Abstract

The central theme of this book is that "Plato's written discourses were intended by their author to serve primarily as teaching instruments, modeled after the live conversations in which Plato himself participated with the historical Socrates, and that the right way to read the dialogues, accordingly, is not as repositories of philosophic doctrine, but rather as interactions with a master philosopher that are carefully shaped to guide the attentive reader in a personal pursuit of philosophic understanding". The correct reading of the dialogues will enable "conversation to progress in a fruitful direction".