In episode 9 of the Digital Dialgoue, I am joined by Jill Gordon, who is currently Professor of Philosophy at Colby College, but in just a few days, on September 1st, she will be the Charles A. Dana Professor of Philosophy at Colby College.
She is the author of many articles on Plato and Social Political philosophy. She has been a long time member of the Ancient Philosophy Society and she served a term as Co-Director during which time she oversaw a tremendous increase in membership and did an enormous amount to secure the long term flourishing of the society.
Her well received book entitled Turning Toward Philosophy: Literary Device and Dramatic Structure in Plato’s Dialogues focuses on the way Plato’s literary techniques are designed to engage students and readers and turn them toward the pursuit of philosophy. She is currently working on a book manuscript that investigates the erotic dimensions of Plato’s world.
In this episode we discuss the erotic nature of Socratic questioning, touching also upon the discussion Marina McCoy and I had in episode 6. We also focus on some passages from Plato’s Phaedo to highlight courage and openness as excellences of dialogue. We touch too upon contemporary political culture and its fundamentally agonistic posture. Finally, Jill highlights the importance of Platonic as opposed to Socratic irony.
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