Description

Scholars of classical philosophy have long disputed whether Aristotle was a dialectical thinker. Most agree that Aristotle contrasts dialectical reasoning with demonstrative reasoning, where the former reasons from generally accepted opinions and the latter reasons from the true and primary. Starting with a grasp on truth, demonstration never relinquishes it. Starting with opinion, how could dialectical reasoning ever reach truth, much less the truth about first principles? Is dialectic then an exercise that reiterates the prejudices of one's times and at best allows one to persuade others by appealing to these prejudices, or is it the royal road to first principles and philosophical wisdom?
In From Puzzles to Principles? May Sim gathers experts to argue both these positions and offer a variety of interpretive possibilities. The contributors' thoughtful reflections on the nature and limits of dialectic should play a crucial role in Aristotelian scholarship.

Table of Contents

chapter 1 Introduction, For Dialectic Puts Questions about Matters which Philosophy Knows
chapter 2 The Diodorean Modalites and the Master Argument
chapter 3 Dialectic and Method in Aristotle
chapter 4 The Epistemological Basis of Aristotelian Dialectic
chapter 5 Choosing the Good in Aristotle's Topics
chapter 6 The Normalization of Perplexity in Aristotle
chapter 7 Dialectic, Contradiction, and Paraconsistency in Aristotle
chapter 8 Perception and Dialectic in Aristotle's De Anima
chapter 9 Aristotle's Discovery of First Principles
chapter 10 Dialectical Communities: From One to the Many and Back
chapter 11 Poetry, History, and Dialectic

Product details

Published Oct 13 1999
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 288
ISBN 9780739100295
Imprint Lexington Books
Dimensions 229 x 150 mm
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

May Sim

Contributor

Allan Bäck

Contributor

Robert Bolton

Contributor

J D. G. Evans

Contributor

Eugene Garver

Contributor

Lenn E. Goodman

Contributor

Edward Halper

Contributor

Martha Husain

Contributor

Gareth Matthews

Contributor

Robin Smith

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Environment: Staging