The Topographies of the Philosophical Path,or on the Consequences of Not Wearing Shoes

Abstract

The purpose of the considerations presented in this article is to analyze the status of philosophy in terms of its problem-solving potential, or, more simply, to trace the possible topographies of a philosophical path. The point of departure, but also the central subject of my research, is a passage from Plato’s The Symposium (201d–204c), containing an emblematic, though ambiguous, description of a philosophical journey. The key problems that this description poses, particularly in the area of its metaphilosophical consequences, certainly deserve a more profound reflection. Therefore, in the subsequent sections of the article, I present – and critically discuss – some of the most significant interpretations of Plato’s passage, emphasizing their (meta) philosophical implications. The latter, in turn, are organized according to the categories of the modes of philosophy, as proposed by Sextus Empiricus (Pyr., I, 1–4). On the basis of the proposed reflection upon the topography of the philosophical path and upon the character of the generally accepted model of knowledge, I endeavor to provide an explanation that, while avoiding the reefs of dogmatic consequences of thinking about philosophy, would account for –and acknowledge – the uncertainty inscribed in philosophy, both with respect to particular resolutions and with respect to the possibility of its own self-fulfillment. For this purpose, other narratives of paths, journeying, and pursuits – metaphorically unlike those offered by Plato, prove useful.