Seminar in Philosophy:  Plato: Gorgias and Republic

Spring 2010

Readings

Hephaistos and Thetis

Another fine image from the Perseus collection! Seated at left is the artisan god Hephaestus. He is showing the goddess Thetis the marvelous armor (shield, helmet, and leg armor) that he has made for her son Achilles.  The shield in particular is literally marvelous; according to Homer (Iliad 478-608) the images with which Hephaestus has adorned the shield seem to move and make sounds. (This may not seem like a big deal now, but remember that Hephaestus doesn't have access to electricity - Zeus controls that.) Why, if the gods have arts, do they not have philosophy? And why do we have arts and philosophy?
This page lists each week's assigned reading, plus supplementary recommended and suggested reading. Recommended readings are those I think will be very helpful; suggested and optional readings are those I think will be helpful or interesting, but not of as high a priority as the recommended ones. Toward the bottom of the page you will find some suggested readings that cover broader topics than we can cover in a single week.

Check through the whole page periodically. As I come across additional materials that might be of interest concerning each topic I will add them.

Some of the readings listed here are available online through databases to which the GMU Library subscribes. To access articles on the library's databases: Go to the GMU library page. Click "Research Databases" and then click on the first letter of your selected database ('J' for JSTOR, 'P' for Project Muse, etc.). If you are off-campus or if you are not using the GMU dialup service, you will have to enter your email address and password to access these journal databases.

For JSTOR: From the page of 'J' listings, click on JSTOR. Then click on "Search," and from the "Search" page, click on "Advanced Search." Enter the author's name and the journal title in the appropriate search boxes. For prolific authors, it may be helpful to enter the date or a bit of the article title as well. Alternate method: From the main JSTOR page, click on "Browse" and scroll down until you find the title of the journal you're looking for, then click on that title. This will bring you to a page listing all issues of the journal.

Unless otherwise noted, all articles are available via JSTOR.


Reading due January 27

Gorgias 447a - 488b

David Roochnik, "Is Rhetoric an Art?" Rhetorica 12.2 (1994): 127-154. Available online via JSTOR.
Aristotle, Metaphysics Book A (Book One), Chapters 1 and 2
On-line notes on Metaphysics Book A, Chapters 1 and 2 
Michael Gagarin, "Did the Sophists Aim to Persuade?" Rhetorica 19.3 (2001): 275-291. Available online via JSTOR.


due February 3

  • Required
Gorgias 488b - 509c
  • Recommended
1. Isocrates, "Against the Sophists." Available via Perseus. Isocrates was roughly contemporary with Plato. (Please note that the footnotes in the Perseus edition were written by the text editor, Norlin, and not by Isocrates.)

2. Kenneth C. Blanchard, Jr., "The Enemies of Socrates: Piety and Sophism in the Socratic Drama." The Review of Politics 62.3  (2000):  421-449. Available online via JSTOR. 
  • Optional
1. James L. Wiser, "Philosophy as Political Action: A Reading of the Gorgias." American Journal of Political Science 19.2  1975): 313-322.

due February 17

  • Required
Gorgias 509c - 527e
  • Optional
1. Dan Avnon, "'Know Thyself': Socratic Companionship and Political Community." Political Theory 23.2 (1995): 304-329.

2. Alessandra Fussi, "The Myth of the Last Judgment in the Gorgias." Review of Metaphysics 54.3 (2001): 529-552.


due February 24

  • Required
Republic Book I
  • Recommended

  • Optional


due March 3

  • Required
Republic Book II
  • Recommended
1. David Sachs, "A Fallacy in Plato's Republic." Philosophical Review 72.2 (1963): 141-158.

2. Raphael Demos, "A Fallacy in Plato's Republic?" Philosophical Review 73.3 (1964): 395-398.

  • Optional
C.D.C. Reeve, "Glaucon's Challenge and Thrasymacheanism." Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 34 (2008): 69-104. (Available via Google Books.)


due March 17

  • Required
Republic Book III
  • Recommended

due March 24

  • Required
Republic  Book IV
  • Recommended
J.M. Cooper, "The Psychology of Justice in Plato." American Philosophical Quarterly 14 (1977): 151-157.


due March 31

  • Required
Republic  Book V
  • Recommended
Notes on Plato's Republic Books V - VII

due April 7

  • Required
1. Republic Book VI

2. John D. Harman, "The Unhappy Philosopher: Plato's  Republic as Tragedy." Polity 18.4 (1986): 577-594.
  • Recommended
1. John Ferguson, "Sun, Line, and Cave Again." Classical Quarterly new series 13.2 (1963): 188-193.

due April 14

  • Required
Republic Book VII
  • Recommended
David Roochnik, "Counting on Number: Plato on the Goodness of Arithmos." American Journal of Philology 115.4 (1994): 543-563.


due April 21

  • Required
Republic Book VIII
  • Recommended


due April 28

  • Required
Republic Book IX
  • Recommended

due May 5

  • Required
Republic Book X
  • Recommended

General background, and works of broader scope


1. Jacob Howland, "Re-Reading Plato: The Problem of Platonic Chronology." Phoenix. 45.3  (1991): 189-214.

2. Carol Poster, " The Idea(s) of Order of Platonic Dialogues and Their Hermeneutic Consequences." Phoenix 52.3/4  (1998): 282-298.

3. Scott Consigny, Gorgias: Sophist and Artist. Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, 2001. On reserve at the JC Library.

4. Francisco Gonzalez, ed., The Third Way: New Directions in Platonic Studies. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1995. On reserve at the JC Library. (The Introduction is especially helpful.)

5. James King, "Elenchus, Self-Blame, and the Socratic Paradox." Review of Metaphysics 41.1 (1987): 105-126.

6. Debra Nails, The People of Plato. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2002. On reserve at the JC Library.

7. Gerald Press, ed., Plato's Dialogues: New Studies and Interpretations. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1993. On reserve at the JC Library.

8. Gerald Press, ed., Who Speaks for Plato? Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2000. On reserve at the JC Library.