Rivals or Relatives? Tracking Truth and Ways of Knowing among Plato and the Sophists in Classical Greece

FAIN: FT-270635-20

Evan Glenn Rodriguez
Idaho State University (Pocatello, ID 83201-5377)

Research leading to a book on the relationship between Plato his philosophical rivals, the Sophists (5th to 4th century BC).

My book project challenges the dominant narratives about Plato's rivalry with his sophistic contemporaries in classical Greece (5th–4th century BCE) and highlights the broader conversation on both sides that fostered new modes of inquiry in the Western tradition. It tells a more realistic story of philosophy proceeding as a structured conversation, one that is much more dialogical and inclusive than those dominant narratives suggest.

Associated Products

Structure and Aim in Socratic and Sophistic Method (Article)
Title: Structure and Aim in Socratic and Sophistic Method
Author: Evan Rodriguez
Abstract: I begin this paper with a puzzle: why is Plato’s Parmenides replete with references to Gorgias? While the Eleatic heritage and themes in the dialogue are clear, it is less clear what the point would be of alluding to a well-known sophist. I suggest that the answer has to do with the similarities in the underlying methods employed by both Plato and Gorgias. These similarities, as well as Plato’s recognition of them, suggest that he owes a more significant philosophical and methodological debt to sophists like Gorgias than is often assumed. Further evidence from Plato and Xenophon suggest that Socrates used this very same method, which I call ‘exploring both sides’. I distinguish this Socratic method and its sophistic counterpart in terms of structure, internal aim, and external aim. Doing so allows for a more nuanced understanding of their similarities and differences. It also challenges the outsized role that popular caricatures of philo- sophical and sophistic method have had on our understanding of their relationship.
Year: 2020
Primary URL: https://brill.com/view/journals/hpla/23/1/article-p143_8.xml?language=en
Access Model: Subscription only
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: History of Philosophy and Logical Analysis
Publisher: Brill

A Long Lost Relative in the Parmenides? Plato’s Family of Hypothetical Methods (Article)
Title: A Long Lost Relative in the Parmenides? Plato’s Family of Hypothetical Methods
Author: Evan Rodriguez
Abstract: The Parmenides has been unduly overlooked in discussions of hypothesis in Plato. It contains a unique method for testing first principles, a method I call ‘exploring both sides’. The dialogue recommends exploring the consequences of both a hypothesis and its contradictory and thematizes this structure throughout. I challenge the view of Plato’s so-called ‘method of hypothesis’ as an isolated stage in Plato’s development; instead, the evidence of the Parmenides suggests a family of distinct hypothetical methods, each with its own peculiar aim. Exploring both sides is unique both in its structure and in its aim of testing candidate principles.
Year: 2020
Primary URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/apeiron-2019-0026
Primary URL Description: Article DOI
Access Model: Subscription only
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Apeiron
Publisher: De Gruyter

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