Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Plato takes a swim

From a mss. of thirteenth-century exempla, edited in Antonianum 2 (1927), p.233:

"Dicit fr. Pe[trus] de Taren[tasia] quod legitur in quodam sermone cuiusdam doctoris greci super illud verbum: 'Perdam sapientiam sapi[entium]' etc. quod Plato semel incedens iuxta mare invenit piscatores et interrogavit si aliquos pisces vel aliquid cepissent vel haberent. Qui responderunt: Quos cepimus non habemus et quos habemus nundum cepimus, intelligentes hoc de pediculis. Quod problema ruminans Plato et intelligere non valens, proiecit se in mare pre dolore."

4 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Hello again. Last time I asked you for literature on medieval philosophers' views on free will. This time I ask you your thoughts on Mary Elizabeth Ingham's Ethics and Freedom: An Historical-Critical Investigation of Scotist Ethical Thought. I found it in my university's library -- is it worth reading

Lee Faber said...

Scotus' ethics are currently the subject of controversy; I have not read this particular work, but I'm sure its fine as far as it goes. Just keep in mind that there are alternative views; you could also read Wolter, Williams, Dumont (see Hoffmann's bibliography for references).

Brother Charles said...

As he is said to have died from old age rather than drowning, we may presume that someone caught Plato from the sea, and perhaps by this act resolved the difficulty.