Abstract
I argue that Plato’s deployment of the resumptive phrase πάλιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς illuminates the philosophical significance of his art of transition in Socratic dialogues. These explicit calls for a new beginning often appear when a conversation fails to account for two particular elements of ordinary experience: assumptions about whole-part relations and about the interlocutor’s self-conception as a being responsive to basic rational and normative distinctions. Returning to the archē is a form of ἀνάμνησις, reminding us that these assumptions constitute true, but inarticulate, opinions of a fundamental kind. They are the preconditions for discourse that philosophical διαλέγεσθαι must preserve and ground.
Original language | American English |
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Pages (from-to) | 305-321 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Epoché: A Journal for the History of Philosophy |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 12 Feb 2019 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Philosophy