CFP: Dialectical Debates in Plato

Plato famously suggested that Dialectic — the art of asking questions and giving answers in the search for truth — should be the fundamental science laying down the ground for all other forms of knowledge. Recent scholarship argue that there is substantial evidence that dialectic was practiced, under one form or another, prior to Socrates and Plato by, inter alia, Eleatic philosophers such as Zeno or Melissus, as well as Sophists such as Gorgias. And after Plato, it was practised not only by the Megarians and the Stoics, but throughout Antiquity and the Medieval Ages up to the Renaissance. Therefore, one must understand how the literary form of Plato's dialogues could illustrate the workings and aims of dialectic debates in general. A better distinction should lead to a better appreciation both of Plato's literary devices and the dialectical arguments embedded in his dialogues.

            There is much contention about what "Dialectic" exactly is for Plato : is it one single science with a specific content, or rather a general procedure to treat a wide range of theoretical questions? Specialists of Ancient philosophy and logic are still wondering about the origins of "Dialectic" and how it could operate as a fruitful method for scientific research. One point is clear though: Plato's philosophy being one of the most prominent influence in Western philosophy and science, a better understanding of his favoured method of inquiry should yield signification information on the origins of our scientific tradition, which could then shed light on the practice of scientific debates in later centuries, including in contemporary science.

            The purpose of this seminar is thus to investigate the role of dialectical debate as a method of inquiry within Plato's works. Chronological classifications of his dialogues, which began in the 19th century, and developmental approaches to the study of his philosophy tended, when taken together, to undermine the importance of a proper understanding of dialectic as a philosophical practice. These classifications and developmental approaches have dominated scholarship to the point that one usually ignores that the earliest classifications of his dialogues, reported by Albinus and Diogenes Laertius, were by genres, e.g., the category of the dialogues "for inquiry", dividing itself into the dialogues "for training" and "for challenge".

            Such classifications indicate that the Ancients assumed dialectic to be used for a variety of purposes. Participants to this seminar are not asked specifically to address the problems raised by these early classifications, but to look at the matter afresh and discuss dialectic as a method of inquiry from a point of view akin to them, from which a host of interesting problems come to the fore concerning the relationship between inquiry and truth, and the practice of dialectical debates.

            Participants are thus asked to explore these issues from their own standpoint, and contribute either to the clarification of these underlying issues concerning dialectic as a method of inquiry, or to the clarification of difficulties in the interpretation of Plato's own theses raised by more traditional readings of his dialogues. We thus welcome papers from Junior Scholars (no more than 5 years after the end of their PhD) with either a more historical approach or with focus on a formal analysis of Plato's arguments. Please send an abstract of 500 words and a short résumé before to : benoit.castelnerac (at) usherbrooke.ca.