ABSTRACT
A detailed study of the Platonic corpus would be necessary in order to validate the hypothesis that Plato, whether playfully or seriously, associated the number seven with the theme of politics. What is beyond dispute is that, in the Statesman, there is a recurring emphasis, both direct and indirect, on diaeresis, with the attendant implication of rigorous conceptual analysis terminating in exhaustive lists of relevant items. And throughout this fabric runs the binding thread of the number seven. There is, however, also a marked emphasis upon mistakes, confusions, and the need to start anew, or to repeat correctly some previously botched step. Klein, in the previously mentioned study, makes the reasonable suggestion that the emphasis upon errors and new starts is appropriate to a discussion of politics. However, this does not explain the concomitant emphasis upon, or appearance of, scientific precision. The Eleatic Stranger constructs a cosmological myth, thereby imitating in speech the deed of the divine demiurge.
