Diss.--Cologne. / Bibliography: p. 129-133.

Thesis (doctoral)--Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Berlin. / "Die ganze Abhandlung beabsichtige ich später unter dem Titel "Platos Ideenlehre in der Kritik des Aristotels zu veröffentlichen": t.p. verso. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--Amsterdam. / "Stellingen" inserted. Includes bibliographical references (p. [259]-263).

Thesis (doctoral)--Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [159]-161).

Inaug.-diss.--Munich. / Lebenslauf. "Literaturverzeichnis": verso of 2d prelim. leaf.

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In this dissertation I look at a series of portraits of Plato’s philosopher throughout the corpus. I argue that there are three central components in his account of the philosopher: (1) having certain motivations, (2) having a certain sort of nature, and (3) engaging in a set of characteristic activities. All three features emerge in the early dialogues in the figure of Socrates. There we see that the philosopher is motivated by a deep and enduring love of wisdom and a desire to seek it. In addition, he has traits of character and intellect that make him well suited to the pursue the wisdom. And he engages in certain activities that has as its aim attaining knowledge. While this basic picture of the philosopher emerges in the early dialogues, it gets fleshed out and developed more fully in later dialogues and, in particular in the Republic with the figure of the philosopher ruler. There we see the close relationship between the philosopher’s character and intellectual pursuits and how both his character and pursuits are shaped through courses in education. And, in the Republic, the philosopher does actually succeed in his pursuit of knowledge. The knowledge he comes to have shapes his character, affecting the sorts of things he values and resulting in philosophical virtue. In the Theaetetus we see a portrait of a philosopher who, while sharing the same nature and pursuits as the philosopher ruler of the Republic, is born in an unjust city. Here the philosopher withdraws from the political and instead lives a private life, pursuing those interests and questions that are conducive to virtue. Finally, in the Sophist and Statesman, we find the philosopher in the figure of the Eleatic Visitor, as he develops accounts of the sophist and statesman. Here, Plato’s focus shifts from the philosopher’s nature to his activities as the Eleatic Visitor proposes, teaches, and uses a new method of inquiry - the method of collection. It is here where we see Plato articulate just how one goes about developing the systematic and defensible accounts necessary for the knowledge that the philosopher so desires.

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This thesis will explore the epistemological and ontological content of logos as it appears in Plato's Theaetetus and Sophist. As a tether between the realms being and becoming, logos occupies the dianoetic space in which meaningful, objective communication of ideas takes place. Complex in nature, logos exists as the combination of simple units; namely the forms, which provide themselves as the elements of this combination, of human knowledge, and the communication thereof. At issue is thus how, in response to the objections to the theory of forms raised in the Parmenides, the forms can exist as relational entities, and therefore as well how Plato understands the process by which logos is constructed.

Plato’s Apology differs and stands out from the other dialogues in his corpus in regard to its style, structure and content. Socrates’s manner of speech, although inspired by examination and philosophizing, is monological and lacks the dialogical structure that other dialogues showcase. In this thesis I argue that Socrates’s manner of speech demonstrates a weakness of the nature of speech itself. An analysis of diction, expressions, tone, arguments, and topoi in Plato’s Apology will demonstrate that telling the truth is, on its own, not enough to convince or persuade someone.