Abstract

Why does Plato write dialogues? Why more than one? The Temporality of Human Excellence begins with a brief introductory consideration of these questions, and concludes with a suggestion about two things: the intent of his use of this form, and the manner of its concrete realization in a set of two dozen or so dialogues. Taking up each dialogue as a separate drama, the reading seeks to focus attention on how each, by its characters, their interplay and conversation, and the apparent lack of positive issue to the discussion they engage in, contributes to a sketch of human excellence as a complex power developed and grown into as consummation in the maturing, over time, of a human being