Plato on False Discourse and Literature. A Discussion from R. II 376d– 379a

Abstract

This paper attempts to elucidate the meaning of the controversial Platonic statement in relation to the peculiarity in the literary accounts which, in spite of being false, contain at the same time certain truths (R. II 377a6). Furthermore, there seems to be contradiction in the fact that Plato critiques those writings and still proposes using others equally false. I analyze three possibilities to disambiguate the meaning ofpseûdos in these contexts —“false” would point to fiction or to a verbal lie or the character of one of the two levels (factual or normative) which would comprise a literary account; and I support the fact that, for Plato, the undesirable falsity is only the one related to the typological core comprised in those accounts.