The Eleatic Palamedes: Zeno’s Defence of the Eleatic Doctrine of the One-All in the Phaedrus

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this paper is to make good philosophical sense of Plato’s portrayal of Zeno in the Phaedrus, both in itself and in the light of the characterization emerging from the Parmenides, where Plato describes Zeno as a faithful defender of the doctrine of the One-All professed by his teacher Parmenides. Therefore, starting from the example of the Parmenides, I will demonstrate that, from Plato’s point of view, the pairs of opposites that characterize Zeno’s arguments in the Phaedrus do not constitute contrasting positions that the Eleatic thinker adopted at different times, but contradictory consequences deriving from the admission of multiplicity. Finally, this will allow us to truly understand both the reason why in the Phaedrus Zeno is counted among those who practice the ἀντιλογικὴ τέχνη and the sarcasm that Plato expresses through the epithet Palamedes.