Plato's Literary Garden: How to Read a Platonic Dialogue (And Religion; 16)

Plato's dialogues are universally acknowledged as standing among the masterworks of the Western philosophic tradition. What most readers do not know, however, is that Plato also authored a public letter in which he unequivocally denies ever having written a work of philosophy. If Plato did not view his written dialogues as works of philosophy, how did he conceive them, and how should readers view them? In Plato's Literary Garden, Kenneth M. Sayre brings over thirty years of Platonic scholarship to bear on these questions, arguing that Plato did not intend the dialogues to serve as repositories of philosophic doctrine, but instead composed them as teaching instruments. Focusing on the dramatic structure of the dialogues as well as their logical argumentation, Sayre's study is organized according to the progression of a horticultural metaphor adopted from the Phaedrus. Sayre illustrates each of these metaphorical "stages" with a sustained discussion of relevant dialogues, ranging from the very early Apology to the very late Philebus. In the culminating chapter, he applies the insights gained along the way to a new interpretation of Plato's elusive Form of the Good. In addition to a novel answer to the puzzling question: Why did Plato write the dialogues? Plato's Literary Garden includes an extended discussion of the considerations that most likely led Plato to write in dialogue form, as well as new analyses of key dialogues such as the Meno, the Symposium, and the Theaetetus. Providing readers with practical guidelines for the difficult pursuit of trying to read beneath the surface of a Platonic dialogue, this innovative study is sure to open up new perspectives on the dialogues for both the novice and mature scholar. Plato's Literary Garden Contents Preface Introduction 1— Why Plato Wrote Dialogues 1— Alternative Accounts of Plato's Literary Form 2— Plato's Disavowal of Having Written Philosophy 3— Parallel Views in the Theaetetus and the Phaedrus 4— Plato's Dialogues As Surrogates of Dialectical Conversations 5— The Dialogues As Conversations between Author and Reader 2— Refutation and Irony: Preparing the Ground 1— Refutation in the Sophistic Tradition 2— The Distinctive Marks of Socratic Elenchus 3— The Exhibition of Socratic Elenchus in the Meno 4— Elenchic Purification Assisted by Irony 5— Elenchus in the Conversation between Author and Reader 3— Recollection and Example: Sowing the Seeds 1— Recollection and Learning in the Meno 2— Recollection and Forms in the Phaedo 3— Recollection and Collection in the Phaedrus 4— From Recollection to the Use of Paradigms 5— Verbal Paradigms As Seeds of Knowledge 4— Love and Philosophy: Nurturing the Growth 1— Eros in the Interaction between Teacher and Student 2— Portrayals of Eros in the Early Speeches 3— Socrates' Instruction by Diotima in the Ways of Love Love's Impulse The Operation of Love through Procreation Immortality As the Goal of Love Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 4— Alcibiades' Erotic Attraction to Socrates 5— Socrates As the Exemplary Lover of Wisdom 5— Dialectic and Logos: Training the Shoots 1— The Place of Dialectic in the Curriculum for the Guardians 2— The Method of Hypothesis from the Meno to the Republic 3— Collection and Division from the Sophist to the Philebus 4— A New Method of Hypothesis Prescribed in the Parmenides 5— Dialectic and the Achievement of Philosophic Knowledge 6— The Good and the Beautiful: Reaping the Fruits 1— The Sun As the Image of the Good 2— Why the Good Is Not the Same as the Nonhypothetical Arche 3— The Nature of the Good 4— The Good and the Beautiful 5— Overview Appendix— How to Read a Platonic Dialogue: Sunousia in the Theaetetus 1— Guidelines for Engaging the Conversation 2— The Structure of Socrates' Elenchic Argument 3— Analogies, Symbols, and the Use of Paradigms 4— Socrates and the Imagery of Procreation 5— Procreancy Channeled through Dialectic 6— Dunamis in the Conversation of the Theaetetus Notes Introduction 1— Why Plato Wrote Dialogues 2— Refutation and Irony: Preparing the Ground 3— Recollection and Example: Sowing the Seeds 4— Love and Philosophy: Nourishing the Growth 5— Dialectic and Logos: Training the Shoots 6— The Good and the Beautiful: Reaping the Fruits Appendix— How to Read a Platonic Dialogue: Sunousia in the Theaetetus Bibliography Index of Passages Cited Aristophanes Aristotle Plato Plutarch Xenophon Index of Names A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W X Y Z General Index A B C D E F H I K L M N P R S T U V W Philosopher Kenneth Sayre explores the question of why Plato wrote in dialogue form and offers analyses of key dialogues such as the Meno, the Symposium, and the Theaetetus.--Adapted from publisher description