One thing is sure: we don't know what Plato's conception of the Form of the Good was, exactly. If we knew, the fourth A. G. Leventis conference would probably not have taken place, and if it had the papers given would have looked quite different. However, as is well known, Plato gave us some indications of how he conceived of the Form of the Good. For what we find in the Republic in the three famous figures or similes, i.e., those of the Sun, the Line and the Cave, is a kind of wanted poster we can use in order to identify the Form of the Good.

Wanted posters normally contain a certain number of characteristic features of the individual being looked for. And if these features taken together are sufficiently specific there should be – in the ideal case – only one individual who corresponds to the given description. However, imagine that the characteristics the police have at their disposal aren't consistent. In this case they have no chance of running a successful investigation. Now, exactly this seems to be the situation we find ourselves in when we start our investigation of Plato's Form of the Good, or so some scholars in the field believe. In order to see whether there is such a contradiction in Plato's characterization of the Form of the Good, let me first give a summary of these characteristics.