From chorismos to epekeina tes ousias: mathematics and hermeneutics in Plato’s philosophy

This paper proposes a reading of Plato’s Republic and Theaetetus, so as to analyze the three levels of transcendence in which our cognitive experience unfolds. First, it is necessary to overcome the doxastic plane: therein an ens may be and not be within an equal respect, generating a contradiction that can only be resolved through hypotheses. However, hypotheses produce an indefinite regression: a hermeneutic step toward Forms is thus needed. The alogon is interpreted as the transcendent and luminous source of every subsequent discourse. Ultimately, the case of the epekeina tes ousias reveals that transcendence depends on a hermeneutic activity aimed at saving the phenomena.