The Jellyfish's Pleasures: Philebus 20b-21d

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Jellyfish's Pleasures

T2 - Philebus 20b-21d

AU - O'Reilly, Katherine R.

PY - 2019/6/4

Y1 - 2019/6/4

N2 - Scholars have characterised the trial of the life of pleasure in Philebus 20b-21d as digressive or pejorative. I argue that it is neither: it is a thought experiment containing an important argument, in the form of a reductio, of the hypothesis that a life could be most pleasant without cognition. It proceeds in a series of steps, culminating in the precisely chosen image of the jellyfish. Understanding the intended resonance of this creature, and the sense in which it is deprived, is critical for reconstructing the argument, and yields new insight into Plato’s views on the minimal conditions for pleasure.

AB - Scholars have characterised the trial of the life of pleasure in Philebus 20b-21d as digressive or pejorative. I argue that it is neither: it is a thought experiment containing an important argument, in the form of a reductio, of the hypothesis that a life could be most pleasant without cognition. It proceeds in a series of steps, culminating in the precisely chosen image of the jellyfish. Understanding the intended resonance of this creature, and the sense in which it is deprived, is critical for reconstructing the argument, and yields new insight into Plato’s views on the minimal conditions for pleasure.

KW - Plato

KW - Philebus

KW - Pleasure

KW - Reflexivity

KW - Jellyfish

KW - Ancient Greek Philosophy

U2 - 10.1163/15685284-12342044

DO - 10.1163/15685284-12342044

M3 - Article

SN - 0031-8868

VL - 64

SP - 277

EP - 291

JO - Phronesis

JF - Phronesis

IS - 3

M1 - 2

ER -