Proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy: Volume XXI (2005)

With one exception, this volume contains papers and commentaries originally presented to the Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy during the 2004-5 academic year. Of the seven colloquia that make up this volume, two deal with Plato while the rest are dedicated to Aristotle. The topics on Plato are almost exclusively political: (1) a reading of the Republic that places it within the genre of writings ‘On the Politeia, and (2) a discussion of the role of preambles in Plato’s Laws. There is a wider range of topics on Aristotle, ranging from his views on the relationship between external goods and happiness, through his account of phantasia, and all the way to his theory of metaphor. In relation to Aristotle also, one colloquium provides a detailed analysis of his curious theory of the so-called 'inner sense’, while another raises the question as to whether he might be regarded as a particularist in the philosophy of action like some modern theorists. As usual for this series, most colloquia contain a paper and commentary which provide a lively exchange on these topics.