Abstract

Songe-Møller sets out to locate the position from where philosophy speaks. By investigating the relations between the notion of voice, the frequent occupation with place, and the notion of atopos, she offers an elucidating topology of the dialogue and its proposed positions. The first words of the dialogue: “From where, Socrates, have you just arrived?” or “From where, Socrates, are you appearing?” point directly to the dialogue’s leading question: From where does Socrates, the philosopher, arrive? From which perspective does he – and his dialogue partner, Protagoras – speak? In the form of an elegant portrait of how the famous sophist speaks with a foreign, or external, voice, Plato shows that he speaks from an illusionary topos. And this allows Socrates positon to stand out: Socrates does not only speak with his own authentic voice. From the perspective of one that does not know, this is an indeterminate topos within logos, and a point of view necessary for philosophical inquiry.