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DariuszKubok
ciselywiththefigureandviewsofSocrates,whoisconsideredacriti-
calthinker,moreover,asymbolofcriticismimportanttophilosophy
assuch,especiallyduetohismannerofusingelencticmethodasatool
forpurifyingthesoul(yuc»)ofarbitrary,uncriticallyacceptedopinions
andattitudes.Thereisanalmostuniversalconvictionthatarevalua-
tionofphilosophyoccurredwiththecomingoftheSophistsandSocrates,
achangeofaparadigmofthoughttiedwithadeparturefromcosmo-
logical,orjasGorgiasdescribesitinEncomiumofHelenjmeteoro-
logical,reflection.Wecanputforththehypothesisthatthesources
ofGreekcriticismaretobefoundinanearlierperiod,or,goingfur-
ther,thatGreekthoughtiscriticalatitssource,andtheproblemstied
withcriticism(understoodinthewaydescribedabove)werealready
theobjectofreflectioninearlyGreekthought.Ontheotherhand,varied
andmulti-aspecteddisputesandcontroversiesareconnectedwithPla-
to’sthought.AsE.N.Tigerstedtindicates,
14
thetraditionofinterpreting
Platonism(fromantiquityuptomoderntimes)canbereducedtoacon-
stantoscillationbetweenadogmaticandskepticposition(thus,inaccor-
dancewiththeterminologyacceptedinthisarticle:positiveandnega-
tivedogmatism,respectively).Themajorityofmodernconceptionsthat
viewPlatonismasaspecificdoctrineorsystemexpliciteorimplicite
considerPlatoadogmatic.Ontheotherhand,theaporeticalityandlack
ofconclusivenessregardingkeymatterspresentinmanyPlatonicdia-
loguesinducedmanytoconsiderhimaskeptic(orevennegativedog-
matic)jhewasinterpretedthiswayalreadyintheAcademyatthetime
ofArcesilausandCarneades,aswellasbyalongtraditionofacademic
skepticism.Theone-sidednessoftheseinterpretativepositionspro-
vokesustoseekanintermediateinterpretation,rejectingthedoctrinal
extremesofeachandsimultaneouslymakingPlatoapartoftheGreek
traditionofcriticism.Forexample,LuigiStefanini(inhisfundamen-
14
EugèneNapoleonTigerstedt,mInterpretingPlato,”in:StockholmStudiesintheHistory
ofLiterature,Vol.17.(Stockholm:Almqvist&Wiksell,1977).
