edition with a shorter Index will appear probably in 2019. Since references are to Bekker pages, it can be used with any edition.
An integrated interpretation of (1) the Alcibiades episode in Plato's Symposium that bases its sk... more An integrated interpretation of (1) the Alcibiades episode in Plato's Symposium that bases its skepticism about his reliability as a narrator on the evidence provided by the text itself, especially its use of the terms agalmata, exaiphnês, and epi dexia; (2) Socrates' claim that he an expert on ta erôtika; and (3) Diotima's account of the ergon of love as tokos en kalô[i], that uncovers some concealed deontological elements in Platonic ethics.
A catalogue essay for Alex Kanevsky: Some Paintings in No Particular Style at Hollis Taggart Gall... more A catalogue essay for Alex Kanevsky: Some Paintings in No Particular Style at Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York (March 9 – April 8, 2017).
Two erotic mysteries lie at the heart of the Odyssey: the mystery of why Odysseus leaves Calypso ... more Two erotic mysteries lie at the heart of the Odyssey: the mystery of why Odysseus leaves Calypso and the mystery of why the suitors are so hot for Penelope. Two others are equally perplexing, though not, perhaps, equally erotic. The first of these concerns the savage punishment imposed on the suitors. What have they done to deserve it? Finally, there is the deep mystery presented by the form of the Odyssey itself, with its odd mixture of realism (the suitors and Penelope) and magic (the unreality of the realms Odysseus visits between the fall of Troy and his return home). For the fantastic nature of these realms seems completely mismatched to the reality of what is taking place in Ithaca. The paper argues that these four apparently diverse mysteries have the same solution.
This edition has been withdrawn from publication because of problems in the printing. A new corre... more This edition has been withdrawn from publication because of problems in the printing. A new corrected printing will be available soon.
A translation into mandarin by Xiangrun Kong of my Philosopher-Kings: the Argument of Plato's Rep... more A translation into mandarin by Xiangrun Kong of my Philosopher-Kings: the Argument of Plato's Republic (1988, 2006)
A short introduction to Aristotle for educated but non-specialist readers. To be published in Eng... more A short introduction to Aristotle for educated but non-specialist readers. To be published in English and Spanish by Tibidado Publishing
This is a new translation (not a revision of my 1998), which is co-ordinate with my Nicomachean E... more This is a new translation (not a revision of my 1998), which is co-ordinate with my Nicomachean Ethics (2014), Metaphysics (2016), and forthcoming De Anima (2017) and Rhetoric (2018). It is due out in March 2017.
The Story of Sonechka is Marina Tsvetaeva's account of her relationship with the young actress So... more The Story of Sonechka is Marina Tsvetaeva's account of her relationship with the young actress Sonechka Holliday. This essay was written to accompany the first English translation of this work by Inessa B. Fishbeyn and C. D. C. Reeve, which is forthcoming from Columbia University Press.
My aim in this paper is an iconoclastic one. I want to show that dialectic has an essential role ... more My aim in this paper is an iconoclastic one. I want to show that dialectic has an essential role to play within Aristotelian science, and I want to do it by focusing on politikê (politics or political science) as this is described primarily within the Nicomachean Ethics. The claim of politics to be a science is much disputed, of course. But by seeing the dispute to rest mostly on misunderstandings of science—and of dialectic, for that matter—we will come not just to understand Aristotelian ethics and politics better, but Aristotelian science too. Anyway, that's what I'm going to try to show. Epistêmai Aristotle usually divides the bodies of knowledge he refers to as epistêmai (" sciences ") into three types: theoretical, practical, and productive (crafts). But when he is being especially careful, he also distinguishes within the theoretical sciences between the strictly theoretical ones (astronomy, theology), as we may call them, and the natural ones, which are like the strictly theoretical ones in being neither practical nor productive but are unlike them in consisting of propositions that—though necessary and universal in some sense—hold for the most part rather than without exception: If all thought is either practical or productive or theoretical, natural science must be a theoretical science. But it theorizes only about being that is capable of being moved and only about substance that, in accord with its account, holds for the most part, since it is not separate [from matter]. We must not fail to notice, though, the way the what it is to be and its account hold, since without this,
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