The Structure of Dialectic in the Meno
Phronesis 46 (4):413-439 (2001)
| Abstract | In this paper I offer a new interpretation of the philosophical method of the "Meno." In the opening discussion of the dialogue, Plato introduces a restriction on answers in dialectical inquiry, which I call the Dialectical Requirement (DR). The DR is applied twice in the "Meno," in different ways (75d5-7, 79d1-3). In the first section of the paper, I argue that the two applications of the DR represent the beginning and end of dialectic. This shows that dialectical inquiry starts from our linguistic competence with the name of the property we investigate, and ends only when we have an account saying what is common to and explanatory of the bearers of that property. Dialectic begins in our ordinary ability to speak and think about the world, and ends in genuine grasp of the underlying causes of nature. In the second section, I describe the resources of linguistic competence, and their role in dialectical progress. Our linguistic competence with the name of a property enables us to make a wide variety of statements about the property and its bearers in ordinary discourse. In dialectic, these ordinary statements act as a portfolio in which the property under investigation is presented to us writ large, through its instances, types, species, etc. We seek to develop an account that says what is common to, and explanatory of the phenomena in the portfolio. When an account is inconsistent with one of the things we tend to say, this demands revision either in the account, or in the portfolio of statements. In this way, the process by which we develop our account also helps to organize and revise the statements in our portfolio so that they and the account ultimately form a coherent, explanatory body of statements | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | No categories specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,701 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesLee Franklin (2001). The Structure of Dialectic in the Meno. Phronesis 46 (4):413-439.
Lee Franklin (2009). Meno's Paradox, the Slave-Boy Interrogation, and the Unity of Platonic Recollection. Southern Journal of Philosophy 47 (4):349-377.
Annamaria Schiaparelli (2009). Plotinus on Dialectic. Archiv für Geschichte Der Philosophie 91 (3):253-287.
D. V. Nikulin (2010). Dialectic and Dialogue. Stanford University Press.
Henry B. Piper (2004). Kierkegaard's Non-Dialectical Dialectic or That Kierkegaard is Not Hegelian. International Philosophical Quarterly 44 (4):497-517.
Cindy Stern (1978). On the Alleged Extensionality of "Causal Explanatory Contexts". Philosophy of Science 45 (4):614-625.
Wan-chi Wong (2006). Understanding Dialectical Thinking From a Cultural-Historical Perspective. Philosophical Psychology 19 (2):239 – 260.
Jakob L. Fink (ed.) (2012). The Development of Dialectic From Plato to Aristotle. Cambridge University Press.
Maciej Witek (2009). Niedookreślenie językowe z punktu widzenia teorii zwrotnych warunków prawdziwości. Filozofia Nauki 3.
Uwe Petersen (2002). Diagonal Method and Dialectical Logic: Tools, Materials, and Groundworks for a Logical Foundation of Dialectic and Speculative Philosophy. Der Andere Verlag.
Roslyn Weiss (2001). Virtue in the Cave: Moral Inquiry in Plato's Meno. Oxford University Press.
Matthew King (2007). The Meno's Metaphilosophical Examples. Southern Journal of Philosophy 45 (3):395-412.
Joel Kovel (2008). Dialectic as Praxis. In Bertell Ollman & Tony Smith (eds.), Dialectics for the New Century. Palgrave Macmillan.
Craig Reeves (2013). Freedom, Dialectic and Philosophical Anthropology. Journal of Critical Realism 12 (1):13 - 44.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2010-08-31Total downloads9 ( #114,124 of 549,124 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,361 of 549,124 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
