BT36. Hegel's dialectical method owes much to the Sophists, Socrates and, in particular, Plato, who saw dialectic as synonymous with philosophy. Hegel of course thought to deal with Kant's antinomies by the idea that contradictories merge in a higher truth -- somewhat like the yin-yang or two-sides-of-the-same-coin idea. But, argued Hegel, Plato's dialectic yields a simplistic reductio ad absurdum argument which in general resolves nothing.
Were not, by modern standards, Hegel so long-winded, he would doubtless get more respect than he does.
In any case, we have J.E. Erdmann's1 take on Platonic dialectics:
1. History of Philosophy by J.E. Erdmann (London: Swan Sonnenschein; New York: Macmillan English trans. of 4th ed. 1890; Berlin: William Hertz 1866, 1st ed.). Originally published as Grundriss der Geschichte der Philosophie, or "Outline of the History of Philosophy." German "outlines" were meant as aids for university students who would use them as backgrounds for more detailed lectures.
Erdmann's History was a big hit in Germany and later in Britain and America.
I find his observations quite stimulating and not, in general, dated.
Were not, by modern standards, Hegel so long-winded, he would doubtless get more respect than he does.
In any case, we have J.E. Erdmann's1 take on Platonic dialectics:
It is only when it has been trained in dialectic that the philosophic instinct becomes true philosophy; and hence to philosophize dialectically is also to philosophize truly and rightly (Soph.). It is not therefore the Eros alone that produces the result. If, then, we remember, that in the Symposium Socrates is extolled as the very incarnation of the Eros, this must be considered a proof that Plato regarded the continuation and justification of Socratism by means of Dialectic as the essential advance he had to make. This also explains how Plato could come to regard the dialectical method as equivalent to true knowledge, to use dialectic and philosophy sometimes as synonymous terms, and again employ the word Dialectic to designate that portion of his doctrine which contained the logical basis of the rest. The last is the sense we shall henceforth give to the word.In passing, one may note Freud's theory of sexual sublimation forecast by Plato.
1. History of Philosophy by J.E. Erdmann (London: Swan Sonnenschein; New York: Macmillan English trans. of 4th ed. 1890; Berlin: William Hertz 1866, 1st ed.). Originally published as Grundriss der Geschichte der Philosophie, or "Outline of the History of Philosophy." German "outlines" were meant as aids for university students who would use them as backgrounds for more detailed lectures.
Erdmann's History was a big hit in Germany and later in Britain and America.
I find his observations quite stimulating and not, in general, dated.
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