1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910817447203321

Autore

Morgan Kathryn A

Titolo

Myth and philosophy from the pre-Socratics to Plato / / Kathryn A. Morgan

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge ; ; New York, : Cambridge University Press, 2000

ISBN

1-107-11486-1

1-280-41879-6

0-511-17350-4

0-511-01767-7

0-511-15261-2

0-511-32501-0

0-511-48254-X

0-511-05044-5

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (viii, 313 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Disciplina

180

Soggetti

Philosophy, Ancient

Myth

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 292-301) and indexes.

Nota di contenuto

; 1. Introduction -- ; 2. Theoretical issues. Textualisation and the rise of philosophy. From mythos to logos? Some theoretical implications -- ; 3. Some Presocratics. The exclusionary gesture: Xenophanes, Herakleitos, and Empedokles. Allegory and rationalisation. Parmenides -- ; 4. The sophists and their contemporaries. Philology and exegesis. Mythological displays -- ; 5. The Protagoras: Platonic myth in the making. Protagoras' 'Great Speech'. Why mythos? Structure and assumptions. Sokrates and Prometheus. Conclusion: Sophistic versus Platonic myth -- ; 6. The range of Platonic myth. Problems of vocabulary, problems of selection. Categories of Platonic myth. Exhortation, play, and childishness. Myth and the limits of language.

Sommario/riassunto

This book explores the dynamic relationship between myth and philosophy in the Presocratics, the Sophists, and in Plato - a relationship which is found to be more extensive and programmatic



than has been recognized. The story of philosophy's relationship with myth is that of its relationship with literary and social convention. The intellectuals studied here wanted to reformulate popular ideas about cultural authority and they achieved this goal by manipulating myth. Their self-conscious use of myth creates a self-reflective philosophic sensibility and draws attention to problems inherent in different modes of linguistic representation. Much of the reception of Greek philosophy stigmatizes myth as 'irrational'. Such an approach ignores the important role played by myth in Greek philosophy, not just as a foil but as a mode of philosophical thought. The case studies in this book reveal myth deployed as a result of methodological reflection, and as a manifestation of philosophical concerns.