In this lecture, Roger explored Plato's Parmenides — one of the most demanding and rewarding dialogues in Western philosophy. The dialogue stages a dramatic encounter between the young Socrates and the aged master Parmenides, who systematically dismantles the Theory of Forms and guides Socrates to the edge of intellectual self-doubt. We examine the via negativa — the path of unknowing — and Parmenides' radical assertion that only the One truly exists. Rooted in the Hermetic and Neoplatonic wisdom tradition, this lecture reveals the Parmenides not merely as an exercise in logic, but as an initiatory text — a philosophical rite of passage in which the soul is awakened to a deeper order of reality beyond the reach of ordinary thought.

This is a presentation originally delivered by Roger Weir on March 8, 1990.

More information about these presentations can be found at
https://sharedpresencefoundation.org/presentations/plato
https://sharedpresencefoundation.org/presentations/platos-theory-of-education
https://sharedpresencefoundation.org/presentations/plato-ii

More presentations by Roger Weir are available at the Shared Presence Foundation website and on our YouTube channel