THE DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PLATO’S PHILOSOPHY AND THE ELEATIC SCHOOL
THE DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PLATO’S PHILOSOPHY AND THE ELEATIC SCHOOL

Summary/Abstract: This text exposes and analyses the refer- ences to the Eleatics starting from the hints to Gorgias and Zeno in the Phaedrus 261c–d and from the eristic arguments of Euthydemus which are evidently influ- enced by the way of arguing of the Eleatics. Naturally, the greatest attention is reserved for the dialectical dialogues: with a real coup de théâtre, the Eleatics pass from being (almost) unknown figures to becoming masters. First Parmenides and then the Stranger of Elea give Socrates important suggestions about method and content. This sequence is even more exceptional because it is the only case in which we find some internal references in Plato’s corpus, where the author usually never mentions his own writings. These analysis highlights, among other issues, the impor- tance of dialectics, the treatment of not being as dif- ferent, the denial of the so-called parricide by the Stranger of Elea.

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