Plato's Phaedrus: a theory of the method of philosophical inquire

• Grant number: 15/06205-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2015
• End date: February 29, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - History of Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Marco Antônio de Ávila Zingano
• Grantee: Adriana Madrinan Molina
• Supervisor: Francesco Fronterotta
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Italy
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/11656-4 - The Dialectic in Plato's Phaedrus: the Nature of the Method of Philosophical Inquiry, BP.DR

Abstract

Plato's conception of the method of philosophical inquire occupies an important part in his early, middle and later dialogues. The early dialogues exemplify how the method of elenchus is to be practiced; the middle dialogues, in particular the Meno, Phaedo, Republic and Parmenides, discuss the method of hypothesis; and, finally, in the late dialogues, in particular the Sophist, Statesman and Philebus, both exemplify and discuss the method of collection and division, which was introduced in the Phaedrus. Is there a general theory of the method within Plato's philosophy? I contend that the Phaedrus envisages a theory of the method of philosophical inquiry. (AU)