In the extensive literature on Plato's “unwritten doctrine” there is still no treatise on the question: Why did Plato not write the “unwritten doctrine”? The present study presents this and can also be read as an introduction to Plato's unwritten philosophy. Drawing on analyses of the decisive passages from the Platonic dialogues, as well as the Seventh Letter, it argues that Plato did not publish the “unwritten doctrine” in writing not only because of the inadequate reception conditions of unprepared readers, but also because he did not claim to have a definitive knowledge of the principles and also therefore could not fix them in writing for the public once and for all.
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Bibliographic data
Publication year
2025
Publication date
01.10.2025
ISBN-Print
978-3-495-99183-1
ISBN-Online
978-3-495-99184-8
Publisher
Karl Alber, Baden-Baden
Series
International Plato Studies
Volume
43
Language
English
Pages
172
Product type
Book Titles
Table of contents
ChapterPages
Preface No access
Introduction No access Pages 11 - 16
I. The “Unwritten Doctrine” as Secret Doctrine? No access
II. The “Unwritten Doctrine” as “Arid Schematism”? No access
III. The “Unwritten Doctrine” as Opinion No access
IV. Knowledge of the “Unwritten Doctrine” as Divine Knowledge No access
V. Knowledge of the “Unwritten Doctrine” as an Unattained Postulate No access
I. The Critique of Writing in the Phaedrus as a Critique of Written Publication No access
II. The Dialectician’s Knowledge as a Claim to Knowledge No access
III. The Dialectician’s Conditional Claim to Knowledge No access
IV. The Ignorance of the Higher Principles in the Timaeus No access
I. “Because It Is Not Sayable Like Other Doctrines” No access
II. The “Light in the Soul” No access
III. The “True Doctrine” No access
IV. The “Greatest” Argument of the “True Doctrine” No access
V. The “Light in the Soul” Again and the Difficulty of Platonic Philosophy No access
Conclusion No access Pages 87 - 90
I. Some Remarks on the Status Quaestionis No access
II. The Discussion of the Question “Why Did Plato Not Write the ‘Unwritten Doctrine’?” No access
III. The Seventh Letter and Its Philosophical Digression No access
IV. The Exegetical Problem: How Can We Obtain Knowledge of the Fifth? No access
V. The Philosophical Problem: How Do We Get from the Consistency of the Logoi to Correspondence with the “Fifth”? No access
VI. “Assimilation to God as Far as Possible” No access
On the Date of the “Lecture on the Good” No access
Reviews and Discussions No access Pages 143 - 144
Bibliography No access Pages 145 - 162
No access Pages 163 - 166
No access Pages 167 - 172
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