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Single Idea 1644

[filed under theme 2. Reason / C. Styles of Reason / 1. Dialectic ]

Full Idea

The dialectical capacity - you won't give it to anyone else, I suspect, except to whoever philosophises purely and justly.

Clarification

'Dialectic' is the impersonal pursuit of truth

Gist of Idea

Dialectic should only be taught to those who already philosophise well

Source

Plato (The Sophist [c.359 BCE], 253e)

Book Ref

Plato: 'The Sophist', ed/tr. Bernadete,Seth [University of Chicago 1986], p.49


The 16 ideas from 'The Sophist'

Wickedness is an illness of the soul [Plato]
A soul without understanding is ugly [Plato]
Didactic education is hard work and achieves little [Plato]
In discussion a person's opinions are shown to be in conflict, leading to calm self-criticism [Plato]
What does 'that which is not' refer to? [Plato]
Some alarming thinkers think that only things which you can touch exist [Plato]
To be is to have a capacity, to act on other things, or to receive actions [Plato]
We must fight fiercely for knowledge, understanding and intelligence [Plato]
If statements about non-existence are logically puzzling, so are statements about existence [Plato]
Good analysis involves dividing things into appropriate forms without confusion [Plato]
Good thinkers spot forms spread through things, or included within some larger form [Plato]
Dialectic should only be taught to those who already philosophise well [Plato]
The not-beautiful is part of the beautiful, though opposed to it, and is just as real [Plato]
If we see everything as separate, we can then give no account of it [Plato]
The desire to split everything into its parts is unpleasant and unphilosophical [Plato]
Whenever there's speech it has to be about something [Plato]