Platonic Strategy in Byzantium“Power in Literature and Philosophy”

Abstract

The article attempts to address the principles of Plato’s teaching in order to indi­cate the influence of the platonic way of philosophizing on Byzantine philosoph­ical practices. The problem of the difference of interpretations of essential mo­ments of Plato’s teaching is raised, bit for the solution of reception of a dialogue form of this teaching, its main sense and strategies, a generalized image of pla­tonism is created. The appeal to Byzantine reality demonstrates the mixture of cultural fields of literature, religion and philosophy, which develops an axiologi­cal manner of writing, requiring a thorough assessment of the text and its con­tent. The overview of “power in literature and philosophy” in Byzantine repre­sents the simultaneity of literary, philosophical and theological works relevant for this period of time with the standards of the living tradition of platonic and neoplatonic classics. At the end of the article there are examples of direct inter­pretation of some statements of Plato by Michael Psellos.