Comments on the Philebus

Abstract

A close reading of key passages in the Philebus, dealing with the good, the one and the multiple, the theory of ideas, language, dialectic, limit, mixture, pleasure, knowledge, and reason.

Based on the notes taken by Gabriel Liiceanu in the course of a series of lectures given by Alexandru Dragomir in June–November 1985 on Plato’s dialogue Philebus , apart from the opening section (‘The horizon of discussion’), which is taken from two pages about the Philebus in a notebook of Dragomir’s from 1985, which appear to have been written in preparation for the lectures.

The first part of the series (11 June–16 August) consisted of commentary on the first half of the dialogue (11a–39c). This corresponds to sections 1–13 in the present text.

In the second part (2 October–2 November), Dragomir set out to deal with a wider range of topics: (a) a revision of what had previously been discussed; (b) a discussion of a longer passage from the Philebus (55a–64d); (c) a setting of the problem of pleasure in Plato’s thinking as a whole; (d) a discussion of the differences between Plato’s and Aristotle’s views on the problem of pleasure; and finally, (e) a setting of the problem of pleasure in a broader context. As a result, the lectures in this second part sometimes lack the clarity and coherence of those in the first part; furthermore, topics (a), (c) and (e) were only partially covered, and (d) was not touched on at all in the end. From this second part of the series, I have kept only (b), which corresponds to sections 16–17.

Two sequences in the dialogue (39c–55a and 64b–67b) were hardly touched on at all in the lectures; they are here briefly discussed in sections 14–15 (41b–55a) and 18 (64b–67b), which, with the exception of a few sentences, are written by myself. In sections 1–13, I have followed closely the notes taken by Gabriel Liiceanu in the course of the lectures; however many passages have been reformulated and reorganized in a different order from that in which they occurred in the lectures. Some passages have been omitted (repetitions, digressions, quotations from various authors where the source was not indicated), and others have been made more succinct. The division of the text into sections is my own.

The lectures on the Philebus began as a ‘running commentary’, a commentary that set out to accompany the reading of the dialogue , explaining each section in turn. However some sections were not explained, and others were only briefly commented on. To attempt to complete and develop what was said in the lectures, continuing along the road they open up within Plato’s philosophy, seemed to me too risky, for the interpretation they propose is extremely original. In spite of all their shortcomings, Dragomir’s lectures on the Philebus remain an excellent guide through the labyrinth of this dialogue . (Catalin Partenie)