1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910154288703321

Autore

Bartlett Robert C.

Titolo

Sophistry and Political Philosophy : Protagoras' Challenge to Socrates / / Robert C. Bartlett

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Chicago : , : University of Chicago Press, , [2016]

©2016

ISBN

9780226394312

022639431X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (255 pages)

Disciplina

184

Soggetti

Sophists (Greek philosophy)

Political science - Philosophy

Philosophy, Ancient

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Previously issued in print: 2016.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction -- Part One: On the Protagoras -- Part Two: On the Theaetetus (142a1-183c7) -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

One of the central challenges to contemporary political philosophy is the apparent impossibility of arriving at any commonly agreed upon "truths." As Nietzsche observed in his Will to Power, the currents of relativism that have come to characterize modern thought can be said to have been born with ancient sophistry. If we seek to understand the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary radical relativism, we must therefore look first to the sophists of antiquity-the most famous and challenging of whom is Protagoras. With Sophistry and Political Philosophy, Robert C. Bartlett provides the first close reading of Plato's two-part presentation of Protagoras. In the "Protagoras," Plato sets out the sophist's moral and political teachings, while the "Theaetetus," offers a distillation of his theoretical and epistemological arguments. Taken together, the two dialogues demonstrate that Protagoras is attracted to one aspect of conventional morality-the nobility of courage, which in turn is connected to piety. This insight leads Bartlett to a consideration of the similarities and differences in the relationship



of political philosophy and sophistry to pious faith. Bartlett's superb exegesis offers a significant tool for understanding the history of philosophy, but, in tracing Socrates's response to Protagoras' teachings, Bartlett also builds toward a richer understanding of both ancient sophistry and what Socrates meant by "political philosophy."