The Doctrine of Principles in Plato’s Late Philosophy

0191002
Project Director dr. sc. Damir Barbarić

Summary:
This project is devoted to an investigation of the metaphysical implications of Plato’s so-called doctrine of principles, that is, to an investigation of the possible role of the two principles postulated as forming the basis of that doctrine, the one and indeterminate duality, in the structuration of Plato’s philosophy as a whole. The point of departure for research on this project is the school of thought which originated in Tübingen under H.-J. Krämer and K. Geiser and which has recently been further developed by representatives of that school. The basic hypothesis of recent research in this direction is that the second of the two principles named, indeterminate duality, multiplicity or indefinity, ought to be accorded a greater significance in the interpretation of Plato’s philosophy, and that by this new emphasis the philosophy of Plato as a whole is made to appear in an entirely new light and in a systematic form which is radically different than that which was prevalent in standard historical studies of Plato’s philosophy in previous centuries.