Single Idea 2052

[catalogued under 2. Reason / C. Styles of Reason / 3. Eristic]

Full Idea

Eristic discussions involve as many tricks and traps as possible, but dialectical discussions involve being serious and correcting the interlocutor's mistakes only when they are his own fault or the result of past conditioning.

Clarification

'Eristic' is argument as a contest, but 'dialectic' is co-operation in pursuit of truth

Gist of Idea

Eristic discussion is aggressive, but dialectic aims to help one's companions in discussion

Source

Plato (Theaetetus [c.364 BCE], 167e)

Book Reference

Plato: 'Theaetetus', ed/tr. Waterfield,Robin [Penguin 1987], p.58