Mitchell Miller
Encyclopedia
Mitchell H. Miller, Jr. is a professor of Philosophy
at Vassar College
. The majority of his work concerns the late dialogue
s of Plato
, but he has also written on Hesiod
, Parmenides
, and Hegel
.
beyond those explicitly discussed by Socrates
in Plato's dialogues. The idea, which is dismissed by many Plato scholars, is based on a brief description of such teachings by Aristotle
in his Metaphysics
. The Seventh Letter, which was attributed to Plato in antiquity, was later considered inauthentic for a time, and is now regarded by most scholars as genuine, also includes indications of such teachings. Miller has argued that evidence of these teachings can be found in the dialogues, but only through careful reading of structure and irony within them.
Miller's work has focused on several of the late dialogues, notably the Parmenides, Statesman, and Philebus
, as well as the Republic. In his book on the Parmenides, Miller argues that the eight bewildering and contradictory hypotheses that end the dialogue form an ironic guide that allows the informed reader to interpret the whole, revealing through what Miller has called "psychagogy"—a transformation of the philosophical disciple's soul—the true nature of Plato's conception of the forms. That is, the ultimate purpose of the text is not to teach the reader didactically but to draw them into a different kind of thinking.
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
. The majority of his work concerns the late dialogue
Dialogue
Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....
s of Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
, but he has also written on Hesiod
Hesiod
Hesiod was a Greek oral poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play. Ancient authors credited him and...
, Parmenides
Parmenides
Parmenides of Elea was an ancient Greek philosopher born in Elea, a Greek city on the southern coast of Italy. He was the founder of the Eleatic school of philosophy. The single known work of Parmenides is a poem, On Nature, which has survived only in fragmentary form. In this poem, Parmenides...
, and Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, one of the creators of German Idealism. His historicist and idealist account of reality as a whole revolutionized European philosophy and was an important precursor to Continental philosophy and Marxism.Hegel developed a comprehensive...
.
Career
Miller is an exponent of the existence of the so-called "unwritten teachings" of Plato: the controversial idea that Plato taught advanced concepts to his students at the AcademyAcademy
An academy is an institution of higher learning, research, or honorary membership.The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 385 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and skill, north of Athens, Greece. In the western world academia is the...
beyond those explicitly discussed by Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
in Plato's dialogues. The idea, which is dismissed by many Plato scholars, is based on a brief description of such teachings by Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
in his Metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
. The Seventh Letter, which was attributed to Plato in antiquity, was later considered inauthentic for a time, and is now regarded by most scholars as genuine, also includes indications of such teachings. Miller has argued that evidence of these teachings can be found in the dialogues, but only through careful reading of structure and irony within them.
Miller's work has focused on several of the late dialogues, notably the Parmenides, Statesman, and Philebus
Philebus
The Philebus , composed between 360 and 347 BC, is among the last of the late Socratic dialogues of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. Socrates is the primary speaker in Philebus, unlike in the other late dialogues...
, as well as the Republic. In his book on the Parmenides, Miller argues that the eight bewildering and contradictory hypotheses that end the dialogue form an ironic guide that allows the informed reader to interpret the whole, revealing through what Miller has called "psychagogy"—a transformation of the philosophical disciple's soul—the true nature of Plato's conception of the forms. That is, the ultimate purpose of the text is not to teach the reader didactically but to draw them into a different kind of thinking.
Books
- The Philosopher in Plato's Statesman. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1980. Reprinted with additional material, Las Vegas: Parmenides, 2004, ISBN 978-1-930972-16-2
- Plato's Parmenides: The Conversion of the Soul. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1986. Reprinted University Park: Pennsylvania State UP, 1991.
See also
- American philosophyAmerican philosophyAmerican philosophy is the philosophical activity or output of Americans, both within the United States and abroad. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that while American philosophy lacks a "core of defining features, American Philosophy can nevertheless be seen as both reflecting and...
- List of American philosophers