Plato on the Metaphysical Foundation of Meaning and Truth

286 Pages·2016·1.639 MB·English

by  Blake E. Hestir

Plato on the Metaphysical Foundation
of Meaning and Truth
Whatisthenatureoftruth?BlakeE.HestiroffersaninvestigationintoPlato’s
latermetaphysicalviewsandexaminesPlato’sconceptionofbeing,meaning,
and truth in the Sophist, as well as passages from several other dialogues
including the Cratylus, Parmenides, and Theaetetus where Plato begins to
focus more directly on semantics rather than only on metaphysical and
epistemological puzzles. Hestir’s interpretation challenges both classical
and contemporary interpretations of Plato’s metaphysics and conception of
truth and highlights new parallels between Plato and Aristotle, as well as
clarifyingissuessurroundingPlato’sapproachtosemanticsandthought.This
bookwillbeofinteresttoscholarsandstudentsofancientGreekphilosophy,
metaphysics, contemporary truth theory, linguistics, and philosophy of
language.
blakee.hestirisAssociateProfessorintheDepartmentofPhilosophyat
TexasChristianUniversity.Hehaspublishedarticlesinanumberofjournals
includingtheJournaloftheHistoryofPhilosophy,Apeiron,andHistoryof
PhilosophyQuarterly.

Plato on the Metaphysical
Foundation of Meaning and Truth
Blake E. Hestir
TexasChristianUniversity
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Hestir,BlakeE.,author.
Platoonthemetaphysicalfoundationofmeaningandtruth/
BlakeE.Hestir.
NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2016.|Includes
bibliographicalreferencesandindex.
LCCN2015042975|ISBN9781107132320
LCSH:Plato.|Truth.|Meaning(Philosophy)
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Contents
Acknowledgments pageix
Noteonthetext xii
Listofabbreviations xiii
1 Introduction 1
1 TruthintheSophist 1
2 Anintroductiontotruth 3
3 Themetaphysicalfoundationofmeaningandtruth 7
4 ParallelsbetweenPlatoandAristotle 13
PartI Stability 17
2 StrongPlatonism,restrictedPlatonism,andstability 19
1 StrongPlatonismvsrestrictedPlatonism 19
2 Aristotle’sPlatoandstability 34
3 ConcernsaboutstabilityintheCratylus 39
1 Naming 40
2 ThecriticismsofCratylus’sHeracliteanism 43
3 Positiveresults? 52
4 FluxandlanguageintheTheaetetus 57
1 TheaccountofHeracliteanism 59
2 Theperilsofanunstablefoundation 66
3 Apuzzleintheconclusion:acollapseofdialecticormeaning? 76
4 Solutiontothepuzzle:limitedvsunlimitedreference 78
5 Aneyeforbeingone...withqualifications 82
5 Thefoundationexposed:Parmenides135bc 84
1 Thetext 85
2 Asketchofthetheoryat134e9–135b2 85
3 Parmenides’response:135b5–c3 89
4 Formsandthepossibilityoflanguageandthought 91
5 Thetranslationof‘dialegesthai’ 95
6 Conclusion:theformalattributesandthekinds 99
vii
viii Contents
PartII Combination 105
6 Beingascapacityandcombination:achallengefortheFriends
oftheForms 107
1 TheargumentagainsttheFriends 109
2 Beingaffectedisbeingmoved? 116
3 Theprayerofchildren 121
4 Thesignificationof‘is’and‘being’.PartI:anaporiaaboutbeing 126
5 Thesignificationof‘is’and‘being’.PartII 134
7 Theproblemofpredication:thechallengeoftheLate-Learners 144
1 Theproblemofpredication:“bringingthecontrariesforward” 146
2 Theproblemofunity:“vowel”formsandtheinternalityofbeing 148
3 Sayinggoodbyetothethirdman 153
4 Averitableswarmofrelativities:theexternalityofbeingas“beingrelativeto” 158
5 Beingandpros-predication 170
6 Wherebeinghidesinpredication:somepotentiallypuzzlingcasesresolved 173
7 Themetaphysicalfoundationoftruth 174
PartIII Truth 181
8 Predication,meaning,andtruthintheSophist 183
1 Thesemanticsofstatement:naming,signifying,andindicating 186
2 Whatdoesatruestatementdo? 191
3 Taontahôsestinperisou 199
9 Plato’sconceptionoftruth 209
1 Conceptandconception 209
2 Whynotcorrespondence? 212
3 Aristotleonmeaningandtruth 219
4 Aristotle’sconceptionoftruth 231
10 Truthasbeingandasubstantiveproperty 234
1 Truthasbeing 235
2 Truthasasubstantiveproperty 238
Bibliography 243
Indexlocorum 259
Generalindex 265