Method
Academic Dialectic
Classification
- Method family
- Dialogical
- Domains
- Epistemology
Overview
Academic dialectic investigates a question by arguing on opposing sides or by drawing consequences from an interlocutor's own commitments. The questioner can expose a contradiction without accepting the premises or conclusion as a position of their own.
Purpose. The method tests whether a theory can withstand its own standards and strong opposition. Cicero states the aim directly: the Academics argue on both sides in order to draw out what is true, or what comes nearest to it (Academica 2.7), so the method aims at the most persuasive view, not only at exposing a difficulty. Arcesilaus, like the later Pyrrhonists, ended in suspension of judgment; what separates the method from Pyrrhonian Opposition of Arguments is the procedure, which argues from an opponent's own premises without adopting them rather than setting out equally balanced cases as a standing practice. It also differs from Hegelian Dialectic, which explains development within forms of thought.
Characteristic operations
- Begin from a defended thesis: Let an interlocutor or established school supply the claim under examination.
- Draw out commitments: Use questions or accepted premises to identify what the thesis requires.
- Construct the opposing case: Argue against the thesis, or argue both sides, without treating either case as one's settled doctrine.
- Expose the difficulty: Derive a contradiction, counterexample, or unresolved opposition that keeps inquiry open.