Book contents
- Conceptualising Concepts in Greek Philosophy
- Conceptualising Concepts in Greek Philosophy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 The Emergence of the Concept in Early Greek Philosophy
- Chapter 2 The Place of Concepts in Socratic Inquiry
- Chapter 3 Early Learning in Plato, Republic 7
- Chapter 4 Are Platonic Forms Concepts?
- Chapter 5 Do Forms Play the Role of Concepts in Late Plato?
- Chapter 6 Concepts and Concept Formation in Aristotle’s Logical Works
- Chapter 7 Concepts and Universals in Aristotle’s Metaphysical Thought
- Chapter 8 Aristotle on the Stages of Cognitive Development
- Chapter 9 Epicureans on Preconceptions and Other Concepts
- Chapter 10 The Stoics on Conceptions and Concepts
- Chapter 11 Doing Things with Concepts in Sextus Empiricus
- Chapter 12 Relative Concepts
- Chapter 13 Concepts in Greek Mathematics
- Chapter 14 Platonist Notions and Forms
- Chapter 15 Contested Concepts
- Chapter 16 Alexander of Aphrodisias on Concepts
- Chapter 17 Plotinus on Concepts
- Chapter 18 Concepts in the Neoplatonist Tradition
- Chapter 19 Early Christian Philosophers on Concepts
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 2 - The Place of Concepts in Socratic Inquiry
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 April 2024
- Conceptualising Concepts in Greek Philosophy
- Conceptualising Concepts in Greek Philosophy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 The Emergence of the Concept in Early Greek Philosophy
- Chapter 2 The Place of Concepts in Socratic Inquiry
- Chapter 3 Early Learning in Plato, Republic 7
- Chapter 4 Are Platonic Forms Concepts?
- Chapter 5 Do Forms Play the Role of Concepts in Late Plato?
- Chapter 6 Concepts and Concept Formation in Aristotle’s Logical Works
- Chapter 7 Concepts and Universals in Aristotle’s Metaphysical Thought
- Chapter 8 Aristotle on the Stages of Cognitive Development
- Chapter 9 Epicureans on Preconceptions and Other Concepts
- Chapter 10 The Stoics on Conceptions and Concepts
- Chapter 11 Doing Things with Concepts in Sextus Empiricus
- Chapter 12 Relative Concepts
- Chapter 13 Concepts in Greek Mathematics
- Chapter 14 Platonist Notions and Forms
- Chapter 15 Contested Concepts
- Chapter 16 Alexander of Aphrodisias on Concepts
- Chapter 17 Plotinus on Concepts
- Chapter 18 Concepts in the Neoplatonist Tradition
- Chapter 19 Early Christian Philosophers on Concepts
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In ‘The Place of Concepts in Socratic Inquiry’, Terence Irwin examines Socrates’ question ‘What is F?’, which is often taken to be a request for some sort of definition or account of what F is. When Socrates asks, ‘What is courage?’, ‘What is piety?’, ‘What is temperance?’, does his discovery that everyone, including himself, cannot answer such questions in a satisfactory manner imply that these answerers do not know what the words mean? If one cannot answer the ‘What is F?’ question, does it follow that one lacks the concept of F? Irwin argues that conceptual argument has an indispensable role in the arguments that lead to Socratic definitions, but it will not take us all the way to them. To understand Socratic definitions, Irwin compares them with Aristotelian real definitions, and with Epictetus’ views on the articulation of preconceptions.
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- Conceptualising Concepts in Greek Philosophy , pp. 35 - 55Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024