Philebus Bibliography

M. Watton, 2014

Studies of Platos Philebus: A Bibliography

Compiled by Matt Watton (mwatton3@uwo.ca)1

After a long period of neglect and relative obscurity, Platos Philebus is at last being
studied with the same rigor and fervor as the rest of the Platonic corpus. In response to the
growing interest in this enigmatic dialogue, I have collected a list of bibliographical references of
(primarily-Anglophone) scholarship directly concerned with the Philebus, spanning from the
studies of the late 19th century up to current and soon-to-be-published works.2 The entries are
organized thematically, and I have included reference to the corresponding Stephanus pagination
where relevant.3 For works that discuss the Philebus in only a certain chapter or section, I have
tried to indicate the relevant page numbers alongside the reference. My hope is that this list will
be of use to anybody interested in the Philebus, from established scholars to burgeoning students.
A. Text, Translation, and Commentary
A Major Editions and Commentary
Frede, D. 1993. Philebus. Translation with Introductory Essay. Indianapolis
Gosling, J.C.B. 1975. Plato: Philebus. Oxford
Hackforth, R. 1972 Platos Philebus. Cambridge (repr. of 1945, Platos Examination of
Pleasure)
A Other Editions
Badham, C. 1855. Platonis Philebus with Introduction and Notes. London
Benardete, S. 1993 Platos Philebus: The Comedy and Tragedy of Life. Chicago
Bury, R.G. 1897. The Philebus of Plato, edited with Introduction, Notes and Appendices.
Cambridge
Fowler, H.N. 1925. Plato with an English Translation (Loeb Classical Library): The Statesman
and Philebus. London
Frede, D. 1997. Philebos. Gottingen. (German Translation with Commentary)
Jowett, B. 1892. Philebus, Translation with Introduction. Oxford. (available:
http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/phil/ancientmedievalorientalphilosophy/Philebus
/toc.html)
1

Please send me any corrections/additions. My hope is that this will continue expanding and remain as relevant and
comprehensive as possible
2
I have aimed to make the list exhaustive, but I am sure some omissions remain, especially concerning nonAnglophone scholarship.
3
Bear in mind, however, that a particular entrys inclusion under one heading does not preclude its relevance for
other sections and themes of the dialogue.

Philebus Bibliography

M. Watton, 2014

Taylor, A.E. 1956. Philebus and Epinomis. Translation and Introduction. New York
Waterfield, R.A.H. 1982. Plato Philebus. Harmondsworth
B. Whole Dialogue
Davidson, D. 1990. Plato's Philebus. New York
Hampton, C. 1990. Pleasure, Knowledge, and Being: An Analysis of Platos Philebus. Albany
Irwin, T. 1995. Plato's Ethics. Oxford (sp. 318-338)
Russell, D. 2005. Plato on Pleasure and the Good Life. Oxford (sp. 138-204)
Shiner, R. 1974. Knowledge and Reality in Platos Philebus. Assen
C. Collected Papers4
Dillon, J. and L. Brisson (eds.) Platos Philebus: Selected Papers from the Eight Symposium
Platonicum. Germany
Dixsaut, M. and F. Teisserenc (eds.) 1999. La flure du plaisir tudes sur le Philbe de Platon
Vol. 1 : Commentaires, and Vol. 2: Contextes. Paris
D. Collection and Division/One-and-the-Many (14b-20a)
Barker, A. 1996. Platos Philebus: The Numbering of a Unity Apeiron 29.4: 143-164
Bury, R.G. 1908. Plato: Philebus 15a,b Archiv fur Geschichte der Philosophie 21: 108-9
Carpenter, A.D. 2007. Putting the Philebus Indispensable Method to Use Ancient Philosophy
27: 303-322
Dancy, R.M. 1984. The One, The Many, and the Forms: Philebus 15b1-8 Ancient Philosophy
4: 160-193
De Chiara-Quenzer, D. 1993. A Method for Pleasure and Reason: Platos Philebus Apeiron
26.1: 37-55
Hahn, R. 1978. On Platos Philebus 15b1-8 Phronesis 23.2: 158-172
Henry, D. 2011. A Sharp Eye for Kinds: Plato on Collection and Division Oxford Studies in
Ancient Philosophy 41: 229-256

I have not included any of the articles from this collection under any of the headings in the rest of the bibliography.
To do so would give a false impression of a wealth of scholarship on the Philebus. This is no way meant to devalue
the importance of the articles collected here.

Philebus Bibliography

M. Watton, 2014

Huffman, C.A. 2001. The Philolaic Method: The Pythagoreanism Behind the Philebus in A.
Preus (ed.) Before Plato: Essays on Ancient Greek Philosophy VI. Binghamton: 67-85
Meinwald, C.C. 1996. One/Many Problems: Philebus 14c1-15c3 Phronesis 41: 95-103
Meinwald, C.C. 1998. Prometheuss Bounds: Peras and Apeiron in Platos Philebus in J.
Gentzler (ed.) Method in Ancient Philosophy. Oxford: 165-180
Menn, S. 1988. Collecting the Letters Phronesis 43.4: 291-305
Mirhandy, D. 1992. The Great Fuss over Philebus 15b Apeiron 25.3: 171-177
Muniz, F. and Rudebusch, G. 2004. Philebus 15b: A Problem Solved Classical Quarterly
54.2: 394-405
Page, B.S. 1947. Two Notes on Platos Philebus Classical Review 61.1: 8
Striker, G. 1970. Peras und Apeiron: das Problem der Formen in Platans Philebos.
Hypomnemata 50, Gottingen
Trevaskis, J.R. 1960. Classification in the Philebus Phronesis 5.1: 39-44
E. Choice of Lives (20b-23b)
Cooper, J.M. 2004. Plato and Aristotle on Finality and (Self-)Sufficiency in Cooper, J.M.
Knowledge, Nature, and the Good. Princeton: 270-308
Evans, M. 2007. Platos Rejection of Thoughtless and Pleasureless Lives Phronesis 52: 337363
Harte, V. 2014. The Life of Protarchus Choosing (Plato Philebus 20b-22c) in M.K. Lee and
M. Schiefsky (eds.) From Refutation to Assent: Strategies of Argument in Greek and Roman
Philosophy. New York: 3-20
Waterfield, R. 1984. An Inconsistency in Platos Philebus? Apeiron 18.1: 46-49
F. Metaphysics/Ontology/Four-Fold Division (23b-31b and passim)
Benitez, E.E. 1989. Forms in Platos Philebus. Asses
Cooper, J. 1977. Platos Theory of the Human Good in the Philebus The Journal of Philosophy
74.11: 714-730
Reprinted in: (1) Cooper, J. 1999. Reason and Emotion: Essays on Ancient Moral
Psychology and Ethical Theory. Princeton: 151-164; (2) Fine, G. (ed.) 1999. Plato 2:
Ethics, Politics, Religion, and the Soul. Oxford: 329-344
Dancy, R.M. 2007. The Limits of Being in the Philebus Apeiron 40: 35-70

Philebus Bibliography

M. Watton, 2014

Davis, P.J. 1979. The Fourfold Classification in Platos Philebus Apeiron 13.2: 124-134
Delcomminette, S. 2005. The Fourth Genus and the Other Three: A Note on Philebus 27a8-9
Classical Quarterly 55.2:614-616
Fahrnkopf, R. 1977. Forms in the Philebus Journal of the History of Philosophy 15: 202-207.
Hamilton, A. 2005. Platos Theory of Forms Reconsidered: Radical Purity in Philebus 11a-15b
Ancient Philosophy 25: 349-363
Harte, V. 2002. Plato on Parts and Wholes: The Metaphysics of Structure. Oxford
Ide, H.A. 2002. Complex Property Structure in Platos Philebus Ancient Philosophy 22: 263276
Kolb, D.A. 1983. Pythagoras Bound: Limit and Unlimited in Platos Philebus Journal of the
History of Philosophy 21.4: 497-511
Letwin, O. 1981. Interpreting the Philebus Phronesis 26.3: 187-206
McGinley, J. 1977. The Doctrine of the Good in Philebus Apeiron 11.2: 27-57
MacKinnon, F.I. 1925. The Docrtine of Measure in the Philebus The Philosophical Review
34.2: 144-153
Mason, A. J. 2014. On the Status of Nous in the Philebus Phronesis 59: 143-169
Moravcsik, J.M.E. 1979. Forms, Nature and the Good in the Philebus Phronesis 24: 81-104.
Sayre, K. 2002. Do Forms Have a Role in Platos Philebus? in W. Weldon (ed.) Platos
Forms: Varieties of Interpretations. Lanham: 16991.
Shiner, R.A. 1979. Must Philebus 59a-c Refer to Transcendent Forms? Journal of the History
of Philosophy 17: 71-77
Woodruff, P. 1979. Knowledge and Reality in Platos Philebus Journal of the History of
Philosophy 17: 79-81
G. Memory/Desire (31b-36c)
Harte, V. Forthcoming (expected 2014)Desire, Memory and the Authority of Soul: Plato
Philebus 35CD, Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy
Lang, H.S. 1980. On Memory: Aristotles Corrections of Plato Journal of the History of
Philosophy 18.4: 379-393
Lee, J.M. 1966. Philebus 35a6-10 Phronesis 11.1: 31-34
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Philebus Bibliography

M. Watton, 2014

H. Pleasure and False Pleasure

Arenson, K.E. 2011. Natural and Neutral States in Platos Philebus Apeiron 44: 191-209
Aufderheide, J. 2011. The Value of Pleasure in Platos Philebus and Aristotles Ethics PhD
Thesis, St. Andrews. available at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/2105
Aufderheide, J. 2013. An Inconsistency in the Philebus? British Journal for the History of
Philosophy 25: 817-837
Bartlett, R.C. 2003. Platos Critique of Hedonism in the Philebus The American Political
Science Review 102.1: 141-151
Butler, J. E. 2007. Pleasures Pyrrhic Victory: An Intellectualist Reading of the Philebus
Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 33: 89-123
Carone, G.R. 2000. Hedonism and the Pleasureless Life in Platos Philebus Phronesis 45.4:
257-283
Carpenter, A.D. 2011. Pleasure and Genesis in Platos Philebus Ancient Philosophy 31: 73-94
Cooper, N. 1968. Pleasure and Goodness in Platos Philebus Philosophical Quarterly 18: 1215
Frede, D. 1992. Disintegration and Restoration: Pleasure and Pain in Plato's Philebus in R.
Kraut (ed.) Cambridge Companion to Plato. Cambridge: 425-463.
Fletcher, E. 2012. Plato on Pleasure, Intelligence and the Human Good: An Interpretation of
the Philebus PhD Thesis, University of Toronto
Fletcher, E. 2014. Plato on Pure Pleasure and the Best Life, Phronesis 59:113-142
Gosling, J.C.B. and Taylor, C.C.W. 1982. The Greeks on Pleasure. Oxford (sp. 129-142; 429453)
Ionescu, C. 2008. Platos Understanding of Pleasure in the Philebus: Absolute Standards of
Repletion and the Mean Journal of Philosophical Research 33: 1-18
Hampton, C. 1987. Pleasure, Truth, and Being in Platos Philebus: A Reply to Professor Frede
Phronesis 32.2: 253-262
Lovibond, S. 1990. True and False Pleasures in the Philebus Proceedings of the
"Aristotelian Society 90: 213-230
McLaughlin, A. 1969. A Note on False Pleasures in the Philebus The Philosophical Quarterly
19: 57-61
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Philebus Bibliography

M. Watton, 2014

Mooradian, N. 1996. Converting Protarchus: Relativism and False Pleasures of Anticipation in

Plato's Philebus Ancient Philosophy 16: 93-112
Muniz, F. 2014. Propositional Pleasures in Platos Philebus Journal of Ancient Philosophy 8.1:
49-75
Reidy, D.A. 1998. False Pleasures and Platos Philebus Journal of Value Inquiry 32: 343-356
Tuozzo, T. 1996. The General Account of Pleasure in Plato's Philebus Journal of the History
of Philosophy 34.4: 495-513
Whiting, J. 2014. Fools Pleasures in Platos Philebus in M.K. Lee and M. Schiefsky (eds.)
From Refutation to Assent: Strategies of Argument in Greek and Roman Philosophy. New York:
21-59
Wolfsdorf, D. 2013. Pleasure in Ancient Greek Philosophy. Cambridge (sp. 61-102).
Wolfsdorf, D. Forthcoming. Hedonic Studies. Cambridge (sp. Chapter 6)
I. Anticipatory Pleasure (36c-41a)
Delcomminette, S. 2003. False Pleasures, Appearance and Imagination in the Philebus
Phronesis 48: 215-37.
Dybikowski, J.C. 1970. False Pleasure and the Philebus Phronesis 15: 147-65
Evans, M. 2008. Plato on the Possibility of Hedonic Mistakes Oxford Studies in Ancient
Philosophy 35: 89124.
Frede, D. 1985. Rumplestilskin's Pleasures: True and False Pleasures in Plato's Philebus
Phronesis 30: 151-180
Gosling, J.C.B. 1959. False Pleasures: Philebus 35c-41b Phronesis 4.1: 44-53
Gosling, J.C.B. 1961. Father Kenny on False Pleasures in Platos Philebus Phronesis 6: 41-5
Harte, V. 2004. The Philebus on Pleasure: The Good, the Bad and the False Proceedings of
the Aristotelian Society 104: 111-28.
Kenny, A. 1960. False Pleasures in the Philebus: A Reply to Mr Gosling Phronesis 5.1: 45-52
Miller, F.D. 1971. Can Pleasures Be False? (Philebus 36c-41b) Southwestern Journal of
Philosophy 2: 57-71

Philebus Bibliography

M. Watton, 2014

Ogihara, S. 2012. False Pleasure: Philebus 36c-40e in R. Patterson, V. Karasmanis and A.

Hermann (eds.) Presocratics and Plato: A Festschrift at Delphi in Honor of Charles Kahn.
Athens: 291-310
Penner, T. 1970. False Anticipatory Pleasures: Philebus 36a3-41a6 Phronesis 15: 166-78
Thein, K. 2012. Imagination, Self-Awareness, and Modal Thought at Philebus 39-40 Oxford
Studies in Ancient Philosophy 42: 109-149
J. False Pleasure 2 (41a-42c)
Mooradian, N. 1995. What To Do About False Pleasures of Overestimation? Philebus 41a542c5 Apeiron 28: 91-112
Wolfsdorf, D. Forthcoming. Mis-apparent Pleasure: Philebus 41a7-42c3, in P. Destree and R.
Edmonds (eds.) Plato and the Power of Images. Leiden (available:
http://astro.temple.edu/~dwolfsdo/Mis-apparent%20Pleasure.pdf)
K. False Pleasure 4/Mixed Pleasure (44a-50d)
Dybikowski, J.C. 1970. Mixed and False Pleasure in the Philebus: A Reply Philosophical
Quarterly 20: 244-247 [REPLY TO MCLAUGHLIN 1969]
Ionescu, C. 2008. Hybrid Varieties of Pleasure and the Complex Case of the Pleasures of
Learning in Platos Philebus Dialogue 47: 439-461
Peponi, A.E. 2002. Mixed Pleasures, Blended Discourses: Poetry, Medicine, and the Body in
Platos Philebus Classical Antiquity 21.1: 135-160
Tallon, A. 1972. The Criterion of Purity in Platos Philebus New Scholasticism 46: 439-45
L. Comedy and Malice (47d-50d)
Austin, E.A. 2012. Fools and Malicious Pleasure in Platos Philebus History of Philosophy
Quarterly 29: 125-139
Harte, V. 2010. Mixed Emotions in Platos Philebus Eighth Biennial Conference of the
Chicago Area Consortium in Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy
Harte, V. Forthcoming. A Comic Rivalry? Comedy and Caricature: Socrates and ridicule in
Philebus 48a-50b.
Miller, M. 2008. The Pleasures of the Comic and of Socratic Inquiry: Aporetic Reflections on
Philebus 48a-50b Arethusa 41.2: 263-289
Wood, J.L. 2007. Comedy, Malice, and Philosophy in Platos Philebus Ancient Philosophy 27:
77-94
M. Knowledge (52c-62a)
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M. Watton, 2014

Harvey, G. 2012. The Supremacy of Dialectic in Platos Philebus. Ancient Philosophy 32:
279-301
Mohr, R. 1983. Philebus 52c-62a and Revisionism in F.J. Pelletier and J. King-Farlow (eds.),
New Essays on Plato. Guelph: 165-170
Roochnik, D. 1998. Of Art and Wisdom: Platos Conception of Techn. Philadelphia
Shiner, R.A. 1983. Knowledge in Philebus 52c-62a in F.J. Pelletier and J. King-Farlow (eds.),
New Essays on Plato. Guelph: 171-183
N. Ranking of Goods (64c-67b)
Bury, R.G. 1939. Plato, Philebus 66a Classical Quarterly 33: 108
Ferber, R. 2010. Platos Side Suns: Beauty, Summertry and Truth. Comments Concerning
Semantic Monism and Plurism of the Good in Philebus (65a1-5) Elenchos: Rivista di Studi Sul
Peneiro Antico 31: 51-76
Rees, D.A. 1947. Plato, Philebus 65c Classical Review 61: 75
Lang, P.M. 2010. The Ranking of the Goods at Philebus 66a-67b Phronesis 55: 153-169
Vancamp, B. 2002. New Light on an Old Crux: Philebus 66a8 Classical Quarterly 52.1: 388390
O. Dramatic Elements/Chronology/Unity
Frede, D. 1996. The Hedonists Conversion: The Role of Socrates in the Philebus in: C. Gill
and. M. M. McCabe (eds.) Form and Argument in Late Plato, Oxford: 213-248
Kress, J. 2010. Pleasure Unlimited: Philebus and the Drama of the Unlimited Epoche 15.1: 1334
Isenberg, M.W. 1940. The Unity of Platos Philebus Classical Philology 35.2: 154-179
MacClintock, S. 1961. More on the Structure of the Philebus Phronesis 6.1: 46-52
McCoy, J. 2007. The Argument of the Philebus Epoche 12: 1-16
Mueller, G.E. 1954. The Unity of Platos Philebus The Classical Journal 50.1: 21-27
Sayre, K. M. 1987. The Philebus and the Good: The Unity of the Dialogue in which the Good is
the Unity, II Proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy 2 45-71.
Commentary by P. Mitsis: 72-78
Waterfield, R.A.H. 1980. The Place of the Philebus is Platos Dialogues. Phronesis 25.3: 270305
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M. Watton, 2014

P. Theology
Carpenter, A.D. 2003. Phileban Gods Ancient Philosophy 23: 93-112.
Obdrzalek, S. 2012. Next to Godliness: Pleasure and Assimilation in God in the Philebus
Apeiron 45.1: 1-31
Q. Miscellany
Arends, F. 2013. Fridays Footprint: Rethinking the Philebus on the Basis of Platos Political
Philosophy Polis 30.1: 1-29
Barker, A. 1987. Text and Sense at Philebus 56a Classical Quarterly 37: 103-109
Borthwick, E.K. 2003. Text and Interpretation of Plato Philebus 56a Classical Philology 98.3:
274-280
Carpenter, A.D. 2006. Hedonic Persons: The Good Man Argument in Platos Philebus British
Journal for the History of Philosophy 14: 5-26
Compton, T. 1990. What Are the Topnoi in Philebus 51c? Classical Quarterly 40.2: 549-552
Evans, M. 2007. Plato and the Meaning of Pain Apeiron 40: 71-93
Wood, J.L. 2007. Freedom in the Philebus Proceedings of the American Philosophical
Association 81: 205-216
Wood, J.L. 2009. A Journey to the Dark Side of the Moon Faith and Philosophy 26: 134-153
R. Philebus and Other Dialogues and Aristotle
Bobonich, C. 1995. Platos Theory of Goods in the Laws and Philebus Proceedings of the
Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy 11: 101-153.
Burnyeat, M.F. 2004. Fathers and Sons in Platos Republic and Philebus Classical Quarterly
54: 80-7
Drozdek, A. 2000. The Four Kinds of Reality in the Timaeus and Philebus Dialogos 35: 125142
Griswold, C. 1981. Soul, Form, and Indeterminacy in Platos Philebus and Phaedrus
Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 55: 184-194
Harvey, G. 2009. Techn and the Good in Platos Statesmen and Philebus Journal of the
History of Philosophy 47.1: 1-33
Kahn, C. H. 2013. Plato and the Post-Socratic Dialogue. New York. (sp. 131-175)

Philebus Bibliography

M. Watton, 2014

McCoy, J. 2004. The Appropriation of Myth and the Sayings of the Wise in Platos Meno and
Philebus Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 78: 169-178
Miller, M. 2008. A More Exact Grasp of the Soul? Tripartition in Republic IV and Dialectic in
the Philebus, in K. Pritzl, (ed.), Truth. Washington
Mohr, R.D. 1981. The Number Theory in Platos Republic VII and Philebus Isis 72.4: 620-627
Moss, J. 2012. Pictures and Passions in the Timaeus and Philebus in R. Barney, T. Brennan,
and C. Brittain (eds.) Plato and the Divided Self. New York: 259-280
Mouroutsou, G. 2007. The Metaphor of Mixture in the Platonic Dialogues Sophist and
Philebus Prolegomena 6: 171-202
Murphy, N.R. 1938. The Comparison of Lives in Platos Philebus Classical Quarterly 32.2:
116-124
Van Riel, G. 2000. Aristotles Definition of Pleasure: A Refutation of the Platonic Account
Ancient Philosophy 20: 119-38
White, F.C. 2001. Platos Last Words on Pleasure Classical Quarterly 51.2: 458-476
S. Ancient Commentators
Van Riel, G. 1997. The Transcendent Cause: Iamblichus and the Philebus of Plato Syllecta
Classica 8: 31-46.
Westerink, L.G. (ed., tr.). 1959. Damascius: Lectures on the Philebus (Wrongly Attributed to
Olympiodorus). Amsterdam
T. Philebus and Contemporary Philosophy
Gadamer, H.G. 1991. Platos Dialectical Ethics: Phenomenological Interpretations Relating to
the Philebus. (tr. R.M. Wallace) New Haven
Gibbons, S. and C. Legg. 2013. Higher-Order One-Many Problems in Platos Philebus and
Recent Australian Metaphysics Australian Journal of Philosophy 91.1: 119-138
Gill, C. and F. Renaud (eds.) 2010. Hermeneutic Philosophy and Plato: Gadamers Response to
the Philebus Academia
Hauser, K. 2010. Cantors Concept of Set in the Light of Platos Philebus Review of
Metaphysics 63.4: 783-805

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