In the Mirror of the Phaedrus

Présentation

The title of this volume alludes to Phaedrus 255d, where Socrates says that the lover is, as it were, the mirror in which the beloved beholds himself. Mirrors provide a chance to overcome some of the natural limitations of vision – and in particular they enable us to see that which otherwise would remain completely out of sight and in this sense is the farthest object, namely : oneself.
The papers in this volume share the notion that the study of Plato – and notably the study of the Phaedrus – can be much more than the study of one of the major philosophical works of the so-called Western Canon. According to this view, Plato’s Phaedrus holds a mirror or is itself a mirror : a metaphorical mirror in which we can see blind spots viz. things outside our normal “field of vision” – and in particular a metaphorical mirror in which we can see ourselves reflected and discover blind spots in our own awareness of self and others.