Plato and the Socratic Dialogues

This book proposes a new paradigm for the interpretation of Plato´s early and middle dialogues. Rejecting the usual assumption of a distinct ´Socratic´ period in the development of Plato´s thought, this view regards the earlier works as deliberate preparation for the exposition of Plato´s mature philosophy. Differences between the dialogues do not represent different stages in Plato´s own thinking but rather different aspects and moments in the presentation of a new and unfamiliar view of reality. Once the fictional character of the Socratic genre is recognised, there is no reason to regard Plato´s early dialogues as representing the philosophy of the historical Socrates. The result is a unified interpretation of all of the dialogues down to the Republic and the Phaedrus.
Contents: 1. Sokratikoi logoi: the literary and intellectual background of Plato´s work; 2. The interpretation of Plato; 3. Socrates; 4. Plato as a minor Socratic: Ion and Hippias Minor; 5. Gorgias: Plato´s manifesto for philosophy; 6. The priority of definition: from Laches to Meno; 7. Charmides and the search for beneficial knowledge; 8. Protagoras: virtue as knowledge; 9. The object of love; 10. The emergence of dialectic; 11. The presentation of the Forms; 12. Phaedrus and the limits of writing; Appendix; Bibliography.