Inspiration in the Platonic tradition – an open session in Manchester

Plato’s understanding of inspiration as being from the Gods is especially indicated by the Phaedrus, but also, for example, in the Symposium and the Ion. The Platonists of late antiquity explore the issue in several texts, with Hermeas and Proclus particularly focused on its implications. We will look at passages from Plato and these commentators and explore the relationship between inspiration and reason. The paper at the bottom of this page will be used as our starting point for this exploration.

This event is free but donations are encouraged, circumstances allowing. We’ll start the session at 6.30pm – please come to the top floor of the pub on arrival. No need to book.

These evenings include short talks and/or readings from Platonic writings – but we hope they will be genuinely interactive, with all participants invited to contribute to our collaborative search for truth. No previous experience of formal philosophy is required. Every effort is made to make these type of evenings accessible to the newcomer, while allowing the great profundity of the Platonic tradition to step forward and speak to us at whatever level our present understanding sits.

Please click here to download the study paper that we will use for the basis of our exploration of this subject: Inspiration

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