Abstract

Many readers of Plato find it difficult to figure out what the author is really arguing in his works. Unlike other philosophical writing, most of Plato’s works are dialogues, which causes difficulty because Plato does not clearly endorse any one of the characters as his spokesman. In order to overcome this, readers should presumably exercise their own reason when reading Plato’s dialogues in order to find out what the author’s main idea is. In fact, this is exactly what Plato expects from the readers of his dialogues. He does not let his readers sit idly and read passively. Rather, they should carefully and critically analyze his arguments, actively participate in the conversation between the interlocutors, and ..