Abstract

This paper examines two different conceptions of dialectics in Plato’s work based on paradigmatic passages in the dialogues Meno and Politeia. I will focus on the Greek word for »dialectic« and various related words in relevant passages in order to determine the conceptions of dialectic from their specific textual context. In particular, I will focus on those passages in which the word »dialegesthai« stands in contrast to other words such as »eristics« or »rhetoric«. The examinationthus proceeds in a performative way: it develops the content of dialectics as a concept throughthe formal method of the content itself, namely conceptual definition. In other words: to define theconcept of dialectics means to define what conceptual definition means.