Difference and participation in Plato's parmenides

Abstract

In this paper we are examining two crucial conceptions, and therefore also problems, of the Platonic corpus; conceptions of difference and participation that establish, constitute and structure his entire thought (regardless of relative differences between particular phases of its historical development). These conceptions are examined in their intertwinement starting from the Parmenides as the primary evidence of their status and relationship in Plato. In the course of our examination, that is through the analysis of the concept of the Sudden or the Instant, a third extremely important conception emerges and acquires shape: the Platonic conception of time, which we take to be representative of the overall Greek notion and understanding of temporality. Finally, from within such conceptual framework one recognizes and acknowledges the totality of Platonic philosophy as above all the thought of liberty.