Plato: The Midwife’s Apprentice (Rle: Plato)

209 Pages·2012·2.8 MB·English

by  I. M. Crombie

PLATO
The Midwife's Apprentice
I. M. Crombie
ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS:
PLATO
ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS:
PLATO
PLATO

PLATO
The Midwife’s Apprentice
I. M. CROMBIE
Volume 8
Routledge
Taylor &. Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published in 1964
This edition first published in 2013
by Routledge
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Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 1964 I. M. Crombie
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-0-415-59194-2 (Set)
eISBN: 978-0-203-10006-6 (Set)
ISBN: 978-0-415-63219-5 (Volume 8)
eISBN: 978-0-203-09588-1 (Volume 8)
Publisher’s Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but
points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.
Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and would
welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace.
PLATO
The Midwife's Apprentice
by
I. M. CROMBIE
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Crombie, I. M.
Plato, the midwife's apprentice.
Reprint. Originally published: New York : Barnes &
Noble, 1965, C1964.
Includes index.
1. Plato. I. Title.
B395.C72 1981 184 81-6812
ISBN 0-313-23243-1 (lib. bdg.) AACR2
©I. M. Crombie 1964
First published 1964 by Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
without permission from the publisher, except for the
quotation of brief passages in criticism.
Reprinted with the permission of Routledge and Kegan
Paul Ltd.
Reprinted in 1981 by Greenwood Press
A division of Congressional Information Service, Inc.
88 Post Road West, Westport, Connecticut 06881
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21
Contents
PREFACE page vii
I. PRELIMINARIES I
2. THE TRADITIONAL PICTURE 8
3. "PLATONISM" AND THE THEORY OF FORMS 33
4. THE PHYSICAL WORLD 61
5. SPIRITUAL THINGS 75
6. PERCEPTION AND KNOWLEDGE 88
7. KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF 97
8. THE LOGIC OF KNOWING AND BELIEVING 108
9. DIALECTIC AND THE STRUCTURE OF REALITY 119
10. THE GOOD LIFE 131
11. VIRTUE AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS 148
12. CULTURE AND THE IMAGINATION 163
13. THE GOOD SOCIETY 169
14. IN CONCLUSION 188
INDEX 193
V

Preface
I SET OUT, some while ago, to write a short book in which I was
to argue that the traditional interpretation of Plato's philo
sophical position could no longer be taken for granted. By the
time I had marshalled the arguments for the views that I wanted
to put forward, it had run to over nine hundred pages—hardly
the provocative little pamphlet I had intended. Now, however,
that the nine hundred pages have been published (by Messrs
Routledge & Kegan Paul, in two volumes, under the title An
Examination of Plato's Doctrines1) it seemed that it might be
worth trying to put out something much slighter, containing
my conclusions only without the arguments on which, it is
hoped, they rest. The result is the present book. Lest the reader
should suppose that what is set out without argument must be
uncontroversial and ought to be believed, may I ask him once
and for all in the emphasis of bold type not to believe one
word of this book unless from his own studies in Plato he sees
reason to agree with me? I have not played for safety; there is
neither pleasure nor profit to be got from playing safe in Platonic
exegesis. What can safely be said about Plato has been said
already, often. What I offer is not an account of what Plato
said, but one interpretation of its significance.
A word about the figure of the midwife which I have incor
porated into my title. She is Platonic all right, but I think I
have developed her a little beyond what the texts allow. There
is no strict warrant for the close connection I have made
1 References to these volumes are given in the form EPD I. EPD 2.
vii