Book contents
- Platonic Autonomy
- Platonic Autonomy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Self-Determination
- Part II Motivational Challenges to Self-Rule
- Part III Internal and External Authorities
- Part IV The Limits of Autonomy and Self-Rule
- Chapter 7 Vulnerability, Dialogue, and the Limits of Autonomy
- Chapter 8 Plato, Dialogue, and Epistemic Autonomy
- Part V Reconciling between Freedom, External Authority, and Nature
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 7 - Vulnerability, Dialogue, and the Limits of Autonomy
from Part IV - The Limits of Autonomy and Self-Rule
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 August 2025
Book contents
- Platonic Autonomy
- Platonic Autonomy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Self-Determination
- Part II Motivational Challenges to Self-Rule
- Part III Internal and External Authorities
- Part IV The Limits of Autonomy and Self-Rule
- Chapter 7 Vulnerability, Dialogue, and the Limits of Autonomy
- Chapter 8 Plato, Dialogue, and Epistemic Autonomy
- Part V Reconciling between Freedom, External Authority, and Nature
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In this chapter, I argue that a comprehensive picture of Platonic autonomy must be balanced by attention to mutual interdependence and the ways that ideas arise through interpersonal dialogue. Philosophical ideas arise in a social context, and to this degree, even ideas that are now ‘my own’ have come to be mine in part through the reasoning of other persons. Moreover, as a result of human fallibility, even the fully developed Platonic philosopher still requires conversational partners to both learn and to test out ideas. Rather than overvaluing self-sufficiency, a philosophical life includes being open to challenges to one’s ideas, tolerating a state of not knowing fully, and learning that one needs others due to the limits of individual reasoners.
Information
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- Chapter
- Information
- Platonic AutonomySelf-Determination, Unity, and Cooperation, pp. 149 - 168Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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