Baima, Nicholas (Author)
This paper raises a new interpretive puzzle concerning Socrates' attitude towards truth in the Phaedo. At one point Socrates seems to advocate that he is justified in trying to convince himself that the soul is immortal and destined for a better place regardless of whether or not these claims are true, but that Cebes and Simmias should relentlessly pursue the truth about the very same matter. This raises the question: Why might Socrates believe that he will benefit from believing things about death irrespective of the truth, but that Cebes and Simmias will not? Why should they continue pursuing the truth? This paper argues that the relevant difference between Socrates and his friends is that Socrates is a fully accomplished philosopher, while his friends are not. This, I argue, makes Socrates an epistemic authority, and it is in virtue of being an epistemic authority that he is justified in not pursuing the truth about death. The upshot of this paper is that sometimes the demands of living well require that we abandon the pursuit of truth and knowledge.
...More
Article
Emily Austin;
(2019)
Piety and Annihilation in Plato’s Phaedo
(/isis/citation/CBB939004533/)
Article
Daniel Werner;
(2021)
The End of Plato’s Phaedo and the End(s) of Philosophy
(/isis/citation/CBB105791728/)
Book
Taylor, C. C. W.;
Hare, R. M.;
Barnes, Jonathan;
(1999)
Greek Philosophers: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
(/isis/citation/CBB000110646/)
Book
Sedley, David N.;
(2007)
Creationism and Its Critics in Antiquity
(/isis/citation/CBB000830460/)
Article
Neufeld, Paul;
(2003)
Socrates and παιδεια in the Crito
(/isis/citation/CBB000530279/)
Article
Buckels, Christopher;
(2013)
Compulsion to Rule in Plato's Republic
(/isis/citation/CBB001251910/)
Article
Ebrey, David;
(2014)
Making Room for Matter: Material Causes in the Phaedo and the Physics
(/isis/citation/CBB001214197/)
Article
Lännström, Anna;
(2012)
Trusting the Divine Voice: Socrates and His Daimonion
(/isis/citation/CBB001251240/)
Book
Benson, Hugh H.;
(2000)
Socratic wisdom: The model of knowledge in Plato's early dialogues
(/isis/citation/CBB000111280/)
Book
Sedley, David;
(2004)
The Midwife of Platonism: Text and Subtext in Plato's Theaetetus
(/isis/citation/CBB000741049/)
Article
Fossheim, Hallvard;
(2007)
The Limits of Rationality: A Critical Analysis of the Practices of Plato's Socrates
(/isis/citation/CBB001030479/)
Book
Scott, Gary Alan;
(2002)
Does Socrates Have a Method?: Rethinking the Elenchus in Plato's Dialogues and Beyond
(/isis/citation/CBB000201935/)
Article
Jon Bornholdt;
(2023)
Subjective Realism: A Possible-Worlds Interpretation of the Anti-Relativist Arguments in Plato’s Theaetetus
(/isis/citation/CBB382081175/)
Article
Moore, Christopher;
(2014)
How to “Know Thyself” in Plato's Phaedrus
(/isis/citation/CBB001420146/)
Article
Castagnoli, Luca;
(2001)
L'[Greek transliteration begin]elegxoς[Greek transliteration end] di Agatone: Una rilettura di Platone, Simposio, 199c3-201c9
(/isis/citation/CBB000640767/)
Article
McPherran, Mark L.;
(2004)
Socrates and Zalmoxis on Drugs, Charms, and Purification
(/isis/citation/CBB000502253/)
Article
Emily A. Austin;
(2016)
Praising the Unjust: The Moral Psychology of Patriotism in Plato’s Protagoras
(/isis/citation/CBB560401349/)
Book
Scott, Gary Alan;
(2000)
Plato's Socrates as Educator
(/isis/citation/CBB000101693/)
Book
Fine, Gail;
(1999)
Plato 1: Metaphysics and Epistemology
(/isis/citation/CBB000110613/)
Book
Brickhouse, Thomas C.;
Smith, Nicholas D.;
(2000)
The philosophy of Socrates
(/isis/citation/CBB000111281/)
Be the first to comment!