Tuesday, February 05, 2008

A Nice Description of the Difficulties of Interpreting Plato Correctly

The interpretive problem emphasized here is the tension between demands for systematic meaning and the unresolved variety of Plato's thought. This opposition is invited by hints of unity on the one hand and by diverse manifestations of the philosophy--apparent contradictions and seeming gaps--on the other. The latter are aggravated by the indirections of the dialogue form, by exposition through differing speakers, and by electing variously mythic, dramatic, logistic, and poetic modes of presentation.


From William Sacksteder's review of E. N. Tiegerstedt's Interpreting Plato, a book I discussed back in the day.

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