Back to Search
Start Over
Plato on the role of contradiction in education.
- Source :
-
British Journal for the History of Philosophy . Jan2017, Vol. 25 Issue 1, p3-21. 20p. - Publication Year :
- 2017
-
Abstract
- In this paper, I will look at two passages from the discussion of education in Book VII of Plato's Republic: 523b-524d and 537e-539d. These passages, when taken together, present a puzzle for the coherency of the educational programme Socrates describes. Both discuss contradiction. One says that contradiction is educationally edifying, the other, that it is corrupting. This sounds like a contradiction about contradiction. As far as I know, no one has noticed this puzzle before. By the end of this paper, I hope to have not only provided a solution to the apparent contradiction about contradiction that is compelling, but also one that shows that this puzzle, which might at first have seemed restricted to a textual issue about the educational programme in the Republic, is in fact one that has far reaching implications for a range of Plato's theories across several dialogues. Along with education, corruption, and contradiction, I will discuss Plato's theory of psychology, and his theory of forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *CORRUPTION
*HISTORY of education
*HISTORY of philosophy
*DIALECTIC
*HISTORY
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 09608788
- Volume :
- 25
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- British Journal for the History of Philosophy
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 121890796
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2016.1227957