A new take on Plato’s Parmenides from the past: Translation of Porphyry’s Commentary on Plato’s Parmenides

Abstract

In this paper, I am translating and commenting Porphyry’s commentary on one of the most difficult philosophical texts, namely, Plato’s Parmenides. I do not dare to even think of giving an answer to all the inquiries that the Parmenides text has brought throughout the centuries. This Commentary on Plato’s Parmenides, attributed to Porphyry, could be seen as a guide to partially approach the original Platonic text. The Porphyrian commentary is known to the Academic community, but it has not been studied that much in depth, and as far as I know, there is not an English translation so far, making it more difficult for English speakers to come into contact with this text. After providing a necessary background for the topics discussed in this text, which are connected with Plato’s Parmenides, I will translate the text into English, and I will make some comments (or questions) about it, with the hope that more people will follow my lead.