Metaphysics /
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This book has been written from the conviction that general statements about the philosophical position taken by Theophrastus in this small but extremely difficult treatise, can only be made on the basis of a detailed interpretation of each and every sentence of the text. This resulted in a full commentary, which evades no philological or philosophical question that should be asked in order to elicit from the text a maximum of information. The outcome is a cautious but nonetheless explicit and determinate characterization and evaluation of Theophrastean metaphysics as a biologist's metaphysics, which deserves the attention of philosophers in its own right. The author has paid special attention to questions of Peripatetic idiom and terminology, thus increasing the value of this book to students of Peripatetic thought in general. The information brought together has been made easily accessible by full indexes.
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1 online resource (xvi, 676 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 588-597) and indexes. :
9789004329218 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Protagoras of Abdera : the man, his measure.
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Protagoras of Abdera, Socrates' older contemporary, is regarded as one of the most prominent representatives of the so-called sophistic movement. Instead of simply accepting the biased reports given by Plato and Aristotle about this sophist, the contributors to this volume review the complicated doxographical situation and make a case for Protagoras as a philosopher in his own right. Two major themes of this volume are Protagoras' relativism and his case for a moral and political ideal, both of which are contrasted with the metaphysical idealism of his future opponents in the Academy and the mundane conventionalism typically associated with the sophists. It turns out that rather than a parasitic force of intellectual subversion, Protagoras may have been a prolific and original thinker aiming at a coherent and comprehensive view of man's place in the world.
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1 online resource (344 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004251243 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.