The Plato's Parmenides in the context of the Mathematical Laboratory

• Grant number: 14/26690-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: March 20, 2015
• End date: March 19, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of Science
• Principal Investigator: Irineu Bicudo
• Grantee: Gustavo Barbosa
• Supervisor: Elisabetta Cattanei
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas (IGCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Università di Cagliari, Italy
• Associated to the scholarship: 14/05437-0 - From mathematics to dialectic in the Parmenides: the evolution of the concept of hypothesis as turning point of the Platonic epistemology, BP.PD

Abstract

This project aims to understand the mathematical background and the influence of Eleatic philosophy in the dialogue Parmenides of Plato, especially with regard to the reconstruction of the thought of Parmenides and his disciple Zeno. The first step will be to interpret the philosophical difficulties of the platonic text, and then outline your role in the development of Plato's theory of knowledge. Finally it will be contrasted against the state of art of the mathematical research at the centuries IV-V B.C. The influence of the mathematical thinking on the platonic philosophy is widely recognized, however is difficult to establish what would have been the main questions about it that have attracted the Plato's interest because of the few sources about the pre-Euclidean mathematics. Besides, what is adapted from mathematics to philosophy is the heuristic way to treat the problems, so to understand what mathematics was being used by Plato is necessary to confront his dialogues with the fragments and commentaries about the mathematics of that time, harmonizing philosophy, philology, epistemology and history of mathematics. (AU)