Publisher's Synopsis
The title of this volume alludes to Phaedrus 255d, where Socrates says that the lover is, as it were, the mirror in which the beloved beholds himself. Mirrors provide a chance to overcome some of the natural limitations of vision - and in particular they enable us to see that which otherwise would remain completely out of sight and in this sense is the farthest object, namely: oneself. The papers in this volume share the notion that the study of Plato - and notably the study of the Phaedrus - can be much more than the study of one of the major philosophical works of the so-called Western Canon. According to this view, Plato's Phaedrus holds a mirror or is itself a mirror: a metaphorical mirror in which we can see blind spots viz. things outside our normal 'field of vision' - and in particular a metaphorical mirror in which we can see ourselves reflected and discover blind spots in our own awareness of self and others.
