Proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy, Volume XXIII, 2007

243 Pages·2008·1.42 MB·English

by  John J. Cleary

Proceedings of
the Boston Area Colloquium
in Ancient Philosophy
BACAP-23-cleary-gurtler.indd i 8-4-2008 15:45:33
BACAP-23-cleary-gurtler.indd ii 8-4-2008 15:45:33
Proceedings of
the Boston Area Colloquium
in Ancient Philosophy
Volume XXIII, 2007
Edited by
John J. Cleary
s.j.
Gary M. Gurtler,
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2008
BACAP-23-cleary-gurtler.indd iii 8-4-2008 15:45:33
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
ISSN 1059-986X
ISBN 978 90 04 16685 1 (Pbk)
ISBN 978 90 04 16686 8 (Bound)
© Copyright 2008 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing,
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BACAP-23-cleary-gurtler.indd iv 8-4-2008 15:45:33
CONTENTS

Preface ...................................................................................... ix

COLLOQUIUM 1
Misology and Truth
RAPHAEL WOOLF .................................................................................... 1
Commentary on Woolf
JAMES L. WOOD ...................................................................................... 17
Woolf/Wood Bibliography ..................................................................... 24

COLLOQUIUM 2
Method and Evidence: On Epicurean Preconception
PIERRE-MARIE MOREL ............................................................................ 25
Commentary on Morel
DAVID KONSTAN ..................................................................................... 49
Morel/Konstan Bibliography .................................................................. 55

COLLOQUIUM 3
Rhetoric, Refutation, and What Socrates Believes in Plato’s Gorgias
HENRY TELOH ......................................................................................... 57
Commentary on Teloh
DAVID ROOCHNIK ................................................................................... 78
Teloh/Roochnik Bibliography ................................................................ 82

COLLOQUIUM 4
Plato’s Question of Truth (Versus Heidegger’s Doctrines)
FRANCISCO J. GONZALEZ ........................................................................ 83
vi CONTENTS
Commentary on Gonzalez
GARY M. GURTLER, S. J. ......................................................................... 112
Gonzalez/Gurtler Bibliography .............................................................. 118

COLLOQUIUM 5
Plato’s Anti-Hedonism
MATTHEW EVANS ................................................................................... 121
Commentary on Evans
VERITY HARTE ........................................................................................ 146
Evans/Harte Bibliography ...................................................................... 154

COLLOQUIUM 6
The Good is Benefit: On the Stoic Definition of the Good
KATJA MARIA VOGT ............................................................................... 155
Commentary on Vogt
STEPHEN MENN ....................................................................................... 175
Vogt Bibliography ................................................................................... 185

COLLOQUIUM 7
On Names and Concepts: Mythical and Logical Thinking in Plato’s
Symposium
GÜNTER FIGAL ........................................................................................ 187
Commentary on Figal
DENNIS J. SCHMIDT ................................................................................. 199
Figal/Schmidt Bibliography ................................................................... 204

COLLOQUIUM 8
Yet Another Way to Read the Republic?
ALASDAIR MACINTYRE ........................................................................... 205
MacIntyre Bibliography .......................................................................... 224
CONTENTS vii
About our Contributors ........................................................................... 225
Index of Names ......................................................................................... 229

PREFACE
JOHN J. CLEARY
All those readers of previous volumes, who have been either bemused or
annoyed by my numerological reflections, may feel relieved on realizing
that the number 23 is a prime number, which will prevent me from
connecting it with the number 7 which has been one of the guiding threads
for my prefatory remarks about the significance of volume numbers. So I
must lapse into a temporary silence on this topic.
In the present volume we are following the common practice of other
academic journals by including at the head of each paper an abstract
written by the author. These abstracts now serve to introduce the reader to
the topics discussed in these colloquia, so that we can dispense with the
editor’s Introduction which served that function in previous volumes.
In contrast to Volume 22, which was predominantly about Aristotle, this
volume is completely dominated by studies of Plato’s dialogues. Even the
colloquium which discusses Heidegger’s appropriation of Greek
philosophy, is concerned exclusively with his interpretation of Plato’s
concept of truth. The other colloquia focus on topics like Plato’s
discussion of the dangers of misology in the Phaedo, the Socratic use of
rhetoric in the Gorgias, Plato’s anti-hedonism in the Philebus, and the
relationship between mythical and logical thinking in the Symposium. The
only two colloquia that buck this general trend are devoted, respectively,
to the Epicurean notion of preconception, and to the Stoic conception of
the good.
These papers were all presented during the academic year 2006-7 with
the exception of the final colloquium on Plato’s Republic, that was
presented by Alisdair MacIntyre in a previous year but was held back at
the request of the author. This is one reason why it appears here without a
commentary, unlike the other papers in the volume.
These colloquia represent a significant part of the activities of BACAP
at the following participating institutions: Boston College, Boston
University, Brown University, Clark University, College of the Holy
Cross, Dartmouth College. Reflecting the spirit of a colloquium, we have
tried to retain something of the dialogical character of these meetings by
publishing both the main presentation and the commentary. However, it
should be noted that the original presentations have been revised by their
authors in the light of these discussions, and particularly in response to
anonymous reports from external readers. Therefore I would like to
express gratitude to the following referees for their advice and expertise: