Plato’s Pragmatism: Rethinking the Relationship between Ethics and Epistemology

Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
Translations and Abbreviations
Prelude
	1 The Alethic Interpretation
	2 Summary
	3 Methodology
	Notes
Part I: Virtue, Veracity, and Noble Lies
	Chapter 1: Beneficial Falsehoods in the Republic : The Priority of the Practical
		1.1 Genuine Falsehoods and Falsehood in Words
		1.2 Reality and Matters of Fact
		1.3 The Most Authoritative Things
			1.3.1 Ethical Matters
			1.3.2 The Forms
		1.4 Ethical Commitments
		1.5 The Priority of the Practical
		Notes
	Chapter 2: Ethical Commitments and Persuasion in the Laws
		2.1 Preludes, Persuasion, and Medicine
		2.2 Scholarly Impasse
		2.3 On the Weakness of Moral Motivation
		2.4 Religion for the Unsophisticated
		2.5 Ignorance, Vice, and Motivation
		2.6 Summary
		Notes
	Chapter 3: The Ring of Gyges and the Nature of Ethical Commitments
		3.1 The Compatibility Thesis
		3.2 Normative Objects and the Limiting Requirement
		3.3 Intrinsic Valuing within a Eudaimonist Framework
		3.4 The Importance of Ethical Commitments
		3.5 Justified Lying and Ethical Commitments
		3.6 Summary
		Notes
Part II: Courage, Caution, and Faith
	Chapter 4: Charming Away the Fear of Death in the Phaedo
		4.1 The Phaedo Anomaly
		4.2 “The Best of Men”
		4.3 The Phaedo Anomaly Redux
		4.4 The Limits of Truth
		4.5 Summary
		Notes
	Chapter 5: Better, Braver, and Less Idle: Faith and Inquiry in the Meno
		5.1 Obstacles to Inquiry
		5.2 Virtue as a Reason for Belief
		5.3 Intellectual Courage
			5.3.1 Courage
			5.3.2 Courage vs. Recklessness
			5.3.3 Against Abstinence
		5.4 Summary
		Notes
	Chapter 6: Absurdity and Speciousness in the Protagoras and the Euthydemus
		6.1 The Puzzle
			6.1.1 Recommendation to the Young
			6.1.2 Inquiry
		6.2 Truthfulness and Absurdity
			6.2.1 Intention
			6.2.2 Content
			6.2.3 Method
			6.2.4 Interlocutor’s Psychological State
			6.2.5 Position of Power
		6.3 The Norms of Inquiry
			6.3.1 The Dichotomy of Circumspection Principle
			6.3.2 Benefits of Absurdity
			6.3.3 Abusing Arguments and Bad Reputations
		6.4 Summary
		Notes
Part III: Commoners, Rulers, and Gods
	Chapter 7: Philosophers, Soul Parts, and False Beliefs in the Republic
		7.1 Belief and Control
			7.1.1 Belief
			7.1.2 Early Childhood Education
		7.2 Dyed Wool and the Bent Stick
			7.2.1 Preliminary Argument
			7.2.2 The Limits of the Non-Reasoning Part of the Soul
		7.3 Objections
			7.3.1 Too Strong
			7.3.2 Too Weak
			7.3.3 Inconsistent
		7.4 Summary
		Notes
	Chapter 8: Truthful Gods and the Limits of Divine Assimilation
		8.1 The Platonic Divine Deception Puzzle
		8.2 Candidate Solutions
		8.3 Soul-Building
		8.4 Friendship and Self-Sufficiency
		8.5 Friends to the Gods
		8.6 The Merits of Plato’s Views
		8.7 Summary
		Notes
	Coda
		1 Synthesizing Plato’s Pragmatism
		2 Counterevidence
			2.1 Truth and Rationality
			2.2 Metaphysics
		3. The Philosophical Merits of Plato’s Pragmatism
			3.1 Authoritative Deception
			3.2 Epistemic Risk
			3.3 The Human Condition
		Notes
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
	Historical Sources
	Contemporary Sources
Index