Turning Toward Philosophy: Literary Device and Dramatic Structure in Plato’s Dialogues

Plato’s dialogues do not present philosophical arguments in a vacuum. They have settings, characters, dramatic turns and carefully constructed conversations, and Jill Gordon argues that those literary choices belong to the philosophy itself, not merely to its presentation.

Gordon pays close attention to the way action, character and dramatic structure shape what can be said and how an argument is received. Who speaks, when they speak and what has already happened in the conversation all matter. On this reading, Plato’s philosophy emerges through the movement of the dialogue itself, with literary form helping to determine the meaning of the ideas being tested.