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CommentsontheSourcesofGreekPhilosophicalCriticism
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talworkPlatone)15triedtoshowapossibleintermediateinterpretative
pathbetweenthesetwopositions,callingitmconstructiveskepticism”;
however,thispathwasrarelytakenandrequiresfurthersystematic
study.AlreadyinthecentralquestionwhichordersPlatonicphiloso-
phyjwhatisphilosophy(resp.dialectic),inessence,andhowcanitbe
distinguishedfromotherformsofhumanactivityjthecriticalself-
awarenessandattitudeofitsauthorarevisible.Heunderstandsphi-
losophyasarouteandviewsitmetaphoricallyastheactionoferos,
oraperpetuallyrenewed,insatiableeffort.Thus,heindicatestheero-
tetic(hencecritical)characterofphilosophyatitssource.Thiscritical
characterisalsopresentinPlato’sphilosophybothatthelevelofcontent
(theindicationoftheboundariesofἐpist»mhandthecognitivepossibili-
tiesofman)andmethod(elenctics,hypothetics,aporetics).Aristotelian
criticismshouldbeunderstoodasapermanentsearchforandanaly-
sisofdifferentpositionsinordertoindicatetheboundarybetween
ἐpist»mhanddÒxa.Whatsynthesizedfirstphilosophyandphysicswas
criticalreflectionjtakenupinthespiritofthediaporeticmethodj
ontheprinciplesandcausesnecessarytodeterminetheprinciples
oftheuniverse.Graspingandunderstandingtheessenceofdialectics
andaporeticsincludedintheTopicsisdirectlylinkedtothewholecor-
pusofmpost-physical”works,whichdiscussthepossibilityofcritically
investigatingthecognitiveboundariesofman.
Itdoesnotseemriskytosaythatphilosophicalcriticism(accord-
ingtotheabovedescription)appearsasoneoftheimportantpositions
thatappearedinthehistoryofphilosophyandcreativelyinfluenced
thedevelopmentofthisdiscipline.Contrarytothenarrowunder-
standingofcriticism,whichlimitsitsmeaningtoaspecificposition
15
LuigiStefanini,Platone.2vols.(Padova:Cedam,1992).Originallypublishedbetween1932-
1935;2ndeditionjPadova:Cedam,1949;thenreprintedin1992.Seealso:FranciscoJ.Gonzalez,
mAShortHistoryofPlatonicInterpretationandthe(ThirdWay,’”in:TheThirdWay:NewDirections
inPlatonicStudies.F.J.Gonzalez,ed.(Lanham,MD:Rowman&LittlefieldPublishers1995);
andWalterWatson,mDogma,Skepticism,andDialogue,”in:TheThirdWay:NewDirections
inPlatonicStudies.F.J.Gonzalez,ed.(Lanham:Rowman&LittlefieldPublishers,1995).