Il dialogo platonico e la scrittura della filosofia

The main reasons that justify still today our interest in the philosophical writing of Plato are two: on the one hand, it is the ultimate expression of the literary kind of Socratic dialogue, to which it belongs, giving rise to that particular kind of philosophical dialogue that we call Platonic and will be destined to remain unique in the history of Western philosophy; on the other hand, Plato’s philosophical writing presents a clear paradoxical character vis-à-vis a series of allegations to writing which are found in Plato’s dialogues, and that would seem to rebound on them, leaving dissatisfied the reader who has experienced their extreme formal care. The purpose of this paper is to show (1) that these allegations are unfounded – and the paradox is only apparent – and above all (2) how are the dialogues themselves able to respond to such allegations from within, from the same place that traditionally is intended to express the voice of the author and his declaration of intent: the proems or introductory scenes