Author : Paul Stern
Release : 1993-08-20
Genre : Political Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 176/5 ( reviews)
Book Synopsis Socratic Rationalism and Political Philosophy by : Paul Stern
Download or read book Socratic Rationalism and Political Philosophy written by Paul Stern. This book was released on 1993-08-20. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this new interpretation of Plato's Phaedo, Paul Stern considers the dialogue as an invaluable source for understanding the distinctive character of Socratic rationalism. First, he demonstrates, contrary to the charge of such thinkers as Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Rorty, that Socrates' rationalism does not rest on the dogmatic presumption of the rationality of nature. Second, he shows that the distinctively Socratic mode of philosophizing is formulated precisely with a view to vindicating the philosophic life in the face of these uncertainties. And finally, he argues that this vindication results in a mode of inquiry that finds its ground in a clear understanding of the problematical but enduring human situation. Stern concludes that Socratic rationalism, aware as it is of the limits of reason, still provides a nondogmatic and nonarbitrary basis for human understanding.