Definition in Greek Philosophy [Hardcover]

Socrates' greatest philosophical contribution was to have initiated the search for definitions. InDefinition in Greek Philosophyhis views on definition are examined, together with those of his successors, including Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Galen, the Sceptics and Plotinus. Although definition was a major pre-occupation for many Greek philosophers, it has rarely been treated as a separate topic in its own right in recent years. This volume, which contains fourteen new essays by leading scholars, aims to reawaken interest in a number of central and relatively unexplored issues concerning definition. These issues are briefly set out in the Introduction, which also seeks to point out scholarly and philosophical questions which merit further study.

Introduction,David Charles
Part A: Plato on definition
1. Carried Away in the Euthyphro,Lindsay Judson
2. Explanation and Essence in Plato's Phaedo,Vasilis Politis
3. The Paradox in the Meno and Aristotle's Attempts to Resolve it,David Charles
4. Division and Definition in the Sophist,Lesley Brown
5. Division and Definition in Plato's Sophist and Statesman,Mary Louise Gill
Part B: Aristotle on Definition
6. Aristotle on Essence and Defining Phrase in his Dialectic,Kei Chiba
7. Nominal Definition in Aristotle, his successors and his predecessors,Deborah Modrak
8. Definition and Explanation in the Posterior Analytics (and beyond),David Charles
9. Bios and Explanatory Unity in Aristotle's Biology,James Lennox
Part C: Post-Aristotelian writers on definition
10. The Stoics on Definition,Paolo Crivelli
11. The Aristotelian Commentators on Definition,Richard Sorabji
12. Galen's Aristotelian definitions,Jane Hood
13. Definition and Explanation in Plotinus: Some Problems,Annamaria Schiaparelli