Alex Long
Biographic Data
| ID | 3979749 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alex Long |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alex |
| FAMILY NAME | Long |
| SIGNATURE | LONG A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of St Andrews |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5838-5490 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 4 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 23 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1995 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Of Rule and Office and the Limits on Rule in Plato
The goodness of the virtues and the sun-like good
Does the Longer Way, described but not taken in Plato's Republic, provide understanding that justice and other virtues are good? Sarah Broadie argues that it does not, on the grounds that Socrates and the brothers learn about justice's goodness without taking the Longer Way. I argue that Socrates’ arguments for justice's goodness are not so complete as to make it impossible for philosopher-rulers to gain from the Longer Way greater understanding …
Dogmata, Epictetus and Socrates
This paper is about dogmata (judgements) in the third book of the Discourses. I examine first their content and distinguish between dogmata with general content and those with person-specific content. The Discourses do not have the kind of progression from the latter to the former that we find in Plato’s Socratic dialogues. I then turn to the attitude of Epictetus’ interlocutor or addressee and show that some of the dogmata targeted by Epictetus …
Sarah Broadie, scholar of ancient Greek philosophy
Peer reviewed
Immortality in Ancient Philosophy
Socrates and Plato
Rogue Bodies
Death and Immortality in Ancient Philosophy
Socrates and Plato
Socrates and Plato
The Ship of State and the Subordination of Socrates
Immortality in Empedocles
The paper examines Empedocles’ attributions of immortality. I argue that Empedocles does not withhold immortality from the gods but rather has an unorthodox conception of what immortality is. Immortality does not mean, or imply, endless duration. A god’s immortality is its continuity, as one and the same organism, over a long but finite period. This conception of divine immortality then influences Empedocles’ other attributions of immortality, ea…
Academic Eloquence and the End of Cicero’s De finibus
The paper considers why the structure of Cicero’s De Finibus implicitly favours the Academy, even though Cicero avoids a decision between the Stoic theory and Antiochus’ theory. Cicero’s educational aims require him to illustrate not only a range of theories but a range of criteria by which theories and the exposition of theories should be judged. By one criterion – style of exposition – the entire Academic tradition, not Antiochus specifically, …
The Advantages of Conversation in the Phaedrus
The aim of this chapter is to see why, and for whom, the Phaedrus recommends conversation. The chapter begins with the discussion of conversation in the critique of writing at the end of the Phaedrus. Robinson’s account of the Phaedrus, according to which Plato explains the importance of conversation for teaching alone, is shown to be a correct account of the critique but not of the dialogue as a whole. The chapter discusses the motivation for th…
Plato and the Stoics
Plato was central both to the genesis of Stoic theory and to subsequent debates within the Stoa. These essays provide new and detailed explorations of the complex relationship between Plato and the Greek and Roman Stoic traditions, and together they show the directness and independence with which Stoics examined Plato's writing. What were the philosophical incentives to consulting and then returning to Plato's dialogues? To what extent did Plato,…
Conversation and Self-Sufficiency in Plato
A. G. Long presents a new account of the importance of conversation in Plato's philosophy. He provides close studies of eight dialogues, including some of Plato's most famous works and traces the emergence of internal dialogue or self-questioning as an alternative to the Socratic conversation from which Plato starts.
Plato
Plato's Meno and Phaedo are two of the most important works of ancient western philosophy and continue to be studied around the world. The Meno is a seminal work of epistemology. The Phaedo is a key source for Platonic metaphysics and for Plato's conception of the human soul. Together they illustrate the birth of Platonic philosophy from Plato's reflections on Socrates' life and doctrines. This edition offers new and accessible translations of bo…
Plato's dialogues and a common rationale for dialogue form
The project of this volume is to explain why the dialogue genre was put to minimal or no use by early Christian authors, despite the previous prominence of the genre in antiquity. One might approach our task in the following manner: first determine what attracts authors to dialogue form, and then use that determination to explain the genre's absence or rarity in early Christianity. For when we have unearthed the rationale for writing in dialogue …
Firebird Theatre company
Malcolm X Transcribing the Dictionary in Slow Motion
Malcolm X Transcribing the Dictionary in Slow Motion Alexander Long (bio) The dictionary contains the only sentence that never ends And for you Malcolm I offer one that does But takes its time and catches its breath stretching Its lines as far as the margin that is the end Of the world and so begins again knowing How the beginning is the end that waits blankly Knowing it can never be shaken delayed The All-Knowing End of Things Where the soul com…
Lucan and Moral Luck
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Refutation and Relativism in Theaetetus 161-171
In this paper I discuss the dialogues between 'Protagoras', Theodorus and Socrates in Theaetetus 161-171 and emphasise the importance for this passage of a dilemma which refutation is shown to pose for relativism at 161e-162a. I argue that the two speeches delivered on Protagoras' behalf contain material that is deeply Socratic and suggest that this feature of the speeches should be interpreted as part of Plato's philosophical case against relati…
Cicero’s Plato and Aristotle
The aim of this chapter is to approach Cicero’s philosophical work by studying his assessments and use of Plato and Aristotle. That could, of course, be a topic for a whole book.1 As assessed by Cicero, Plato and Aristotle constitute between them all that is best in philosophy, both in their own right and by the traditions they established via their successors in the Academy and the Lyceum. Merely translating their ‘superhuman talents’ (‘divina i…
Lucan and Moral Luck
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Cicero’s Plato and Aristotle
The aim of this chapter is to approach Cicero’s philosophical work by studying his assessments and use of Plato and Aristotle. That could, of course, be a topic for a whole book.1 As assessed by Cicero, Plato and Aristotle constitute between them all that is best in philosophy, both in their own right and by the traditions they established via their successors in the Academy and the Lyceum. Merely translating their ‘superhuman talents’ (‘divina i…
Refutation and Relativism in Theaetetus 161-171
In this paper I discuss the dialogues between 'Protagoras', Theodorus and Socrates in Theaetetus 161-171 and emphasise the importance for this passage of a dilemma which refutation is shown to pose for relativism at 161e-162a. I argue that the two speeches delivered on Protagoras' behalf contain material that is deeply Socratic and suggest that this feature of the speeches should be interpreted as part of Plato's philosophical case against relati…
Lucan and Moral Luck
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Malcolm X Transcribing the Dictionary in Slow Motion
Malcolm X Transcribing the Dictionary in Slow Motion Alexander Long (bio) The dictionary contains the only sentence that never ends And for you Malcolm I offer one that does But takes its time and catches its breath stretching Its lines as far as the margin that is the end Of the world and so begins again knowing How the beginning is the end that waits blankly Knowing it can never be shaken delayed The All-Knowing End of Things Where the soul com…
Plato's dialogues and a common rationale for dialogue form
The project of this volume is to explain why the dialogue genre was put to minimal or no use by early Christian authors, despite the previous prominence of the genre in antiquity. One might approach our task in the following manner: first determine what attracts authors to dialogue form, and then use that determination to explain the genre's absence or rarity in early Christianity. For when we have unearthed the rationale for writing in dialogue …
Firebird Theatre company
Plato
Plato's Meno and Phaedo are two of the most important works of ancient western philosophy and continue to be studied around the world. The Meno is a seminal work of epistemology. The Phaedo is a key source for Platonic metaphysics and for Plato's conception of the human soul. Together they illustrate the birth of Platonic philosophy from Plato's reflections on Socrates' life and doctrines. This edition offers new and accessible translations of bo…
The Advantages of Conversation in the Phaedrus
The aim of this chapter is to see why, and for whom, the Phaedrus recommends conversation. The chapter begins with the discussion of conversation in the critique of writing at the end of the Phaedrus. Robinson’s account of the Phaedrus, according to which Plato explains the importance of conversation for teaching alone, is shown to be a correct account of the critique but not of the dialogue as a whole. The chapter discusses the motivation for th…
Plato and the Stoics
Plato was central both to the genesis of Stoic theory and to subsequent debates within the Stoa. These essays provide new and detailed explorations of the complex relationship between Plato and the Greek and Roman Stoic traditions, and together they show the directness and independence with which Stoics examined Plato's writing. What were the philosophical incentives to consulting and then returning to Plato's dialogues? To what extent did Plato,…
Conversation and Self-Sufficiency in Plato
A. G. Long presents a new account of the importance of conversation in Plato's philosophy. He provides close studies of eight dialogues, including some of Plato's most famous works and traces the emergence of internal dialogue or self-questioning as an alternative to the Socratic conversation from which Plato starts.
Academic Eloquence and the End of Cicero’s De finibus
The paper considers why the structure of Cicero’s De Finibus implicitly favours the Academy, even though Cicero avoids a decision between the Stoic theory and Antiochus’ theory. Cicero’s educational aims require him to illustrate not only a range of theories but a range of criteria by which theories and the exposition of theories should be judged. By one criterion – style of exposition – the entire Academic tradition, not Antiochus specifically, …
The Ship of State and the Subordination of Socrates
Immortality in Empedocles
The paper examines Empedocles’ attributions of immortality. I argue that Empedocles does not withhold immortality from the gods but rather has an unorthodox conception of what immortality is. Immortality does not mean, or imply, endless duration. A god’s immortality is its continuity, as one and the same organism, over a long but finite period. This conception of divine immortality then influences Empedocles’ other attributions of immortality, ea…
Socrates and Plato
Death and Immortality in Ancient Philosophy
Socrates and Plato
Rogue Bodies
Immortality in Ancient Philosophy
Socrates and Plato
Dogmata, Epictetus and Socrates
This paper is about dogmata (judgements) in the third book of the Discourses. I examine first their content and distinguish between dogmata with general content and those with person-specific content. The Discourses do not have the kind of progression from the latter to the former that we find in Plato’s Socratic dialogues. I then turn to the attitude of Epictetus’ interlocutor or addressee and show that some of the dogmata targeted by Epictetus …
Sarah Broadie, scholar of ancient Greek philosophy
Peer reviewed
The goodness of the virtues and the sun-like good
Does the Longer Way, described but not taken in Plato's Republic, provide understanding that justice and other virtues are good? Sarah Broadie argues that it does not, on the grounds that Socrates and the brothers learn about justice's goodness without taking the Longer Way. I argue that Socrates’ arguments for justice's goodness are not so complete as to make it impossible for philosopher-rulers to gain from the Longer Way greater understanding …
Of Rule and Office and the Limits on Rule in Plato
Philosophy (19 works) · Classical Philosophy and Thought (18 works) · Epistemology (16 works) · Art (15 works) · Literature (14 works) · SOCRATES (10 works) · Classical Antiquity Studies (9 works) · Computer Science (8 works) · Ancient philosophy (7 works) · Theology (7 works)