Publication Date:
2013-10-02
Description:
In Plato's Phaedrus , Socrates offers two speeches, the first portraying madness as mere disease, the second celebrating madness as divine inspiration. Each speech is correct, says Socrates, though neither is complete. The two kinds of madness are like the left and right sides of a living body: no account that focuses on just one half can be adequate. In a recent paper, Hugh Benson gives a left-handed speech about a psychic condition endemic among mathematicians: dianoia . Benson acknowledges that his account is one-sided, but only hints at the virtues of right-handed dianoia . This note sketches a somewhat fuller picture.
Print ISSN:
0031-8019
Electronic ISSN:
1744-6406
Topics:
Mathematics
,
Philosophy
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