Hugh H. Benson explores Plato's answer to Clitophon's challenge, the question of how one can acquire the knowledge Socrates argues is essential to human flourishing-knowledge we all seem to lack. Plato suggests two methods by which this knowledge may be gained: the first is learning from those who already have the knowledge one seeks, and the second is discovering the knowledge one seeks on one's own. The book begins with a brief look at some of the Socratic dialogues where Plato appears to recommend the former approach while simultaneously indicating various difficulties in pursuing it. The remainder of the book focuses on Plato's recommendation in some of his most important and central dialogues-the Meno, Phaedo, and Republic-for carrying out the second approach: de novo inquiry. The book turns first to the famous paradox concerning the possibility of such an inquiry and explores Plato's apparent solution. Having defended the possibility of de novo inquiry as a response to Clitophon's challenge, Plato explains the method or procedure by which such inquiry is to be carried out. The book defends the controversial thesis that the method of hypothesis, as described and practiced in the Meno, Phaedo, and Republic, is, when practiced correctly, Plato's recommended method of acquiring on one's own the essential knowledge we lack. The method of hypothesis when practiced correctly is, then, Platonic dialectic, and this is Plato's response to Clitophon's challenge. "This is a new book on a critically important topic, methodology, as it is explored in three of the most important works by one of the most important philosophers in the very long history of philosophy, written by a scholar of international stature who is working from many years of experience and currently at the top of his game. It promises to be one of the most important books ever written on this subject."-Nicholas Smith, James F. Miller Professor of Humanities, Lewis and Clark College "The thesis is bold and the results are important for our understanding of some of the most studied and controversial dialogues by and philosophical theses in Plato. In my view, Hugh Benson's examination of the method of hypothesis in the Meno and the Phaedo is a tour de force of subtle and careful scholarship: I think that this part of the book will be adopted as the standard interpretation of this basic notion in Plato. An excellent and important book."-Charles Brittain, Susan Linn Sage Professor of Philosophy and Humane Letters, Cornell University

The end of Plato's 'Clitophon' can be seen to raise something like the following challenge: How is one to acquire (learn) the knowledge Socrates has so persuasively shown to be essential to virtue and apparently absent from us all. 'Clitophon's Challenge' explores Plato's response to this challenge from the 'Apology', 'Laches', 'Euthyphro', and 'Protagoras' to the 'Meno', 'Phaedo', and 'Republic'.

Ancient Greek thought saw the birth, in Western philosophy, of the study now known as moral psychology. In its broadest sense, moral psychology encompasses the study of those aspects of human psychology relevant to our moral lives--desire, emotion, ethical knowledge, practical moral reasoning, and moral imagination--and their role in apprehending or responding to sources of value. This volume draws together contributions from leading international scholars in ancient philosophy, exploring central issues in the moral psychology of Plato, Aristotle, and the Hellenistic schools. Through a series of chapters and responses, these contributions challenge and develop interpretations of ancient views on topics from Socratic intellectualism to the nature of appetitive desires and their relation to goodness, from the role of pleasure and pain in virtue, to our capacities for memory, anticipation and choice and their role in practical action, to the question of the sufficiency or otherwise of the virtues for a flourishing human life.

"Several myths about Plato's work are decisively challenged by Catherine Rowett: the idea that Plato agreed with Socrates about the need for a definition of what we know; the idea that he set out to define justice in the Republic; the idea that knowledge is a kind of true belief, or that Plato ever thought that it might be something like that; the idea that Theaetetus was Plato's best attempt to define knowledge as a species of belief, and that it only failed due to his incompetence. Instead Rowett argues that Plato was replacing the failed methods of Socrates, including his attempt to find a definition or single common factor, and that he replaced those methods with methods derived from geometry, including methods that involve inference from shadows to their originals (a method which Rowett calls Meno, Republic and Theaetetus, and argues that the insights that Plato brings about the nature of conceptual knowledge, its importance in underpinning all other activities, and about the notion of truth as it applies to conceptual competence, are significant and should be taken seriously as a corrective to areas in which current analytic philosophy has lost its way."--

Achilles Tatius' Leucippe and Clitophon is the most bizarre and risqu ́e of the five "Greek novels" of idealized love between boy and girl that survive from the time of the Roman empire. Stretching the capacity of the genre to its limits, Achilles' narrative covers adultery, violence, disembowelment, pederasty, virginity-testing, and a conveniently happy ending. Ingenious and sophisticated in conception, Leucippe and Clitophon is at once subtle, stylish, moving, brash, tasteless, and obscene. This new translation aims to capture Achilles' writing in all its exuberant variety.

The Love of Clitophon and Leucippe is an ancient Greek romance novel by Achilles Tatius. Considered an important predecessor to the modern novel, The Love of Clitophon and Leucippe has served as a model for such writers as Eusthathius Macrembolites and Alonso Nuñez de Reinoso. The novel remains central to scholarship regarding the tradition of Greek romance novels written within the vast Roman Empire, and has been translated into numerous languages throughout the centuries. Of particular interest is its uncommon usage of first person narration, as well as its employment of ekphrasis and mythological digressions, formulas now commonplace, albeit in varying ways, within modern novel writing. Clitophon is a young man engaged to be married to his half-sister, Calligone. When his distant cousin Leucippe comes to Tyre to visit family, however, Clitophon finds himself hopelessly in love with her. As his wedding day approaches, Clitophon struggles with whether to commit to his vows or follow his wayward heart. Before he can decide, however, a man intending to kidnap Leucippe accidentally takes Calligone to Byzantium instead, where she is forced into marriage with Kallisthenes, her captor. No longer tied to his vows, Clitophon pursues Leucippe, with whom he elopes after a period of rejection from her mother. Sailing from Tyre, they are shipwrecked during a violent storm. Washing up on the coast of Egypt, Clitophon is rescued while Leucippe is captured by a group of bandits who resolve to sacrifice the young maiden. The Love of Clitophon and Leucippe is a story of love at first sight, of trial and error, and the lengths to which lovers will go to live with and for one another. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Achilles Tatius’ The Love of Clitophon and Leucippe is a classic of ancient Greek literature reimagined for modern readers.

The sole surviving work of Achilles Tatius, a Greek writer from Alexandria, is a novel in eight books, ‘The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon’, one of the five surviving Ancient Greek romances. Delphi’s Ancient Classics series provides eReaders with the wisdom of the Classical world, with both English translations and the original Greek texts. This comprehensive eBook presents the complete extant text of ‘The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon’, with relevant illustrations, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Achilles Tatius’ life and work * Features the complete text of ‘The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon’, in both English translation and the original Greek * Concise introduction to ‘The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon’ * Includes Stephen Gaselee’s translation from the Loeb Classical Library edition of Achilles Tatius * Images of famous paintings inspired by ‘The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon’ * Excellent formatting of the texts * Provides a special dual English and Greek text, allowing readers to compare the sections paragraph by paragraph – ideal for students * Features a bonus biography – discover Achilles Tatius’ ancient world Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to explore our range of Ancient Classics titles or buy the entire series as a Super Set CONTENTS: The Translation LEUCIPPE AND CLITOPHON The Greek Text CONTENTS OF THE GREEK TEXT The Dual Text DUAL GREEK AND ENGLISH TEXT The Biography INTRODUCTION TO ACHILLES TATIUS by Stephen Gaselee Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles