Plato Subject Index
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A smart woman told me that the best secondary literature for Plato is more Plato. I completely agree. It is important to see that Plato and his ideas span his works and dialogues. A discussion of the soul in the Gorgias may act as a preface to Plato's discussion in the Republic which is further examined in the Laws. (And don't get me started about his epistemological thought - I could go on for years!) Because it is important to look at and draw from Plato's dialogues rather holistically, I'm developing a sort of concordance of key ideas and thoughts throughout the Platonic corpus. This isn't technically a concordance, as it is not going to go through and show every instance of key terms throughout the dialogues. Instead, I'm beginning to develop a sort of subject index of important or interesting investigations throughout the dialogues. At this point, most of what I've added is relevant to the various Plato papers that I've written this year. As I read more and I write more, I'll add to this concordance/subject index. If you wish to contribute other interesting passages that you have found from Plato, I'd be glad to put add them to this site. The more comprehensive that this subject index is, the more useful that it will be. Because of the nature of the Platonic dialogue, you shouldn't take the mere fact that Plato declares something to be evidence that he actually holds it to be true. If you're trying to sort out what Plato's views regarding something is, you should not take a simple sentence or two as canon but instead look at the context of the statement and argument concerning the matter and, from there, attempt to figure out what point Plato is attempting to make. |
An account is vital for knowledge. If you do not have an account, then you cannot have knowledge. Republic 534b Knowledge involves giving an account of the being of each thing. Republic 534b When true belief gets tied down by an account, it becomes knowledge. Meno 98a A man who has knowledge must be able to give an account of what he knows. Phaedo 76b Timaeus exhorts to make the accounts as irrefutable and invincible as any account can be. Timaeus 29b We may not be able to give accounts of a great many subjects that are completely and perfectly consistent and accurate. Timaeus 29c Because we are human we can only give accounts for some things and we should not look for anything beyond this. Timaeus 29c-d Those who can neither give nor follow an account don't know anything of the things they must know. Republic 531e The irrational part of the soul cannot distinguish between the large and the small but believe that the same things are large and small at the same time. Republic 605b Forms are single but seem to be a multiplicity because they appear everywhere in combination with actions and material bodies. Republic 476a The finger argument - showing how certain properties draw the mind toward reason by presenting it with a commingling of incompatible properties. Republic 523a-524d The universe is governed by reason and by the order of intelligence. Philebus 28d Our universe came to be as 1) a work of craft, 2) modeled after that which is changeless and 3) is grasped by a rational account (by wisdom). Timaeus 29a A 'body' is a combination of earth, air, fire, water, all together and taken as a unit. Philebus 29d The craftsman who looks at what is always changeless will complete something beautiful. If he looks at something which is begotten, his work will lack beauty. Timaeus 28a-b We have evidence for the gods' existence by looking at the heavenly bodies. Laws 886a "Nature" will be secondary objects from art and reason. Laws 892b The movement of the heavents reflect the motion and calculation of reason and operate in a corresponding fashion. Laws 897c The reason why sophists and rhetoricians can't define rhetoric is because they are ignorant of the dialectic. Phaedrus 269b The dialectician chooses the proper soul and plants and sows within it discourse accompanied by knowledge. Phaedrus 276e The seed being properly planted by discourse produces a seed by which more discourse grows in the character of others. Phaedrus 276e-277a The dialectic, in the hands of someone unprepared or unworthy, is dangerous. Republic 538a-539a Dialectic is intelligible but is imitated by the power of sight. Republic 531a Someone who is able to give an account of the being of each thing is dialectical. Insofar as one is able to give an account, he fails to have understanding of it. Republic 534b Proper discourse renders the man who has it as happy as any human can be. Phaedrus 277a The slave boy must engage in dialectic (questions and answers) before he has knowledge. Meno 85d Education isn't like putting knowledge into souls but turning the individual around so that the soul can see the truth. Republic 518c-d The other virtues (temperance, justice, bravery) are added later in life by habit and practice. Republic 518d-e Guardians should never try to learn something incomplete...anything that does not read the end everything should reach. Republic 530e Music and poetry educate the guardians through habits. Republic 522a The different branches of knowledge must not come in the shape of compulsory learning because "nothing taught by force stays in the soul". Republic 536d-e The epistemic progression to knowledge of the Form of Beauty. Symposium 210c-e & 211c A life that combines pleasure and knowledge is the best sort of life. Philebus 27d We need the science of good and evil in order to fare well and be happy. Charmides 174c If someone knows what is good and bad, then he would not be forced to act otherwise than knowledge dictates. Protagoras 352c Unless you get the right ideas about the gods you'll have a bad life. Laws 888b One must understand virtue in order to attain virtue. Laws 965d To be false in one's soul about the way things are is the most hated thing. Republic 382b Falsehood in words is useful to prevent someone from doing something in madness or ignorance. Republic 382c Desire, fear, anger and other things of that sort (all emotions?) can, at times, be false. Philebus 40d Forms cannot mix together and separate. Parmenides 129e The difference between contemplating Forms and contemplating particulars. Republic 508d Forms are the aitia for all P things as P. Phaedo 100d None of the gods love wisdom because they already have it. Symposium 204a The gods are the causes of only good things. Republic 379a-c The gods don't change shape. Republic 380d-381c The gods are unable to change. Republic 381e The gods are simple and true in word and deed. The gods don't deceive others. Republic 382e The moderate man is like god, the immoderate and unjust man is not like god. Laws 716c-d None of the gods love wisdom because they already have it. Symposium 204a Lovers of x will use any pretext to make x sound good. Republic 475a The need for an account of goodness for something to be considered knowledge. Republic 493a If we do not know the goodness of what we know, then that goodness will be useless to us. Republic 505a Personal justice comes when the three parts of the soul are ordered and harmonious. Republic 443d-e Knowledge, Understanding, and Wisdom Knowledge gives you a standard of perfection in which to turn. Republic 484c The capacity for knowledge is innate in each man's minds. Republic 518c Two types of knowledge: that close to change and knowledge of what is as it is. Phaedo 247d Knowledge is infallible. Republic 477e If you cannot get to the truth of something, then you cannot have knowledge about it. Theaetetus 186d Calculations regarding the being and advantageousness of things come as a result of a long and arduous development. Theatetus 186c Either we can never attain knowledge or we do so after death. Phaedo 66e Without wisdom, virtue is only illusory and is only fit for slaves. Phaedo 69b If someone questions your assumptions, test your assumptions to see if they are consistent. Phaedo 100d Knowing, understanding, and remembering are better than pleasure. Philebus 11b Right opinion and true calculations "belong to" knowing and understanding. Philebus 11b Knowledge is concerned with being and what is "self same" is the truest of all kinds of knowledge. Philebus 58a Reason arranged nature (the cosmic order of the sun, moon, and starts and the revolution of the heavens). Philebus 28e That which is is grasped by understanding which involves a reasoned account. Timaeus 28a Wisdom is the cause for the limit, the unlimited and their mixture. Philebus 30a-b Wisdom and reason order and coordinate the years, seasons, and months. Philebus 30c If any writer (prose, poetry, or laws) has composed the writing with a knowledge of the truth, then he can defend the writing when challenged. Phaedrus 278c The ability to ask and answers questions is vital for knowledge. Republic 534d In trying to figure out the nature of rational motion, we must not assume that mortal eyes will ever be able to look at reason and get to know it adequately. Laws 897d Phaedrus notes that Socrates' method is wonderful, "if only it could be done". Socrates does not deny this worry of Phaedrus but instead just notes that the route is, nonetheless, honorable. Phaedrus 274a Glaucon notes that the pursuit of the education is "a superhuman task". Plato does not deny this but says "yet it's useful in the search for the beautiful and the good". Republic 531c (Glaucon again presses this worry at 531d Knowledge is comprehensive - the true sailor has knowledge of all related fields. Republic 488e Students in the Republic must bring together unrelated subjects and take a comprehensive view of their relationship to one another and with the nature of reality. Republic 537b-c Knowledge: Of things in the sensible world The philosopher king must have knowledge of reality in order to lay down the laws. Republic 484c-d Knowledge is found in the process of reasoning about experiences. Theatetus 186d While some experiences man and animals both experience, only man can reason about the being and advantageousness of experiences. Theatetus 186c "What is completely is completely knowable." Republic 477a Knowledge: Requires understanding Anyone who holds a true opinion without understanding is like a blind man on the right road. Republic 506c Someone would be mad to call himself a doctor just because he read a book or knows a few potions. He knows nothing of the art. Phaedrus 268c Examples of two things which, being described under the same heading, are nonetheless opposites. Philebus 12e The distinction between that which always is and that which becomes (but never is). Timaeus 28a You cannot get at the truth of a thing without getting at the being. Theaetetus 186c There are three elements in any given thing: 1) what the object is; 2) the definition; 3) the name. Laws 895d Hypothesis, use of. Phaedo 100a Callicles' opinion of Socrates' method. Gorgias 482e-483a Plato criticizes the method used in the previous discussion (because they agreed to things that didn't follow from their argument). Charmides 175b An example of Plato granting a claim and investigating it more thoroughly (akin to the hypothetical method?). Charmides 172b-c The most important task of Socrates' is to test to see whether one gives birth to false or true beliefs. Theaetetus 150b-c A discussion of the role of questioning in the delivery of true ideas. Theaetetus 151c After 'giving birth' to an idea, one must 'make a complete tour' of the account to make sure that it is good. Theaetetus 160e Socrates professes ignorance and discusses method. Charmides 165b-c A discussion of the necessity to compare thoughts and see 1) what they are and 2) whether they're consistent with one another. Theaetetus 154e Critias criticizes Socrates' method, saying that Socrates wants to make unlike things like. Charmides 166b-c Plato pushes the point that one must continue to discuss with good faith lest the discussion come to an end like a fairy tale. Philebus 14a The Athenian stranger says that the argument has become too confusing and so he'll attempt to 'cross it' himself while the others watch in safety. Laws 892e-893a The Athenian stranger notes what an amazing doctrine they've got involved in without noticing. Laws 888d There is no reason to prefer a brief explanation to a full one. Laws 887b We ought not look at the "sun" directly but look at an image of the sun. (Where, in this case, the sun is reason. ?) Laws 897d-e Socrates says that if he finds someone able to discern a single thing that is also by nature capable of encompassing many, he follows "straight behind, in his tracks, as if he were a god". Phaedrus 266b The method of medicine is the same as the method of rhetoric because in both we need to determine the nature of something (medicine = the body; rhetoric = the soul). Otherwise all there will be is an empirical and artless practice. Phaedrus 270b We can't just say someone speaks finely...we must consider whether argument supports the view. Phaedrus 270c Socrates describes the way to think systematically about the nature of anything. Phaedrus 270d "We must turn all arguments every which way and try to find some easier and shorter route to the art...we don't want to follow a long, rough path for no good reason when we can choose a short smooth one instead." Phaedrus 272b-c One can't acquire the right sorts of rhetorical abilities without great and laborious effort. Phaedrus 273e Socrates tells Glaucon that he (Glaucon) won't be able to follow him any longer because Glaucon wouldn't be seeing an image of what they're describing but the truth itself. Republic 533 Something straight or round, or something constructed out of them with a rule, compass, and square are by their very nature beautiful by themselves. Philebus 51c All tools and materials are provided for the sake of some process of generation, and every process of generation takes place for the sake of being. Philebus 54c A thing desires something of which it is in need. Symposium 200 a-b It seems impossible, or at least difficult, for faculties to apply faculties to themselves. Charmides 168e An elenchos against the idea that knowing what one knows and does not know is the same as knowledge of one's self. Charmides 170a, ff Change in the sensible world leads to shifting opinions. Republic 509d To be unaware of the difference between a dream image and reality of what is just and unjust, good and bad, must be grounds for reproach. Phaedrus 277d-e Plato is talking of who ought to do philosophy and stops himself saying "I seem to have done something ridiculous just now" because "I forgot that we were only playing and so I spoke too vehemently." Republic 536b-c Objects of Knowledge: Characteristics The objects of knowledge are eternal and not liable to change and decay. Republic 527b Can only be approached through thought alone. Phaedo 66a The mind being in good order is what allows for knowledge of the Forms. Phaedrus 247b It is organization that makes things good. Gorgias 506e The importance of order Symposium 210e Order is in every way better than disorder. Timaeus 30a The need for internal harmony. Gorgias 482b-c Particulars never remain the same as themselves or in relation to each other. Phaedo 78 The flaws of the body and perception. Phaedo 66d The body is an obstacle when one searches for knowledge. Phaedo 65b You cannot grasp Forms via the bodily senses. Phaedo 65e-66a & 79e The visible always changes while the invisible doesn't. Phaedo 79a Investigation through the eyes and ears is full of deceit. Phaedo 8 If one can defend his writings and can make the argument that his writing is of little worth, then he ought not be called a rhetorician (or a poet or a politician) but rather he should be called a philosopher. Phaedrus 278c-d A skilled craftsman/guardian must be able to 1) see the individual instances of a thing; 2) win through to a knowledge of the single central concept; 3) understanding that, put the various details in their proper place. Laws 965c A good characterization of the philosopher and what knowledge is. Republic 490b Pleasure comes in many forms, sometimes unlike one another. Philebus 12c Reason is akin to cause and pleasure is among the class of the unlimited. (In Plato's four classes of things: the limit, the unlimited, their mixture, and their cause.) Philebus 31a When the combination of the limited and unlimited is destroyed, the destruction is pain. Then it returns to its original nature, the restoration is pleasure. Philebus 32b There is a mixture of pleasure and pains in a variety of emotions (perhaps all emotions? Plato lists: malice, wrath, longing, lamentations, fear, love, jealousy) Philebus 50b-d The pleasures of learning are unmixed with pain. Philebus 52b Every small pleasure that is unmixed with pain is more pleasant, more true, and more beautiful, than an impure pleasure in greater quantity. Philebus 53c The custom of positing laws/moral codes artificially. Laws 889e-890a The uneducated who have no experience of truth will never adequately govern a city because they don't have a single goal at which all their actions aim. Republic 519b-c The law's concern isn't to make one class happy but to spread happiness throughout the city. Republic 519e The 'motion' of reason is 1) regular, 2) uniform, 3) always at the same point in space, 4) around a fixed center, 5) in the same position relative to other objects. Laws 898a-b We regard moderation and the possession of reason as a mark of virtue. Laws 900d The truth of reality is always in our immortal soul. Republic 86b Learning is nothing other than recollection. Phaedo 72e Discussion of recollection. Phaedo 73a - 75e Sensible World (that which is becomming) That which is becomming is grasped by opinion and comes to be by the agency of some cause. Timaeus 28a It is absurd to look for exact truth in visible and material things. Republic 530b Perceptible things are grasped by opinion. Timaeus 28b You can never correctly identify something or describe what it is like because it is constantly in the state of flux. Theaetetus 152d-e Making reference to the difference parts of the soul. Timaeus 70e The appetitive part of the soul has no share of reasoning and understanding. Timaeus 71d A soul and a body can be proportionate. Timaeus 87d-e The relationship between the soul and the body, when the soul is embodied. Phaedo 79e-80a Justice comes when the three parts of the soul are ordered and harmonious. Republic 443d-e Reference to the three parts of the soul. Republic 580d The soul is that which is defined by the expression "self-generating motion" Laws 896a The soul is the cause of all things (good and evil, beauty and ugliness, etc). Laws 896d Story of the creation of the soul. Laws 892 One develops proper rhetorical abilities not in order to speak and act among humans but to speak and act in a way that pleases the gods as much as possible. Phaedrus 273e Socrates outlines the proper method of speech. Phaedrus 277b-c True belief is not reasoning. Symposium 202a The middle state between knowledge and ignorance: judging things rightly without being able to give an opinion. Symposium 202a A discussion between knowledge and ignorance. Symposium 202a The difference between knowledge & true belief - the need for an account and an understanding of the goodness of something. (Large animal trainer) Republic 493a True belief is good as long as it remains, but knowledge is much better because it is tied down and remains. Meno 98a Writing is bad because it causes people not to rely on memory but to rely on something external to them and depend on signs belonging to another. Phaedrus 275a Writing provides its students with the appearance of wisdom, not with its reality. Phaedrus 275a Words written down can do nothing but remind those who already know what the writing is about. Phaedrus 275d Writings that are recited without quesiton or explanation are given in order to produce conviction. Phaedrus 277e-278a To sort out:
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