Benny Kozian

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Philologisches Seminar, Graduate Student

UHH, Geisteswissenschaften, Undergraduate

University of Cambridge, Faculty of Classics / Queens' College, Graduate Student

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Following my B.A. (Klassische Philologie) in Hamburg and M.Phil. (Classics) in Cambridge, I recently took up my Ph.D. in Tübingen.
My PhD project deals with the significance of space and time in the Platonic dialogues.
My research focuses on Plato as philosopher and literary artist and more broadly Ancient Greek literature and theory of literature in general.
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Irmgard Männlein-Robert and Prof. Dr. Christian Brockmann
Address: Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

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Papers by Benny Kozian

The παιδαγωγός in Euripides’ Ion: An Unwitting Purifier of Athenian Identity

Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 64, 2024

The paidagogos serves to represent the uncivilized Other, incompatible with Athenian autochthony,... more

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SOCRATES' EXHORTATION TO THE "CITY OF PIGS"

eisodos – Zeitschrift für Antike Literatur und Theorie, 2022

In this essay, I shall argue that, contrary to common assumptions, Plato's so-called "City of Pig... more In this essay, I shall argue that, contrary to common assumptions, Plato's so-called "City of Pigs" (Pl. rep. 372a3–373b1) is by no means an anti-philosophical state. Refuting this assumption, I aim to show that the dialogical context accounts for the interlocutors' rejection of this state: it is, I ar-gue, an economic system that stands at the outset of the ideal state's foundation as its basis. This system illustrates metaphorically, represented by population groups and concrete lifestyles, a hierarchy according to which necessary and non-necessary human needs ought to be satisfied. However, Socrates' idea of what necessary needs are (depicted in the "City of Pigs") seems all too meagre to Glauco personally, highlighted by his coinage "City of Pigs". Precisely this makes Socra-tes realize that the moderation he has in mind - rendering the system "healthy, true" (and by the way vegetarian) - would demand too much from average people. Thus, despite his explicit prefer-ence for that City he makes no attempt at rejecting Glauco's prototypical wish. Instead, he modi-fies this system of needs accordingly, thus turning it "luxurious, inflamed", even if its very abun-dance will lead to resource scarcity (and eventually war). Only at this stage does the dialogue face problems for which there has been no room in the preceding economic discourse: a splitting of society into specialised classes, the education of the guardian class, political power, etc. that gradually establish the ideal state. At its beginning, however, we encounter - in the form of the "City of Pigs" - an often-misjudged plea for moderation (and vegetarianism) that - as Socrates rec-ognizes melancholically - is not (yet) suitbale to the people (of his time).

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Drafts by Benny Kozian

A Walk into Space-Timeless Philosophy

This paper draft (a revised version of which is forthcoming in Mnemosyne) argues that Plato instr... more This paper draft (a revised version of which is forthcoming in Mnemosyne) argues that Plato instrumentalizes the setting of the Phaedrus-conceptualized as a uniquely designed 'chronotope'-to delineate his understanding of philosophy, and to intensify the dialogue's intra-and extrafictional pedagogical impact. The analysis especially of the prologue (227a1-230e5) shall show that (1) the walk out of town (ἔξω τείχους) symbolizes Phaedrus' transgression from Sophistic rhetoric to Platonic philosophy; (2) the interlocutors' interaction in and with their spatiotemporal environment throughout the prologue negotiates their reciprocal 'teacher-student' relationship; (3) more specifically, Socrates' stylization of the plane setting both establishes a proper epistemic method, and subjugates the investigation of external phenomena (τὰ ἀλλότρια) to the philosophical search for self-knowledge; (4) finally, the contextual inappropriateness of this stylization raises the question of where to situate the philosopher in their sociopolitical and cosmic context: they seem in many ways ἄτοπος, neither confined to any particular spatiotemporal environment nor interlocutor, simultaneously most out of place and universally at home.

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The παιδαγωγός in Euripides’ Ion: An Unwitting Purifier of Athenian Identity

Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 64, 2024

The paidagogos serves to represent the uncivilized Other, incompatible with Athenian autochthony,... more

Download

SOCRATES' EXHORTATION TO THE "CITY OF PIGS"

eisodos – Zeitschrift für Antike Literatur und Theorie, 2022

Download

A Walk into Space-Timeless Philosophy

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