This chapter contains sections titled: I II III IV Notes Bibliography.

Scholars of classical philosophy have long disputed whether Aristotle was a dialectical thinker. Most agree that Aristotle contrasts dialectical reasoning with demonstrative reasoning, where the former reasons from generally accepted opinions and the latter reasons from the true and primary. Starting with a grasp on truth, demonstration never relinquishes it. Starting with opinion, how could dialectical reasoning ever reach truth, much less the truth about first principles? Is dialectic then an exercise that reiterates the prejudices of one's times and at (...) best allows one to persuade others by appealing to these prejudices, or is it the royal road to first principles and philosophical wisdom? In From Puzzles to Principles? May Sim gathers experts to argue both these positions and offer a variety of interpretive possibilities. The contributors' thoughtful reflections on the nature and limits of dialectic should play a crucial role in Aristotelian scholarship. (shrink)

This is a book of prodigous proportions. It is intended as nothing less than a fully comprehensive treatment of every important discussion of its two principal topics in ancient Greek texts from the works of Homer until the closing of the philosophical schools in the sixth century A.D. Moreover, Hankinson’s sources are not limited just to philosophical writers; he also deftly extracts definite positive views on these subjects from the ancient medical literature as well as from the quasi-legal discourses of (...) the fifth century B. C. sophistical movement. But this is no pedestrian lock-step survey governed mechanically by chronological order. To the contrary, various subthemes are constantly interwoven throughout, as issues raised in earlier chapters reappear to be developed and augmented in later ones, which gives the progression of the book as a whole a rich and nuanced character. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: Grades of Epistemological Involvement The Socratic Certification Program The General Account‐Requirement Definitional and Explanatory Accounts Chronic and Episodic Perspectives on Knowledge The Formal Aitia Metaphysics and Epistemology in the Republic The Simple and Subtle Aitiai in the Phaedo “Analytic” Formal Accounts in the Late Dialogues Note.