The importance of the meno on the transition from the early to the middle platonic dialogues

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi, Felsefe Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2012

Öğrenci: TONGUÇ SEFEROĞLU

Danışman: SAMET BAĞÇE

Özet:

The purpose of the present study is to signify the explanatory value of the Meno on the coherence as well as the disparateness of the Plato’s early and middle dialogues. Indeed, the Meno exposes the transition on the content and form of these dialogues. The first part of the dialogue resembles the Socrates’ way of investigation, the so-called Elenchus, whereas Plato presents his own philosophical project in the second part of the dialogue. Three fundamental elements of Plato’s middle dialogues explicitly arise for the very first time in the Meno, namely; the recollection, the hypothetical method and reasoning out the explanation. Therefore, the connexion of the early and middle dialogues can be understood better if the structure of the Meno is analyzed properly. In other words, the Meno is the keystone dialogue which enables the readers of Plato to sense the development in Socratic-Platonic philosophy.