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On the Several Senses of Being in Aristotle (review)

1980; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 18; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/hph.2008.0604

1538-4586

Franco Volpi,

Classical Philosophy and Thought

BOOK REVIEWS 81 (the lectureon the Good)and 124 (HeracleidescollectedAntimachus'poetryat Plato's behest)probablyhave a basis in fact, but this studyshowsthat anecdotes,whethertakenfromthe Platoniclivesor fromthe general tradition,mustbe cautiouslyassessedwhenusedas sourcesof biographicalinformationaboutPlato. (P. 199) Anyone even casually acquainted with the general credulousness of the ancient biographers, such as Diogenes Laertius, and with their preference for a lively story or bit of gossip over well-established but dull historical fact, will find this judgment quite plausible. Riginos relies on more than this for her conclusion, however. Each anecdote is traced (when possible) to a known Platonic doctrine or is compared with the known events of Plato's life and the history of the period. Riginos also discusses at length the motives of the authors of the anecdotes in spreading their stories. She shows that most of the anecdotes stem from one of two traditions: one that was favorable to Plato (including disciples such as Speusippus, the originator of the Apollo legend, and Neoplatonist writers), and one that was antipathetic (including writers of rival schools of philosophy, comic poets and satirists, and others). It seems that there was an ongoing war between these two camps from perhaps Plato's own lifetime at least into the sixth century A.D. When Christian apologists began using stories about Plato for their own purposes, things became even more confused. Neither faction seems to have had much sense of history or regard for the facts. Rather, each seems to have been willing to go to any lengths to show that Plato was either the acme of perfection or a misguided, pompous fool. Anecdotes were apparently invented out of whole cloth for these purposes, and an anecdote invented by one side in the quarrel was often countered by a parallel anecdote invented by the other. Thus, for example, the stories of Plato's freespoken rebukes of the Sicilian tyrants were likely invented to counter the charge of parasitism leveled at Plato by the hostile tradition. This work will certainly be of interest to classicists and others interested in the biographical tradition, and to historians of philosophy seeking information about Plato's life. The philosopher seeking enlightenment concerning Plato's thought will not, however, find much to interest him and will likely leave the book with the conclusion that Plato's life, at least as revealed in the anecdotes, did not have much to do with his philosophy. Riginos does, however, discuss two issues of interest to interpreters of Plato's philosophy. She accepts as authentic the story of Plato's lecture on the Good, but chastens those such as Gaiser who attempt to construct a "secret" oral doctrine for Plato from notice of this single, public lecture (p. 126, n. 23). She also recounts the ancient charge that the Timaeus was plagiarized from Pythagorean sources, but rejects it on the grounds that the alleged "source" of the Timaeus, the Timaeus Locrus, is a Hellenistic forgery (pp. 170-71). In this judgment she follows most scholars. Riginos's analysis is characterized by impressive scholarship and sound judgment. With respect to judgments about particular anecdotes, scholars may wish to differ with Riginos. It is unlikely, however, that anyone will seek to refute her general conclusion, and less likely still that any will succeed. WILLIAMJ. PRIOR University of Colorado, Boulder Franz Brentano. On the Several Senses of Being in Aristotle. Edited and translated by Rolf George. Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1976. Pp. 212. $12.50. Con la presente versione inglese viene riproposta all'attenzione degli studiosi e resa accessibile a un pubblico pii) largo di lettori la ben nora dissertazione di Franz Brentano Von der mannigfachen Bedeutung des Seienden nach Aristoteles, apparsa originariamente nel 1862 per i tipi dell'editore Herder di Friburgo in Brisgovia. 82 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY Come 6 noto, la dissertazione di Brentano 6 duplicemente famosa nella storia della filosofia: innanzitutto per l'importanza che essa riveste nella storia dell'aristotelismo e per il contributo decisivo che essa apporta alia comprensione del problema dell'essere in Aristotele; in secondo hogo per un particolare episodio della sua Wirkungsgeschichte, vale a dire per l'influenza che essa esercitb sulla formazione filosofica del giovane Martin Heidegger e, quindi...