Philosophy as dialogue : Plato and the history of dialectic (with special reference to the sophist)
The connecting thread of this thesis is the idea that philosophy is essentially dialectical or a matter of conversation. Plato's idea of philosophy plays a pivotal role insofar as one of his main preoccupations throughout his work is to define the essence of philosophy. For him philosophy and dialectic are interchangeable terms. Plato's idea of dialectic is that of a philosophical conversation. This is not a judgement that is accepted by many other philosophers; I consider objections that Aristotle, Descartes and Husserl address to this idea of the nature of philosophy. In the first main part I discuss the etymology and origins of the word dialectic and its possible literary antecedents in Greek epic, lyric and tragedy. I then offer, in the second part, a historical approach to the philosophical roots of dialectic with the aim of grasping its genesis and evolution. I deal with the different ancient ideas of dialectic as represented by the figures of Plato, Aristotle, Zeno (and some Sophists), and the Stoics, then moving on to the medieval understanding of dialectic. Finally I describe its modem versions through representative figures such as Kant, Hegel, Marx and Engels. Finally, in the third part, I turn
Longoria, MariÂŽa Teresa Padilla
Socrates
Philosophy as dialogue : Plato and the history of dialectic (with special reference to the sophist). The connecting thread of this thesis is the idea that philosophy is essentially dialectical or a matter of conversation. Plato's idea of philosophy plays a pivotal role insofar as one of his main preoccupations throughout his work is to define the essence of philosophy. For him philosophy and dialectic are interchangeable terms. Plato's idea of dialectic is that of a philosophical conversation. This is not a judgement that is accepted by many other philosophers; I consider objections that Aristotle, Descartes and Husserl address to this idea of the nature of philosophy. In the first main part I discuss the etymology and origins of the word dialectic and its possible literary antecedents in Greek epic, lyric and tragedy. I then offer, in the second part, a historical approach to the philosophical roots of dialectic with the aim of grasping its genesis and evolution. I deal with the different ancient ideas of dialectic as represented by the figures of Plato, Aristotle, Zeno (and some Sophists), and the Stoics, then moving on to the medieval understanding of dialectic. Finally I describe its modem versions through representative figures such as Kant, Hegel, Marx and Engels. Finally, in the third part, I turn
philosophy dialogue plato history dialectic special_reference sophist connect thread idea philosophy essentially dialectical matter conversation plato idea philosophy play pivotal_role insofar one_main preoccupation throughout work define essence philosophy philosophy dialectic term plato idea dialectic philosophical conversation judgement accept many_philosopher consider objection aristotle descartes husserl address idea nature philosophy first main_part discus etymology origins word dialectic possible literary antecedent greek epic lyric tragedy offer second_part historical philosophical root dialectic aim grasp genesis evolution deal different ancient idea dialectic represent figure plato_aristotle stoics move medieval dialectic finally describe modem version representative figure kant_hegel marx finally third_part turn