The Big Picture

I am guilty of possibly looking too deep into Plato's written works in an attempt to challenge multiple perceptions. Correct me if I am wrong, but could the overall theme of the majority of Plato's works be expressing the superficial and constricting elements of definitions? Every dialogue thus far has made me reconsider concepts such as justice and friendship as well as proven how difficult it is to do so.

Comments

  1. Rose_MFebruary 25, 2017 at 11:00 PM

    I agree with your thoughts about the construction of definitions, however I think this is the point of philosophy in general. We have to be open to the idea that the world is more than just definitions and that we cannot say that anything is in black and white. It would make sense for Plato to do this while writing his dialogues given he has spent much of his time as a friend of Socrates and knows to question the concrete.

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  2. Matt SillimanFebruary 26, 2017 at 6:21 AM

    In his later work (Sophist and Philebus, for example) Plato's characters develop an epistemological method of 'collection and division,' which presages Aristotle's distinction of natural kinds into genus and species. Certainly definition is crucial for any philosophical inquiry, but (as you note) it's much harder to pin down than it looks. It may be, paradoxically, that the rigorous process of seeking definitions is as important -- or more important -- than the definitions themselves.

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