Kant's Plato

Abstract

The importance of Plato's philosophy in the development of the critical project, as early as the Dissertation and up to Kant's later works, has been widely studied since the first half of the 20th century. The dependence of Kant's knowledge of the dialogues on Jacob Brucker's historical enquiries has also been widely emphasized. However, growing interest in the sources of Kant's Plato has led to the detection of other points of contact, especially through the study of the circulation of new translations of the dialogues at the end of 18th century. Moreover, Brucker's own work and sources have also been studied more closely. In what follows, from the perspective of Platonic studies, I propose: (1) a very synthetic overview of the status quaestionis on Kant’s reception of Plato, and (2) the main features of Brucker's approach in his Historia critica philosophiae. Then, (3 and 4) I analyze the way in which Brucker conveys two motifs of the Timaeus, which are of particular relevance for critical philosophy. Finally, (5) following a polemic that Kant engages in about the understanding of Letter VII, I will (6) focus on the implicit references to a famous passage from the Phaedo in the treatise On an exalted tone recently raised in philosophy, since they reveal a well-considered reading of a crucial theme and text in Plato.