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Full Idea
The most productive way in which to attempt an understanding of any philosophical idea is to work on its defence.
Gist of Idea
The best way to understand a philosophical idea is to defend it
Source
Crispin Wright (Frege's Concept of Numbers as Objects [1983], 1.vii)
Book Ref
Wright,Crispin: 'Frege's Conception of Numbers' [Scots Philosophical Monographs 1983], p.49
A Reaction
Very nice. The key point is that this brings greater understanding than working on attacking an idea, which presumably has the dangers of caricature, straw men etc. It is the Socratic insight that dialectic is the route to wisdom.