(Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Departamento de Humanidades, 2022-03-28) Gutiérrez, Raúl
The main reason why the developmental interpretation of the platonic Parmenides believes this dialogue constitutes a crisis in the development of Plato’s thought is the idea that the philosopher criticizes therein its Theory of Ideas of the middle period – Phaedo, Symposium, Republic. The theory supposedly criticized would conceive the Ideas as absolutely simple and isolated unities that, as such, would make impossible the fulfilment of their own function. This would only be possible by a new relational conception of the Ideas introduced in Parmenides and developed in Sophist. In contrast to some scholars who do not even mention certain passages in those dialogues (e.g. Cordero, 2014, 2016), I will show 1) that the notion of koinōnia is essential to the project of the Republic, since its central idea, the notion of justice, is unthinkable without the notion of koinōnia of the Ideas with each other; and 2) that Parmenides makes use of this notion of justice (150a) precisely in relation to the eidetical koinōnia (143a-b) and to the Idea conceived as a whole (ὅλον) “which has come to be one complete/perfect thing out of all its parts – ἐξ ἁπάντων ἓν τέλειον γεγονός” (157e1, ἓν ἐκ πολλῶν, 157c6, ἓν τέλειον μόρια ἔχον, 157e4).
(Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Departamento de Humanidades, 2022-03-28) Wiitala, Michael
At Sophist 260e3-261a2, the Eleatic Stranger claims that in order to demonstrate that falsehood is, he and Theaetetus must first track down what speech (logos), opinion (doxa), and appearance (phantasia) are, and then observe the communion (koinōnia) that speech, opinion, and appearance have with non-being. The Stranger, however, never explicitly discusses the communion of speech, opinion, and appearance with non-being. Yet presumably their communion is implicit in his account of falsehood, given his claim that observing that communion is needed in order to demonstrate that falsehood is (260e5-a2). This essay seeks to make the communion that speech has with non-being explicit. I argue that speech has communion with non-being in that the things and actions speech combines together by means of nouns and verbs need not be combined in a way that reveals (δηλοῖ) how the being a given speech is about combines ontologically with other beings.
(Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Departamento de Humanidades, 2022-03-28) Helmer, Etienne
“Commerce according to Plato: a factor of division or political community?”. It is often thought that the Greek philosophers despise both wholesale trade between cities as retail trade within cities. According to this lengthy interpretive tradition, Plato conforms on this matter to Homeric and Hesiodic poetry: commerce has a reputation as a trade associated with dishonesty and profit-seeking, for which it is believed to promote more division and conflict than harmony and social cohesion. However, a careful reading of some passages in Plato’s Dialogues, and particularly of the Republic, reveals another aspect of his approach to commerce and its influence on the cohesion of the polis. Trying to highlight an aspect that is usually ignored by most interpreters, this paper argues that Plato sees in commerce itself a factor allowing the formation and maintenance of the community of the polis. This approach is based on Plato’s conviction that the political character of the human being is forged through multiple exchanges, among which trade plays a fundamental role.
(Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Departamento de Humanidades, 2022-03-28) Delle Donne, Carlo
The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the multiple functions of the notion of koinōnia in Plato’s dialogues. Koinōnia and its absence characterize reality as a whole: both the intelligible and the sensible entities either “communicate” or do not “communicate” (koinōnein); therefore, reconstructing the net of koinōnia-relationships amounts to putting dialectics into practice. So far so good. But an analysis which aims at clarifying the role played by koinōnia cannot but take also syngeneia into account. The reason for this fact lies in the essential link which binds koinōnia and syngeneia, with the latter being the condition of possibility of the former.
(Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Departamento de Humanidades, 2022-03-28) Cornelli, Gabriele; Maia, Rosane
The Women’s Law discussed in book V of the Republic, known as the first wave, is a notorious example of Socrates’ reformist intention to achieve justice in the polis. The legislation for women, in general, has historically been relegated by the Republic interpreters. This paper aims to analyze this passage, from 449a to 457c, through the arguments provided by Socrates seen as crucial to conceive equality between the sexes (under the ontological foundation of the same human nature) as well as to favor institutional change according to nature, kata physin, thus opening the possibility for women to govern the polis. Before leaving for the external confrontation, Socrates considers it urgent that his interlocutors, Adeimantus, Glaucon, and Polemarchus, agree with each other. Thus, he urges them to start the argument by questioning the human nature of women and their capacity for the same functions (erga) performed by men in the city. The examination of the intelligible enabled the logos on women’s intellectual capacity to support adequate legislation. Such nomos put into practice proves to be the best for the city and its guardians. To that extent, Socrates can conclude the investigation with a consensus on what to do and willingness to confront opposing opinions in the city urgently.
(Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Departamento de Humanidades, 2022-03-28) Konrádová, Veronika
This paper addresses the concept of koinōnia discussed in Plato’s Republic. It focuses on the specific ways the term enters the discussion about social organisation within the guardian class, such as the proposal for abolishing a nuclear family in favour of the community of wives and children. The paper aims to reveal the psychological basis connecting Plato’s socio-economic proposals to his principal ethical and political concerns. It examines (i) the argument supporting the proposals of the social organisation of the guardians, (ii) the psychological background of these proposals, (iii) the socio-cultural context against which these proposals are defined and (iv) the position of these considerations in the broader scheme of Plato’s thought.
