Plato’s Doctrine of Ideas: Conclusion (The Summing-up and the Next Steps)

Abstract

The article is the concluding chapter from Alexei F. Losev’s 1930 massive treatise Essays on Ancient Symbolism and Mythology. It summarizes Losev’s approach to the study of Plato’s doctrine of ideas, i.e., his method, sources of influence, and evolution of his view of Plato from 1916 to 1930. Losev sets his own reading of Plato in the broad historical and conceptual context of Plato Studies in Russia and in the West, especially if not exclusively in Germany. Influenced most of all by Plotinus, Hegel, Vladimir Solovyov, Husserl, Natorp, and Florensky, Losev explains the genesis of his view of Plato’s ideal forms as encompassing a broad range of aspects, from purely abstract logical to synthetic-dialectical to richly pictorial and sculpturesque symbolic and mythical significance.