Where does the notion of free will come from? How and when did it develop, and what did that development involve? This title offers an account of the history, the notion of a free will that emerged from powerful assumptions about the relation between divine providence, correctness of individual choice, and self-enslavement due to incorrect choice.
This volume contains new translations of two dialogues of Plato, the Protagoras and the Meno, together with explanatory notes and substantial interpretive essays. Robert C. Bartlett's translations are as literal as is compatible with sound English style and take into account important textual variations. Because the interpretive essays both sketch the general outlines of the dialogues and take up specific theoretical or philosophic difficulties, they will be of interest not only to those reading the dialogues for the first time but also to those already familiar with them. The Protagoras and the Meno are linked by the attention each pays to the idea of virtue: the latter dialogue focuses on the fundamental Socratic question "What is virtue?," the former on the specific virtue of courage, especially in its relation to wisdom. An appendix contains a short extract from Xenophon's Anabasis of Cyrus that vividly portrays the figure of Meno.
The book features essays and seminars from renowned scholars Myles Burnyeat and Michael Frede, focusing on the contentious Seventh Platonic Letter. They critically examine its authenticity, arguing that its philosophical ideas clash with those found in Plato's established dialogues, thereby contributing to the ongoing debate in ancient philosophy.