Apuleius' Plato : the role of biography in the exegesis of philosophy
This thesis examines the role played by the genre of biography in exegetical modes of philosophical teaching. In a thematic reading of the unique literary corpus of the second century C.E. Platonist Apuleius, it considers how this authorâs sustained project of philosophical popularisation is transmitted through biographical representations of the philosopher. Apuleiusâ self-fashioned philosopher <i>persona,</i> his extended biography of Plato, and his exemplary treatment of the Platonic figure of Socrates, are each set to initiate his audience into philosophy as a way of life, while his rhetorical brand of Platonism conducts its philosophical mission via philosophy as a genre of life writing. Chapter One reads a key text from the collection of Apuleiusâ excerpted Carthaginian orations (<i>Florida</i><i> </i>18) as presenting the developing portrait of the speakerâs philosopher <i>persona</i>, articulated through a series of stages. Between the limits of the speakerâs opening identification as a philosopher and the projected philosophical education of his Carthaginian audience, this text instigates an autobiographical discussion of pedagogic reciprocity, dramatically triangulated between the speakerâs
Fletcher, R. O. F.
Apuleius' Plato : the role of biography in the exegesis of philosophy. This thesis examines the role played by the genre of biography in exegetical modes of philosophical teaching. In a thematic reading of the unique literary corpus of the second century C.E. Platonist Apuleius, it considers how this authorâs sustained project of philosophical popularisation is transmitted through biographical representations of the philosopher. Apuleiusâ self-fashioned philosopher <i>persona,</i> his extended biography of Plato, and his exemplary treatment of the Platonic figure of Socrates, are each set to initiate his audience into philosophy as a way of life, while his rhetorical brand of Platonism conducts its philosophical mission via philosophy as a genre of life writing. Chapter One reads a key text from the collection of Apuleiusâ excerpted Carthaginian orations (<i>Florida</i><i> </i>18) as presenting the developing portrait of the speakerâs philosopher <i>persona</i>, articulated through a series of stages. Between the limits of the speakerâs opening identification as a philosopher and the projected philosophical education of his Carthaginian audience, this text instigates an autobiographical discussion of pedagogic reciprocity, dramatically triangulated between the speakerâs
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