Listening to Reason in Plato and Aristotle

Focusing on Plato's iRepublic/i and Aristotle's iNicomachean Ethics, /i this book compares their views on the persuasiveness of moral argument: how far did they think it could reach beyond a narrow circle of believers and influence people more generally? Answering this question requires a wide-ranging approach, which examines their views on such topics as rationality, moral psychology, rhetoric, education, and gender. The first part of the book shows that for Plato certain kinds of argument are beyond the reach of most people, specifically arguments that make appeal to transcendent Forms. But he still thought that there is another level of argument, restricted to human psychology and politics, which could have a much wider appeal, especially if supplemented by the appropriate rhetoric. The second half of the book turns to the iNicomachean Ethics/i to determine Aristotle's views about the reach of moral argument, as well as its purposes. He is certainly very restrictive when it comes to the kinds of argument pursued in the work itself, proposing to talk only to those who are mature in years and well brought up. Like Plato, however, he also allows for the possibility of another type of discourse, which is more rhetorical in nature and could benefit those who are less mature. Though mainly focused on the iRepublic and Nicomachean Ethics, /i this book also examines relevant passages from Plato's iLaws/i and Aristotle's iPolitics/

Author: Dominic Scott
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 12/02/2020
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.30w x 1.00d
ISBN13: 9780198863328
ISBN10: 0198863322
BISAC Categories:
- Philosophy | History & Surveys | Ancient & Classical
- Philosophy | Ethics & Moral Philosophy
- Literary Criticism | Ancient and Classical

About the Author

Dominic Scott, Professor of Philosophy, University of Oxford

Dominic Scott is a professor of philosophy at Oxford University, having worked as a lecturer at Cambridge University and then a professor at the University of Virginia. He has also held visiting positions at Princeton, Harvard, and the Center for Hellenic Studies Washington DC. In 2001-3 he was a British Academy Research Reader and in 2016 a Humboldt Fellow based in Munich. He has written three monographs on ancient philosophy and edited two further books, as well as co-authoring The Humanities World Report 2015.