Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 23 Dialectic has not always meant the same thing. In its classical Greek form, particularly in the Socratic and Platonic traditions, dialectic was primarily an epistemological method. Through questioning, comparison, and the examination of opposing viewpoints, it served to clarify concepts, expose hidden assumptions, and test theContinue reading “Excursus 117 – On Dialectic as Method and as Ontology”
Tag Archives: Socrates
Excursus 105 – On the Epistemological Function of Examples in Plato’s Dialogues
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 05 Readers approaching Plato for the first time are often struck by the kinds of questions that dominate his dialogues. Contrary to modern expectations, Socrates rarely investigates material objects or natural phenomena. Instead, his discussions almost invariably concern concepts: justice, courage, temperance, piety, friendship, beauty, knowledge, virtue,Continue reading “Excursus 105 – On the Epistemological Function of Examples in Plato’s Dialogues”
Excursus 104– Rethinking Plato’s Academy: Dialectic as Philosophical Apprenticeship
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 05 Modern readers are often struck by an apparent paradox in Plato’s educational program. In the Republic, dialectic occupies the highest stage of philosophical education. After approximately ten years of mathematical preparation, those selected for advanced study are expected to devote an additional five years to dialecticContinue reading “Excursus 104– Rethinking Plato’s Academy: Dialectic as Philosophical Apprenticeship”
Excursus 088 – On the Historical Functions of Doubt
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 Philosophical doubt has never constituted a single method or pursued a single objective. Although many traditions have employed questioning, criticism, and the exposure of contradictions, they have done so for fundamentally different purposes. The history of dialectic is therefore also a history of changing conceptions ofContinue reading “Excursus 088 – On the Historical Functions of Doubt”
Excursus 003 – Three Historical Roles of Dialectic
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 Discussions of the history of dialectic often distinguish between different philosophers but less frequently between the fundamentally different roles that dialectic has played throughout intellectual history. A useful distinction may be drawn between three broad conceptions. The earliest conception, associated primarily with Socrates and much ofContinue reading “Excursus 003 – Three Historical Roles of Dialectic”
Hossein Jorjani 