Plato’s Dialogues as a Foundation for Universal Dialogue

• Authors: Beck Martha C.
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

In the Phaedrus and Seventh Letter, Plato says the spoken word is much more important than the written word. Plato’s dialogues have been discussed for 2400 years. The Founders of the International Society for Universal Dialogue describe philosophy as a universal dialogue. Particularly in this era of a decline in democratic societies, discussing Plato’s dialogues can educate us about how to preserve, and how to lose, free and open societies. Plato was born at the end of the “Golden Age” of Athens. By the time he was 30, Athens had destroyed itself. Abuses in the economic system, the military, the medical community, the legal profession, the political community, the arts and in education led to social instability and the election of a dictator, in the name of a return to “traditional” values. Plato wants us to discuss analogies with our own societies.

Keywords

EN

Plato; democracy; dialogue; tragedy; analogies

• Publisher: Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk; Fundacja Filozofia Na Rzecz Dialogu
• Journal: Dialogue and Universalism
• Year: 2022
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 293-313

Contributors

author

Beck Martha C.

• Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas.