Essays on being

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Title:

Essays on being

Author:

Kahn, Charles H.

ISBN:

9780199654352

Personal Author:

Kahn, Charles H.

Edition:

[1st paperback ed.].

Publication Information:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2012.

Physical Description:

283, [2] p. ; 22 cm.

General Note:

A collection of previously published essays. Original dates of publication range from 1966 to 2008.

First published (without the essay "Questions and categories") in 2009.

Contents:

Introduction -- 1. The Greek verb "to be" and the concept of being (1966) -- 2. On the terminology for copula and existence (1972) -- Why existence does not emerge as a distinct concept in Greek philosophy (1976) -- 4. Some philosophical uses of "to be" in Plato (1981) -- 5. A return to the theory of the verb be and the concept of being (2004) -- 6. The thesis of Parmenides (1969) -- 7. Being in Parmenides and Plato (1988) -- 8. Parmenides and Plato once more (2002) ; Postscript on Parmenides (2008) ; Parmenides and physics ; The direction of the chariot ride in the proem ; The epistemic preference for fire -- 9. Questions and categories (1978).

Abstract:

"This volume presents a series of essays published by Charles Kahn over a period of forty years, in which he seeks to explicate the ancient Greek concept of Being. He addresses two distinct but related problems, one linguistic and one historical and philosophical. The linguistic problem concerns the theory of the Greek verb einai, 'to be': how to replace the conventional but misleading distinction between copula and existential verb with a more adequate theoretical account. The philosophical problem is in principle quite distinct: to understand how the concept of Being became the central topic in Greek philosophy from Parmenides to Aristotle. These two problems converge on what Kahn calls the veridical use of einai. While recognizing the predicative function of the very as fundamental throughout, he proposes the connection with truth rather than with existence as key to the role of Being in Greek philosophy. In the later papers he interprets the veridical in terms of a more general semantic function of the very, which comprises the notions of existence and instantiation as well as truth."--Publisher description.

Personal Subject:

Subject Term:

Einai (The Greek word)

Philosophy, Ancient.

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168025571072	111 K12E 2012	1	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

This volume presents a series of essays published by Charles Kahn over a period of forty years, in which he seeks to explicate the ancient Greek concept of Being. He addresses two distinct but intimately related problems, one linguistic and one historical and philosophical. The linguistic problem concerns the theory of the Greek verb einai, 'to be': how to replace the conventional but misleading distinction between copula and existential verb with a more adequate theoretical account. The philosophical problem is in principle quite distinct: to understand how the concept of Being became the central topic in Greek philosophy from Parmenides to Aristotle. But these two problems converge on what Kahn calls the veridical use of einai. In the earlier papers he takes that connection between the verb and the concept of truth to be the key to the central role of Being in Greek philosophy. In the later papers he interprets the veridical in terms of a more general semantic function of the verb, which comprises the notions of existence and instantiation as well as truth.