How Do the Eight Hypotheses in Plato’s Parmenides Come to Light? Chiasmus as a Method of Division
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.1981-9471.v18i1p37-66Keywords:
Plato, Porphyry, Chiasmus, pros to hen, pros ta allaAbstract
In this paper, I aim to explore the structure of the exercise in the second part of the Parmenides. In analyzing the transitional section, I claim that in addition to diairesis, there is another method of division, namely, cross-division, which Porphyry terms chiasmus. On this basis, I explain how Plato uses chiasmus to divide the exercise into eight hypotheses, in which the subjects of the paired hypotheses (I–VI, II–V, III–VII, and IV–VIII) are the same and those of the nonpaired hypotheses differ. In closing, I reconstruct the universal scheme of the exercise on the basis of Plato’s use of chiasmus.
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National Social Science Fund of China
Grant numbers 21BZX088
