Philosophy as Drama

Hallvard Fossheim is Professor in Ancient Philosophy, University of Bergen, Norway. He has published articles on Plato and Aristotle, as well as works on research ethics and virtue ethics.Vigdis Songe-Møller is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, University of Bergen, Norway. Her focus of research has been feminist interpretations of ancient Greek texts, especially by Hesiod, Anaximander, Parmenides, and Plato. She coordinated the international research project Poetry and Philosophy: Poetical and Argumentative Elements of Plato's Philosophy.Knut Ågotnes is Associate Professor Emeritus in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Bergen, Norway.

Philosophy as Drama illuminates the relationship between the genre of Platonic dialogue and philosophical practice. This collection is a fine work of creative scholarship that not only gives us fresh insight into Plato's literary form, but also deepens our understanding of how virtue and political community are intertwined with dialogue.

• List of Contributors Introduction, Hallvard Fossheim, Vigdis Songe-Møller and Knut Ågotnes Part 1 Genre and the Philosophical Dialogue1. The Whole Comedy and Tragedy of Philosophy: On Aristophanes’ Speech in Plato’s Symposium, Drew Hyland, Pennsylvania State University, USA2. A Praise of the Philosophical Written Speech? Ethics and Philosophical Progression in Plato’s Symposium, Elena Irrera, University of Bologna, Italy3. Socrates’ Appeals to Homer’s Achilles in Plato’s Apology of Socrates and Crito, Hayden W. Ausland, University of Montana, USA4. Plato’s Ring of Gyges and ‘Das Leben der Anderen’, Jacob Howland, University of Tulsa, USAPart 2 Virtue and Soul-shaping5. Plato’s Inverted Theatre: Displacing the Wisdom of the Poets, Paul Woodruff, University of Texas at Austin, USA6. Gods, Giants and Philosophers: On Being, Education and Dialogue in Plato’s Sophist 245e6-249d5, Jens Kristian Larsen, University of Bergen, Norway7. Philotimia. On Rhetoric, Virtues and Honour in the Symposium, Knut Ågotnes, University of Bergen, NorwayPart 3 Reason and Irrationality8. The Significance of the Ambiguity of Music in Plato, Kristin Sampson, University of Bergen, Norway9. Pleasure, Perception and Images in Plato, Cynthia Freeland, University of Houston, USA10. The Limits of Rationality in Plato’s Phaedo, Hallvard Fossheim, University of Bergen, NorwayPart 4 Place and Displacement11. Place (topos) and Strangeness (atopia) in the Phaedrus, Erlend Breidal, University of Bergen, Norway 12. Hunt: Method and Metaphor. A Reading of the Sophist 216a1-226a6, Gro Rørstadbotten, University of Bergen, Norway13. Plato’s Sophist: A Different Look, John Sallis, Boston College, USA