Showing papers on "Ontology (information science) published in 1982"

The Platonic godfather: A note on the protagoras myth

Abstract: Is virtue teachable? This perennial question is addressed many times in the Platonic dialogues, but the Platonic answer is by no means clear. The paradoxical Socratic assertion that virtue (aretē) is knowledge (epistēmē), which would seem to ensure its teachability, instead entails its nonteachability. Or rather it presents a virtue which is so difficult to achieve—as difficult to achieve as fluency in a foreign tongue—that it would be available only to the few, while the many would be left to stumble in virtueless confusion. On the other hand, the Protagorean assertion that virtue is something other than knowledge (allo ti ēn ē epistēmē hē aretē), which would seem to render the teaching of virtue impossible, instead ensures its teachability. Or rather it presents a virtue which is so difficult to resist—as difficult as fluency in one’s native tongue—that virtually no one will fail to acquire and exhibit it. The root of the dilemma seems to be the resistance on the part of the Platonic interlocutors to abandon a unitary view of virtue. In other words, the Aristotelian distinction between ethical virtue and theoretical virtue is never maintained explicitly in the Platonic corpus. And yet the choice between Protagoras and Socrates in the Protagoras seems to be a clear adumbration of that distinction. Why, then, does Socrates argue against the account of virtue (ethical virtue) which Protagoras presents? Protagoras’ account is given in two parts, a mythos (320c8-324d1) and a logos (324d1328d4). In other words, a descriptive account (a logos) of virtue and its teachability in cities follows a genetic account (a mythos) of virtue’s coming to be. And throughout his account, Protagoras equates virtue with justice, which arose out of the interaction of nature (Epimetheus and the subterranean gods), art (Prometheus), and convention (Zeus and Hermes). According to Protagoras, nature (Epimetheus in particular) is both thoughtless and persuasive of its own thoughtfulness (320d3-8):

Limits to freedom of expression

Abstract: November 20–26 2006. Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. X X X I X t h I n t e r n a t i o n a l Conference of the Round Table on Archives. Theme: Sharing memory through globalization. F u r t h e r i n f o r m a t i o n : Perrine Canavaggio. E-mail: canavaggio@ica.org. December 4–8, 2006. Moscow, Russian Federation. 9th International Conference EVA 2006 Moscow. Theme: Culture and information society technologies, Century XXI. Further information: Leonid K u y b y s h e v, H e a d o f t h e Organising Committee. E-mail: leonid@evarussia.ru