The Platonic Epistles in the «Fundació Bernat Metge». The Seventh Epistle and the Transmission of Philosophy

Abstract

Firstly, the text recalls the origins and purpose of the Fundació Bernat Metge (a Catalan series of classical texts created in 1922) and concisely explains the characteristics of the new Catalan edition of the Platonic Epistles, that has recently been published as a new volume of the Bernat Metge series. Then it outlines the peculiar history of this epistolary collection and proposes a reading of the Seventh Epistle which focuses on the idea of the transmission of philosophy while taking into account the historical background of the text, the rhetorical devices it deploys and the Platonic reflection on writing. Key words: Plato, Letters, Fundació Bernat Metge, transmission of philosophy, writing.