The Crane's Walk
The Crane's Walk
Plato, Pluralism, and the Inconstancy of Truth
Contributors: Jeremy Barris (author)
Format: Hardback, 229 x 155 x 36mm , 300 pp
Publication date: 15 May 2009
Publisher: Fordham University Press
ISBN-10: 0823229130
EAN: 9780823229130
In "The Crane's Walk", Jeremy Barris seeks to show that we can conceive and live with a pluralism of standpoints with conflicting standards for truth-with the truth of each being entirely unaffected by the truth of the others.The longest tradition of Plato scholarship identifies crucial faults in Plato's theory of Ideas. Barris argues that Plato deliberately displayed those faults, because he wanted to demonstrate that basic kinds of error or illogic have dimensions that are crucial to establishing truth. These dimensions legitimate a paradoxical coordination of logically incompatible conceptions of truth. He also emphasizes the importance of the nonargumentative features of the dialogues: their drama, myths, fictions, anecdotes, and humor.Today, communities are torn apart by conflicts among a host of different pluralist and absolutist commitments. The positions developed in this book can contribute perspectives for resolving these conflicts in ways that all sides can recognize as reasonable and fair.
Reviews:
"An absolutely astonishing and original book." - Daniel Boyarin, University of California, Berkeley "Barris' command of Plato scholarship is notable for its breadth as well as its thoroughness and relevance to detail." - Peter Manchester, Stony Brook University"
Author Biography:
JEREMY BARRIS is Professor of Philosophy at Marshall University and author of Paradox and the Possibility of Knowledge: The Example of Psychoanalysis.