THE "7TH LETTER" OF PLATO

Plato's Seventh Letter is one of the most significant interests of Margherita Isnardi Parente, throughout her scientific career. She was a moderate supporter of the authenticity of the Letter; nevertheless, she never held that the Letter could validate Plato's 'interacademic' interpretation raised by Kramer and Gaiser, that Isnardi Parente vigorously criticized thanks to several arguments. At the same time, the scholar opposed any sceptical or even problematic interpretation of the so-called philosophical excursus of the Letter: she believed that this passage supported an intuitionistic interpretation of Platonic epistemology in a strictly rationalistic therefore, not at all mystical sense. From this point of view, Plato would be, in other words, a supporter of a pure intellection, able to overcome the difficulties of discursive thought.