From Puzzles to Principles? Essays on Aristotle's Dialectic

by Sim, May; Bäck, Allan; Bolton, Robert; G. Evans, J D.; Ferejohn, Michael; Garver, Eugene; Goodman, Lenn E.; Halper, Edward; Husain, Martha; Matthews, Gareth; Smith, Robin

• ISBN13: 9780739100295
• ISBN10: 0739100297
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-10-13
• Publisher: Lexington Books

Summary

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.

Author Biography

May Sim is professor of philosophy at Oklahoma State University.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. ix
For Dialectic Puts Questions about Matters which Philosophy Knows	p. 1
The Diodorean Modalities and the Master Argument	p. 15
Dialectic and Method in Aristotle	p. 39
The Epistemological Basis of Aristotelian Dialectic	p. 57
Choosing the Good in Aristotle's Topics	p. 107
The Normalization of Perplexity in Aristotle	p. 125
Dialectic, Contradiction, and Paraconsistency in Aristotle	p. 137
Perception and Dialectic in Aristotle's De Anima	p. 151
Aristotle's Discovery of First Principles	p. 163
Dialectical Communities: From the One to the Many and Back	p. 183
Poetry, History, and Dialectic	p. 215
Selected Bibliography	p. 229
Index	p. 237
About the Contributors	p. 249
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