Plato's dialogue form and the care of the soul

Moes (philosophy, Grand Valley State U.) joins the investigation, ongoing since ancient Greece, into why Plato wrote mostly in dramatic dialogue between philosophers (usually Socrates) and non-philosophers rather than in essays or other forms. He asks whether he could have accomplished the same purpose in other forms, explores why some recent thought may be incomplete, and reviews the medical and psychiatric ideas of the time. He concludes that Plato depicted his masters carrying on and developing traditional psychosomatic healing. The treatment is descended from his doctor's dissertation for Notre Dame, and lacks an index.