Dialectic

Concept · 2 readings

Dialectic is inquiry that examines its own hypotheses. Compare its ambition to reach an unassumed starting point with reasons to keep judgment open.

All readings

2 readings · Title A–Z

Guided course · Module 5 · Lesson 21
Knowledge, appearance and education
Plato’s sun, line and cave distinguish correct belief from understanding and picture education as a turning around. What do these images explain, and what do they leave unproved about knowledge and authority?
Guided course · Module 5 · Lesson 26
What if inquiry does not settle the dispute?
Sextus Empiricus gives reasons for suspending judgment while inquiry continues, and shows how a skeptic can still act. His challenge is set beside Plato’s search for a starting point that rests on no assumption.