Papers by I-Kai Jeng
Hearing, Sound and the Auditory in Ancient Greece, 2022
A study of Aristotle's conception of rhetoric as what I term "vicarious reasoning." After defendi... more A study of Aristotle's conception of rhetoric as what I term "vicarious reasoning." After defending such a view of rhetoric against classical Platonic objections to it, I show, on the one hand, how Aristotle's conception informs his argument in Politics III.11 and, on the other, how alertness to the rhetorical dimension in the Nicomachean Ethics can teach us about Aristotle's ethical project, esp. concerning the social virtues that closes book 3.
History of Philosophy & Logical Analysis, 2022
This paper examines the terms ‘elenchos’ and ‘elenchō’ as they occur in the Sophist in order to r... more This paper examines the terms ‘elenchos’ and ‘elenchō’ as they occur in the Sophist in order to reveal a refined view of elenchos as a philosophical method. The explicit discussion of elenchos as a method in 226a6–231b8 must be read together with other passages described by these terms. Once this is done, it shall be seen that there are two types of elenchus employed in several ways. The first type, which I identify with the familiar Socratic elenchus, is used to purge false opinions or to arrive at plausi- ble answers to philosophical difficulties. The second type, which appears to be the Stranger’s own method, is used to positively disclose relations between Forms. On this reading, elenchos is not merely destructive or preparatory for dialectic; it also forms a part of it.
Plato’s Parmenides: Selected Papers of the XIIth Symposium Platonicum, Jul 2022
The historical Parmenides famously prohibited nonbeing, or what is not, from philosophical inquir... more The historical Parmenides famously prohibited nonbeing, or what is not, from philosophical inquiry. Plato, on the other hand, makes the titular character of his Parmenides announce a method of philosophical training that does not seem to prohibit nonbeing at all, as he urges us to investigate the consequences of both "if some Form is" and "if some Form is not." This paper argues that the contradiction between the historical and the Platonic Parmenides is only apparent; once the method is carried out, it ends up honoring Parmenides' prohibition. The argument proceeds in two stages. In the first stage, it selectively summarizes certain current approaches to the second half of the Parmenides to motivate my approach. Based on a reading of the refrain πάλιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς / ἐπὶ ἀρχήν, I argue that the last four deductions, all of which begin with the hypothesis “if one is not,” should be read together as a single argument. In the second stage I carry out my reading of the final four deductions and show how key moves made by Parmenides correspond to parts of the poem. This leads to the conclusion that the four deductions together are meant to portray the unthinkability of the nonbeing of the one. Plato furthers his own agenda in the Parmenides while remaining faithful to the historical Parmenides’ thought.
Journal of Greco-Roman Studies, 2021
This paper argues that the metaphysical section in Plato's Sophist 254d4-256e7 is plausibly read ... more This paper argues that the metaphysical section in Plato's Sophist 254d4-256e7 is plausibly read as an instance of the method of hypothesis introduced in the Phaedo. I first note that Socrates' motivation for orienting his inquiry by speech, mentioned in Phaedo 99d4-100a8, is that speech (logos) is in one sense imagistic and in another sense not. Then I argue that this claim can be fleshed out in terms of the two kinds of images presented in the Sophist. While all speech is imagistic, some can elevate their status, namely when they become eikōn-type images. With this as a clue, I turn to the Sophist target passage and argue that first, the communion of Kinds employs the method of hypothesis by applying it to Forms and investigating what statements are consistent and inconsistent with the Forms posited; second, logos has the character of image at the level of words, sentences, and relationships between sentences; finally, the Stranger's introduction of partaking-language is meant to overcome the limitations of logos and create eikōnes that can serve as originals. The second point can be observed as the arguments proceed in increasing complexity, and I provide evidence for the first in 254d-255e, and show how the final point is illustrated in 256a-e. The above results bring me to a close by reflecting on what kind of philosophical illumination is achieved by this juxtaposition of the two dialogues. I suggest, on the one hand, that the Sophist passage explains why the method of hypothesis is said by Socrates to be second best. It is second best because the arguments might be based on insufficient insight, cannot reveal the nature of each Form by itself, and they might be misinterpreted. On the other hand, the Sophist also shows that the method of hypothesis, while safer than perhaps other methods of inquiry, is not fully safe: its very procedure risks falling prey to sophistry.
Review of Metaphysics, 2019
Drawing on Dixsaut's seminal work on the final definition of Plato's Sophist, I argue that the fi... more Drawing on Dixsaut's seminal work on the final definition of Plato's Sophist, I argue that the final definition is a success according to the dialogue's own proposed standard for a successful diaeretic definition. This study is meant as part of a larger project that shows how Plato conceived of the method of division (diaeresis).
On the Emergence of Pigeon Towers, 2018
An invited contribution on Rancière's The Ignorant Schoolmaster.
This paper discusses why Montesquieu sees the woman problem as particularly important for politic... more This paper discusses why Montesquieu sees the woman problem as particularly important for political philosophy through an interpretation of significant passages in his Persian Letters.
Book Reviews by I-Kai Jeng
Études platoniciennes, 2021
東吳哲學學報, 2019
2016 337pp. (Theaitetos; Theaetetus) SO syllabē (logos) sigma omicron 201e-202b 298-299
Uploads
Papers by I-Kai Jeng
Book Reviews by I-Kai Jeng