PLATO’S PARMENIDES

According to Iamblichus’ canon, Plato’s Parmenides is the pinnacle of Platonic Philosophy.  It is the most abstract of all the dialogues, being an investigation into all aspects of one.

In the dialogue, Socrates is presented as a young man, below the age of 20, keen on Philosophy, bold, yet untrained.  He puts forward “The Theory of Forms”, that there is an independent existence of such things as Beauty and Justice, but when he is pressed by Parmenides, he is at a loss to defend his position.

Parmenides explains the importance of Forms for being able to converse or even to rest the mind, but also explains, that unless Socrates goes through the necessary training, he will never have a future in philosophy, nor will he be able to know or teach the Forms. The group gathered persuades the reluctant Parmenides to give a demonstration of the necessary training.

Since Socrates did achieve his ‘future in philosophy’, is Plato really aiming this training at us, if we too are ever to have a future in philosophy?