Abstract
Like other theories of Plato, his conception of dialectic too undergoes changes and development. In the later dialogues at least part of the dialectic takes the form of so-called divisions and collections. These procedures are described in the Phaedrus and employed predominantly in the Sophist and Politicus. The purpose of this paper is to examine the products of the divisions as well as the processes that lead to these.
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References
P. Shorey, The Unity of Plato’s Thought, Chicago 1903 (1960) p. 31, note 200, and p. 51, note 371.
E. R. Dodds, Plato’ Gorgias, Oxford 1959, p. 226.
J. Stenzel, Plato’s Method of Dialectic (transl. by D. Allan ), New York 1964, p. 93.
H. F. Cherniss, Aristotle’s Criticism of Plato and the Academy, Baltimore 1944, p. 28ff.
H. F. Cherniss, op. cit., p. 46, argues against what is defended here.
J. Skemp, Plato’s Statesman, London 1952, p. 69.
R. Hackforth, Plato’s Examination of Pleasure, Cambridge 1958, pp. 142–43.
F. M. Cornford, Plato’s Theory of Knowledge, New York 1957, pp. 184–187.
This supports the interpretation found in T. Rosemmeyer, ‘Plato’s Hypothesis and the Upward Path’, American Journal of Philology 81 (1960), 393–407.
F. M. Cornford, op.cit., pp. 184ff.
G. Ryle, Plato’s Progress, Cambridge 1966, Chapter IV.
J. L. Ackrill, ‘In Defense of Platonic Division’, in Ryle (ed. by O. Wood and G. Pitcher ), New York 1970, pp. 373–392.
J. L. Ackrill, op. cit., pp. 374–75.
J. L. Ackrill, op. cit., p. 385.
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© 1973 D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht-Holland
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Moravcsik, J.M.E. (1973). Plato’s Method of Division. In: Moravcsik, J.M.E. (eds) Patterns in Plato’s Thought. Synthese Historical Library, vol 6. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-2545-4_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-2545-4_9
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