Éros and dialectics in Plato’s Phaedrus

Abstract

This article deals generally with the problem of the thematic scope of Plato's Phaedrus, what is its main subject and how its parts are related. It proposes to investigate in particular whether there is any relationship between the topic of the first speeches —éros— and the topic that crowns the critical considerations about rhetorical technique —dialectic. It will be argued that the dialogue is organized in such a way that éros and dialectic are related through the notion of reminiscence in a way that makes sense throughout the whole dialogue. It will be shown that the most perfect form reminiscence consists in the exercise of a philosophical life that involves, through the éros of a divine kind and the practice of the dialectic that arises from criticisms of traditional rhetoric, the elevation toward truth. It will be concluded that the philosopher is the only one who can fully apply reminiscence by being madly in love in a divine way and by using dialectics as the authentic rhetorical technique, and in this sense it is legitimate to call him also lover or dialectician.