Socratic Rationalism and Political Philosophy: An Interpretation of Plato's Phaedo

By Paul Stern

Book Overview

In this new interpretation of Plato's Phaedo, Paul Stern considers the dialogue as an invaluable source for understanding the distinctive character of Socratic rationalism. First, he demonstrates, contrary to the charge of such thinkers as Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Rorty, that Socrates' rationalism does not rest on the dogmatic presumption of the rationality of nature. Second, he shows that the distinctively Socratic mode of philosophizing is formulated precisely with a view to vindicating the philosophic life in the face of these uncertainties. And finally, he argues that this vindication results in a mode of inquiry that finds its ground in a clear understanding of the problematical but enduring human situation. Stern concludes that Socratic rationalism, aware as it is of the limits of reason, still provides a nondogmatic and nonarbitrary basis for human understanding.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0791415732
• ISBN13: 9780791415733
• Release Date: August 1993
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.12 lbs.
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher