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Although Plato could tell us nothing, and perhaps knew that he

could tell us nothing, of the absolute truth, he has exercised an

influence on the human mind which even at the present day is not

exhausted; and political and social questions may yet arise in

which the thoughts of Plato may be read anew and receive a fresh

meaning.

The Idea of good is so called only in the Republic, but there are

traces of it in other dialogues of Plato. It is a cause as well

as an idea, and from this point of view may be compared with the

creator of the Timaeus, who out of his goodness created all

things. It corresponds to a certain extent with the modern

conception of a law of nature, or of a final cause, or of both in

one, and in this regard may be connected with the measure and

symmetry of the Philebus. It is represented in the Symposium

under the aspect of beauty, and is supposed to be attained there

by stages of initiation, as here by regular gradations of

knowledge. Viewed subjectively, it is the process or science of

dialectic.