Abstract

Many of the greatest philosophers have used the form of the dialogue to expound their arguments, yet the vehicle itself has been inadequately studied. The three essays in this volume examine the reasons why particular philosophers have chosen to use the dialogue as a tool and the interaction between the philosophical content and the literary form. David Sedley and Jonathan Dancy discuss two works by acknowledged masters of the dialogue, Plato's Phaedo and Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. A study of Wittgenstein in this context may seem more surprising, but Jane Heal intriguingly explores his exchanges with an unnamed interlocutor in the Investigations. These Dawes Hicks Lectures on Philosophy, by three of today's most talented young philosophers, demonstrate the value of considering the dialogue form as more than just a literary device.