Ermeneutica e verità nel Protagora di Platone, 2019
This paper is an italian translation of my paper published in French with Dionysius (2019). I arg... more This paper is an italian translation of my paper published in French with Dionysius (2019). I argue that Plato's platonising interpretation of Simonides' poem provides a concrete example of philosophical hermeneutics according to Plato. When interpreting the poets, Plato remains faithful to ontological truth and uses hermeneutics to coherce an orthodox Platonic meaning into Simonides' text. This is the hermeneutic "pendant", I argue, of Plato's critique and censorship of poetry in the Republic. Whereas contemporary hermeneutics aim to reconstruct the historical truth of a given text, even if the meaning of this text is false, Platonic hermeneutics remain faithful to the philosophical truth, even if this implies being unfaithful to the intended meaning of the text.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
Aufsätze zur griechischen Literatur und Philosophie-Bryn Mawr Classical Review This exceptional b... more Aufsätze zur griechischen Literatur und Philosophie-Bryn Mawr Classical Review This exceptional book clearly stands out from the usual scholarly work, and it does so in many ways. It contains a selection of 35 of Thomas A. Szlezák's most significant contributions; two sections refer, respectively, to Greek literature from Homer to Euripides and to Greek philosophy, largely focusing on Plato. The first section arises from an acute understanding of a specifically Greek world-conception, widely overlooked due to an increasingly evident tendency of recent scholarship to posit contemporary ethics as an appropriate parameter for the ancients. Szlezák's approach results in a precise anthropology enlightening the specificity of the classical Greek mind as expressed in its epic and tragic forms as well as a biting criticism of a specific scholarship, unwilling to accept the former's fundamental alterity or guilty of imposing modern thoughts or debates on both a time and a world-view where they simply do not fit. The enthusiastic claim has emerged in recent years that the Epic of Gilgamesh sets the foundation of the Occidental humanist tradition and sketches the model upon which the Iliad was moulded, thus shifting the origin of humanism to the East. If the Epic of
This articles reviews the scholarship on the question of Orphism from the 19th century onwards an... more This articles reviews the scholarship on the question of Orphism from the 19th century onwards and then goes on to provide an analysis of some of the sources. It subsenquently shows some striking similarities with some of Plato's own theories concerning the Forms and the anamnesis.
In Plato's Protagoras, Socrates and Protagoras engage in a hermeneutical discussion concerning Si... more In Plato's Protagoras, Socrates and Protagoras engage in a hermeneutical discussion concerning Simonides' Poem (Prt. 337-348). This passage is important in many regards. First, it is the first known hermeneutical text. Secondly, the interpetation proposed by Socrates is strangely platonising and clearly at odds with the original text. This paper confronts some of the principal interpretations of this enigmatic passage and proposes a novative interpretation coherent with Plato's critiqiue of poetry.
This article focuses on Timaeus 52-53 and more precisely on the question of the matter before the... more This article focuses on Timaeus 52-53 and more precisely on the question of the matter before the intervention of "the God". A closer analysis shows that, although this matter is meant and said to lack determination -- since the God is absent --, it nevertheless shows clear signs of predetermination. The question I ask in this paper is how this may be explained in the light of Plato's Theory of Principles and Aristotle's criticism in Metaphysics.
In this article I interpret the platonic concept of Eros as exposed in the Symposium. As many mod... more In this article I interpret the platonic concept of Eros as exposed in the Symposium. As many modern interpretations focus almost exclusively on the interpersonal or 'romantic' meaning of Eros (in spite of plato explicitly refuting such interpretations), I recall that the philosophical value of Eros is first and foremost ontological and has thus but little to do with interpersonal relationships. To demonstrate this, I show the ontological horizon of the preexisting tradition and its striking similarity with Plato's own doctrine. I then go on to interpret Plato's own text (Aristophanes' and Diotima's speeches) and show that it is compatible with the Aristotelian doxographic tradition which presents Plato's oral teachings. This article thus aims at presenting plato as the heir of a preexisting tradition and his eros theory as ontological. It also shows the benefits of using the Aristotelian doxography for Platonic hermeneutics.
Mythological Sources of Platonic Eros
In this article I interpret the Platonic concept of Eros a... more Mythological Sources of Platonic Eros
In this article I interpret the Platonic concept of Eros as exposed in the Symposium. As many modern interpretations focus almost exclusively on the interpersonal or ‘romantic’ meaning of Eros (in spite of Plato explicitly refuting such interpretations), I recall that the philosophical value of Eros is first and foremost ontological and has thus but little to do with interpersonal relationships. To demonstrate this, I show the ontological horizon of the preexisting tradition and its striking similarity with Plato’s own doctrine. I then go on to interpret Plato’s own text (Aristophanes’ and Diotima’s speeches) and show that it is compatible with the Aristotelian doxographic tradition which presents Plato’s oral teachings. This article thus aims at presenting Plato as the heir of a preexisting tradition and his Eros theory as ontological. It also shows the benefits of using the Aristotelian doxography for Platonic hermeneutics.
A critical commentary of Thomas Alexander Szlezak's latest work, focusing mainly on his interpre... more A critical commentary of Thomas Alexander Szlezak's latest work, focusing mainly on his interpretation of Sophocles' Oedipus and Plato's Critique of Writing in Phaedrus 274-278.
A navegação consulta e descarregamento dos títulos inseridos nas Bibliotecas Digitais UC Digitali... more A navegação consulta e descarregamento dos títulos inseridos nas Bibliotecas Digitais UC Digitalis, UC Pombalina e UC Impactum, pressupõem a aceitação plena e sem reservas dos Termos e Condições de Uso destas Bibliotecas Digitais, disponíveis em https://digitalis.uc.pt/pt-pt/termos. Conforme exposto nos referidos Termos e Condições de Uso, o descarregamento de títulos de acesso restrito requer uma licença válida de autorização devendo o utilizador aceder ao(s) documento(s) a partir de um endereço de IP da instituição detentora da supramencionada licença. Ao utilizador é apenas permitido o descarregamento para uso pessoal, pelo que o emprego do(s) título(s) descarregado(s) para outro fim, designadamente comercial, carece de autorização do respetivo autor ou editor da obra. Na medida em que todas as obras da UC Digitalis se encontram protegidas pelo Código do Direito de Autor e Direitos Conexos e demais legislação aplicável, toda a cópia, parcial ou total, deste documento, nos casos em que é legalmente admitida, deverá conter ou fazer-se acompanhar por este aviso.
Plato and the Ideas: A Very Complicated Story, 2025
This collective volume, at the cutting edge of research, presents a wide range of perspectives on... more This collective volume, at the cutting edge of research, presents a wide range of perspectives on Plato's theory of Ideas. It features numerous authors whose main language of publication is not English, thus providing international readers access to a wide range of scholarly works not normally available to them. In this collective volume, to which a number of established scholars of international renown as well as young up-and-coming researchers have contributed, the Platonic theory of Ideas is examined from philological, historical, psychological, metaphysical and ethical viewpoints, presenting a boldly innovative hermeneutical impulse that meets the highest standards of contemporary research.
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Papers by André Lanoue
In this article I interpret the Platonic concept of Eros as exposed in the Symposium. As many modern interpretations focus almost exclusively on the interpersonal or ‘romantic’ meaning of Eros (in spite of Plato explicitly refuting such interpretations), I recall that the philosophical value of Eros is first and foremost ontological and has thus but little to do with interpersonal relationships. To demonstrate this, I show the ontological horizon of the preexisting tradition and its striking similarity with Plato’s own doctrine. I then go on to interpret Plato’s own text (Aristophanes’ and Diotima’s speeches) and show that it is compatible with the Aristotelian doxographic tradition which presents Plato’s oral teachings. This article thus aims at presenting Plato as the heir of a preexisting tradition and his Eros theory as ontological. It also shows the benefits of using the Aristotelian doxography for Platonic hermeneutics.
Books by André Lanoue