Plato and Philosophical Writing

Every good student must pay their dues to Plato. The time invested in his corpus of writings will not fail to reward the careful reader.

However, there is one aspect of the way Plato wrote which proves difficult for modern students of philosophy. If your first exposure to philosophical writing is through contemporary analytic philosophy, you will easily miss the import of certain parts of Platonic dialogues.

The myths, analogies, quotations from poets, and narrative structure make his writings a hybrid genre which takes care to decipher.

If I may enjoin one vital requirement when reading Plato, it would be this: Never skip these literary aspects. They are never accidental. You may think that the opening lines of the Republic are superfluous, “Down I went to Piraeus”.

Why do I need to know that he is in the port town of Athens? Why not just skip this part and get to the arguments? It would take too long to explain the significance of this opening, but suffice it to say that it illuminates the entire dialogue.

One of the most tragic experiences I have ever had in my college career was when a philosophy TA said these words about the Republic’s opening pages. “Well, there is a bit of intro here, but I don’t think it’s important, let’s skip to the arguments”. This grad student was a brilliant scholar. Top of his class with a probing intellect, but he had never been taught how to read Plato.

Plato was an extremely detailed thinker and writer. The layers of complex imagery and motifs in his dialogues boggle the mind. He does not waste space with needless details. If you read him at all, you must not mistake him for a modern philosopher.

He wrote with a beauty to rival Milton, a profundity to surpass Russell, and a humor in excess of Aristophanes. He deserves the respect of close attention and contextual appreciation.

He was the fountainhead for Western philosophy, but wholly unique in his method of transmission.

His works are gems among the works of our heritage. You may never pick them up for examination, but if you do, handle them with care. They deserve it.