Plato's Anti-hedonism and the Protagoras

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Ancient, History
Cover of the book Plato's Anti-hedonism and the Protagoras by J. Clerk Shaw, Cambridge University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: J. Clerk Shaw ISBN: 9781316234532
Publisher: Cambridge University Press Publication: April 2, 2015
Imprint: Cambridge University Press Language: English
Author: J. Clerk Shaw
ISBN: 9781316234532
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication: April 2, 2015
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Language: English

Plato often rejects hedonism, but in the Protagoras, Plato's Socrates seems to endorse hedonism. In this book, J. Clerk Shaw removes this apparent tension by arguing that the Protagoras as a whole actually reflects Plato's anti-hedonism. He shows that Plato places hedonism at the core of a complex of popular mistakes about value and especially about virtue: that injustice can be prudent, that wisdom is weak, that courage is the capacity to persevere through fear, and that virtue cannot be taught. The masses reproduce this system of values through shame and fear of punishment. The Protagoras and other dialogues depict sophists and orators who have internalized popular morality through shame, but who are also ashamed to state their views openly. Shaw's reading not only reconciles the Protagoras with Plato's other dialogues, but harmonizes it with them and even illuminates Plato's wider anti-hedonism.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Plato often rejects hedonism, but in the Protagoras, Plato's Socrates seems to endorse hedonism. In this book, J. Clerk Shaw removes this apparent tension by arguing that the Protagoras as a whole actually reflects Plato's anti-hedonism. He shows that Plato places hedonism at the core of a complex of popular mistakes about value and especially about virtue: that injustice can be prudent, that wisdom is weak, that courage is the capacity to persevere through fear, and that virtue cannot be taught. The masses reproduce this system of values through shame and fear of punishment. The Protagoras and other dialogues depict sophists and orators who have internalized popular morality through shame, but who are also ashamed to state their views openly. Shaw's reading not only reconciles the Protagoras with Plato's other dialogues, but harmonizes it with them and even illuminates Plato's wider anti-hedonism.

More books from Cambridge University Press

Cover of the book The Future of Representative Democracy by J. Clerk Shaw
Cover of the book Experimental Design for Laboratory Biologists by J. Clerk Shaw
Cover of the book Dialogue, Politics and Gender by J. Clerk Shaw
Cover of the book Dementia by J. Clerk Shaw
Cover of the book Preventing and Treating Missing Data in Longitudinal Clinical Trials by J. Clerk Shaw
Cover of the book The Economics of Exchange Rates by J. Clerk Shaw
Cover of the book The Cambridge Companion to the Clarinet by J. Clerk Shaw
Cover of the book Mafia Organizations by J. Clerk Shaw
Cover of the book Electromechanics and MEMS by J. Clerk Shaw
Cover of the book The Cambridge Companion to Eighteenth-Century Poetry by J. Clerk Shaw
Cover of the book German Histories in the Age of Reformations, 1400–1650 by J. Clerk Shaw
Cover of the book Life beyond Earth by J. Clerk Shaw
Cover of the book The Theory of Economic Policy in a Strategic Context by J. Clerk Shaw
Cover of the book Collective Violence and the Agrarian Origins of South African Apartheid, 1900–1948 by J. Clerk Shaw
Cover of the book Reasoned Administration and Democratic Legitimacy by J. Clerk Shaw
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy