Università Roma Tre

Plato's Sophist: being, dialectic and falsehood.

The Sophist is one of Plato's most philosophically complex and historically influential dialogues. Plato addresses in it a plurality of key philosophical topics, including (but not restricted to) those of truth and falsehood, being and not-being, identity and difference. The impact of this dialogue on the subsequent history of philosophy has been various and long-lasting, ranging from Plato's early collaborators in the Academy to more recent philosophers of both continental (e.g. Heidegger, Ricoeur, and Deleuze) and analytic (e.g. Ryle, Quine, Wiggins, McDowell, and Mumford) backgrounds, and contributing to the formation and development of several areas of philosophy, including those we now identify as metaphysics, philosophy of language, logic and epistemology. Through an analytical reading of the text, we will examine the arguments and theses of the Sophist, its structure, its place in the broader framework of Platonic production, some of the main lines of interpretation that have oriented its understanding, and some aspects of its reception in later philosophy.

Primary texts:
1. Platone, Sofista, ed. by Francesco Fronterotta, Rizzoli, Milano, 2007 (introduction and notes included)
2. Selection of further primary texts provided by the course instructor.

Commentary on the Sophist:
3. Paolo Crivelli, Plato’s Account of Falsehood. A Study of the Sophist, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2012 (in full)

Articles on the Sophist (listed in chronological order):
4. Pierre Aubenque, “Une occasion manquée: la genèse avortée de la distinction entre l’‘étant’ et le ‘quelque chose”, in Id., (ed.), Études sur le Sophiste de Platon, Bibliopolis, Napoli, 1991, pp. 365-85 [alternatively, Christine J. Thomas, ““Speaking of Something”: Plato’s Sophist and Plato’s Beard”, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 38 (2008), pp. 631-667].
5. Lesley Brown, “‘Innovation and Continuity: The Battle of Gods and Giants, Sophist 245–249”, in J. Gentzler (ed.), Method in Ancient Philosophy, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1998, pp. 181-207.
6. Denis O’Brien, “La forma del non essere nel Sofista di Platone”, in F. Fronterotta e W. Leszl (a cura di), Eidos-Idea. Platone, Aristotele e la tradizione platonica, Academia Verlag, Sankt Augustin, 2005, pp. 115-159
7. Lesley Brown, “The Sophist on Statements, Predication, and Falsehood”, in G. Fine (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Plato, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, New York, 2019, pp. 309-336.

Articles 4-7 will be provided by the course instructor in .pdf format.

Additional bibliographic references for optional further study will be provided during the course (see ‘Svolgimento’).

Non-attending students (see ‘Frequenza’) are also required to study the following work:
Noburu Notomi, The Unity of Plato’s Sophist. Between the Sophist and the Philosopher, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999

A basic knowledge of the History of Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy, from its origins to Late Antiquity, will be assumed. To acquire or strengthen this knowledge, the following textbook is recommended:
• Riccardo Chiaradonna e Paolo Pecere, Vivere la Conoscenza, Mondadori Education, Milano, 2022, Vol. 1A: Dalle origini ad Aristotele (per intero); Vol. 1B: Dall’Ellenismo al tardo Medioevo (fino all’unità 6: La tarda antichità).

A basic knowledge of Plato’s thought will also be assumed. To acquire or strengthen this knowledge, one of the following introductory monographs on Plato is recommended:
• Franco Ferrari, Introduzione a Platone, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2018
• Mario Vegetti, Quindici lezioni su Platone, Einaudi, Torino, 2003
• Franco Trabattoni, Platone, Carocci, Roma, 2009