Wittgenstein and Plato: through the question of dialogue

Wittgenstein’s Anti-Platonism in a field of ethics, philosophy of religion and philosophy of mathematics is a common place in Wittgenstein studies. But Wittgenstein’s approach to Plato and especially the way Wittgenstein reads Plato’s dialogues are usually dismissed. In the article, I recollect nearly all passages in Wittgenstein’s texts where Wittgenstein gives any quotations from Plato or any comments on Plato and Socrates. I analyze contexts in which these quotations and comments emerge. Then I argue that the only theme Wittgenstein was interested in Plato’s dialogues was the dialogical form itself and that the nature of language or the nature of knowledge (as a part of Platonistic discourse) appears to be of no interest for Wittgenstein.