Startseite Senses of Being in Plato’s Timaeus
Artikel
Lizenziert
Nicht lizenziert Erfordert eine Authentifizierung

Senses of Being in Plato’s Timaeus

  • Francesco Fronterotta ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 13. Dezember 2023
Veröffentlichen auch Sie bei De Gruyter Brill
Rhizomata
Aus der Zeitschrift Rhizomata Band 11 Heft 2

Abstract

In this paper I discuss the problem of the meanings of the verb ‘be’ in Plato’s Timaeus. My claim is that, at least in that dialogue, existence emerges as the main and autonomous meaning of the verb ‘be’, contrary to the widespread view first defended in a series of studies by Charles Kahn according to which, in the Greek language and in Plato’s philosophy, the verb ‘be’ basically has a copulative-predicative and, more specifically, a truth-related meaning. I consider and examine some passages from the Timaeus (27d5–28a4, 29b3–c3, 37e3–38b3, 51b7–52a7) where the concept of existence seems to be expressed in a clear and definite way by the use of the verb ‘be.’ I conclude by making some remarks on how we should understand the notion of existence, not least with reference to the problem of truth, within Plato’s philosophy and the Timaeus in particular.

Bibliography

Annas, Julia (1981): An introduction to Plato’s Republic. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Suche in Google Scholar

Aubenque, Pierre, ed. (1987): Études sur Parménide, Tome I: Le Poème de Parménide, texte, traduction, essai critique par D. O’Brien, en collaboration avec J. Frère pour la traduction française. Paris: Vrin.Suche in Google Scholar

Betegh, Gábor (2010): “What Makes a Myth Eikôs?”. In: Richard D. Mohr and Barbara Sattler (eds.): One Book, the Whole Universe: Plato’s Timaeus Today. Las Vegas: Parmenides Publishing, pp. 213–224.Suche in Google Scholar

Broadie, Sarah (2012): Nature and Divinity in Plato’s Timaeus. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.10.1017/CBO9780511997815Suche in Google Scholar

Brown, Lesley (1986): “Being in the Sophist. A Syntactical Enquiry”, Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 4, pp. 49–70.Suche in Google Scholar

Brown, Lesley (1994): “The verb ‘To Be’ in Greek Philosophy: Some Remarks”. In: Steven Everson (ed.): Companions to Ancient Thought, III: Language. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, pp. 212–236.Suche in Google Scholar

Burnyeat, Myles F. (2005): “EIKÔS MYTHOS”, Rhizai 2, pp. 143–165.Suche in Google Scholar

Cherniss, Harold F. (1957): “The Relation of the Timaeus to Plato’s Later Dialogues, American Journal of Philology 78, pp. 225–266 (reprinted in: Reginald E. Allen, ed. 1965: Studies in Plato’s Metaphysics. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 339–378; and in: Harold F. Cherniss 1977: Selected Papers, ed. by Leonardo Tarán. Leiden: Brill, pp. 298–339).Suche in Google Scholar

Donini, Pierluigi (1988): “Il Timeo: unità del dialogo, verosimiglianza del discorso”, Elenchos 9, pp. 5–52.Suche in Google Scholar

Ferrari, Franco and Petrucci, Federico M., eds. (2022): Platone, Timeo. Milan: Mondadori.Suche in Google Scholar

Fine, Gail J. (1978): “Knowledge and Belief in Republic V”, Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 60, pp. 121–139.10.1515/agph.1978.60.2.121Suche in Google Scholar

Fine, Gail J. (1990): “Knowledge and Belief in Republic V–VII”. In: Steven Everson (ed.): Companions to Ancient Thought, I: Epistemology. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, pp. 85–115.Suche in Google Scholar

Fine, Gail J. (2004): “Knowledge and True Belief in the Meno”, Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 27, pp. 41–81.10.1093/oso/9780199277124.003.0003Suche in Google Scholar

Frede, Michael (1967): Prädikation und Existenzaussage. Platons Gebrauch von ist und ist nicht im Sophistes. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.Suche in Google Scholar

Frede, Michael (1988): “Being and Becoming in Plato”, Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy Suppl., pp. 37–52.Suche in Google Scholar

Fronterotta, Francesco, ed. (2003): Platone, Timeo. Milan: BUR.Suche in Google Scholar

Fronterotta, Francesco (2007): “ΕΙΝΑΙ, ΟΥΣΙΑ e ΟΝ nei libri centrali della Repubblica”. In: Francisco L. Lisi (ed.): The Ascent to the Good. Sankt Augustin: Academia Verlag, pp. 115–160.Suche in Google Scholar

Fronterotta, Francesco (2010): “ARXH TOY KOSMOY and ARXH TOY LOGOY. A new hypothesis on the beginning of the world in Plato’s Timaeus”. In: Antoni Bosch-Veciana and Josep Monserrat-Molas (eds.): Philosophy and Dialogue. Studies on Plato’s Dialogues. Barcelona: Barcelonesa d’Edicions, pp. 141–155.Suche in Google Scholar

Fronterotta, Francesco (2011): “Some Remarks on the Senses of Being in the Sophist”. In: Aleš Havlíček and Filip Karfik (eds.): Plato’s Sophist. Proceedings of the Seventh Symposium Platonicum Pragense. Praha: OIKOYMENH, pp. 35–62.Suche in Google Scholar

Fronterotta, Francesco (2022): “‘Vero’ e ‘falso’ fra ontologia e logica in Platone (e Aristotele)”, Discipline filosofiche 32, pp. 39–62.10.2307/j.ctv360nqq2.5Suche in Google Scholar

Gill, Christopher (1979): “Plato and Politics: the Critias and the Politicus”, Phronesis 24, pp. 148–167.10.1163/156852879X00090Suche in Google Scholar

Gilson, Étienne (1948): L’être et l’essence. Paris: Vrin.Suche in Google Scholar

Graeser, Andreas (1982): “Über den Sinn von Sein bei Platon”, Museum Helveticum 39, pp. 29–42.Suche in Google Scholar

Johansen, Thomas (2004): Plato’s Natural Philosophy. A Study of the Timaeus-Critias. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.10.1017/CBO9780511518478Suche in Google Scholar

Kahn, Charles H. (1966): “The Greek verb ‘to be’ and the Concept of Being”, Foundations of Language 2, pp. 245–265.Suche in Google Scholar

Kahn, Charles H. (1969a): “The Thesis of Parmenides”, Review of Metaphysics 22, pp. 700–724.Suche in Google Scholar

Kahn, Charles H. (1969b): “More on Parmenides”, Review of Metaphysics 23, pp. 333–340.Suche in Google Scholar

Kahn, Charles H. (1973): The Verb “Be” in Ancient Greek. Dordrecht, Boston: Reidel.Suche in Google Scholar

Kahn, Charles H. (1976): “Why Existence does not emerge as a Distinct Concept in Greek Philosophy”, Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 58, pp. 323–334.Suche in Google Scholar

Kahn, Charles H. (1981): “Some Philosophical Uses of ‘to be’ in Plato”, Phronesis 26, pp. 105–134.10.1163/156852881X00204Suche in Google Scholar

Kahn, Charles H. (1985): “Retrospect on the Verb ‘to be’ and the Concept of Being”. In: Simo Knuttila and Jaakko Hintikka (eds.): The Logic of Being. Dordrecht, Boston: Reidel, pp. 1–28.Suche in Google Scholar

Kahn, Charles H. (1988): “Being in Parmenides and Plato”, Parola del Passato 43, pp. 237–261.Suche in Google Scholar

Kahn, Charles H. (20032): The Verb “Be” in Ancient Greek. Indianapolis: Hackett.Suche in Google Scholar

Kahn, Charles H. (2004): “A Return to the Theory of the Verb Be and the Concept of Being”, Ancient Philosophy 24, pp. 381–405.10.5840/ancientphil200424246Suche in Google Scholar

Kahn, Charles H. (2009): Essays on Being. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.10.1093/oso/9780199534807.001.0001Suche in Google Scholar

Leigh, Fiona (2007): “The Copula and Semantic Continuity in Plato’s Sophist”, Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 34, pp. 105–121.10.1093/oso/9780199544875.003.0004Suche in Google Scholar

Malcolm, John (2006): “Some Cautionary Remarks on the ‘is’/‘teaches’ Analogy”, Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 31, pp. 281–296.10.1093/oso/9780199204212.003.0010Suche in Google Scholar

Miller, Dana (2003): The Third Kind in Plato’s Timaeus. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.10.13109/9783666252440Suche in Google Scholar

Mourelatos, Alexander P. D. (1969): “Comments on ‘The Thesis of Parmenides’”, Review of Metaphysics 22, pp. 735–744.Suche in Google Scholar

Mourelatos, Alexander P. D. (2010): “The Epistemological Section (29b-d) of the Proem in Timaeus’ Speech: M. F. Burnyeat on Eikôs Mythos, and Comparison with Xenophanes B34 and B35”. In: Richard D. Mohr and Barbara Sattler (eds.): One Book, the Whole Universe: Plato’s Timaeus Today. Las Vegas: Parmenides Publishing, pp. 225–247.Suche in Google Scholar

Osborne, Catherine (1996): “Space, Time, Shape, and Direction: Creative Discourse in the Timaeus”. In: Christopher Gill and Mary M. McCabe (eds.): Form and Argument in Late Plato. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 179–211.10.1093/oso/9780198240129.003.0008Suche in Google Scholar

Owen, Gwilym E. L. (1953): “The Place of the Timaeus in Plato’s Dialogues”, Classical Quarterly n.s. 3, pp. 79–95 (reprinted in: Reginald E. Allen, ed. 1965: Studies in Plato’s Metaphysics. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 313–338; and in: Gwilym E. L. Owen 1986: Logic, Science and Dialectic. Collected Papers in Greek Philosophy, ed. by Martha Nussbaum. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press, pp. 66–84).Suche in Google Scholar

Owen, Gwilym E. L. (1971): “Plato on Not-Being”. In: Gregory Vlastos (ed.): Plato I: Metaphysics and Epistemology. New York: Doubleday & Anchor, pp. 223–267 (reprinted in Gwilym E. L. Owen 1986: Logic, Science and Dialectic. Collected Papers in Greek Philosophy, ed. by Martha Nussbaum. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press, pp. 104–137).Suche in Google Scholar

Stein, Howard (1969): “Comments on ‘The Thesis of Parmenides’”, Review of Metaphysics 22, pp. 725–734.Suche in Google Scholar

Strobel, Benedikt (2007):“Dieses” und “So etwas”. Zur ontologischen Klassifikation platonischer Formen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.Suche in Google Scholar

Published Online: 2023-12-13
Published in Print: 2023-12-06

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Heruntergeladen am 19.9.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/rhiz-2023-0011/html
Button zum nach oben scrollen