Views of Dialectic
Just like their divergent views of rhetoric, The Sophists, Socrates & Plato, and Aristotle had differing thoughts on the practice of dialectic. While rhetoric was Socrates & Plato's bread and butter, it was secondary to Aristotle and insignificant to the Sophists.
​
Socrates & Plato felt that truth and philosophy lived by the practice of rhetoric. As they believed that knowledge that was already contained within the soul could be remembered through the dialectic questioning that would shave away false or self-generated truths. Rather than viewing dialectic as a method of unbuttoning absolute truths, Aristotle viewed dialectic as a method of generating probable truths. This is a critical difference that stems from their respective epistemologies.
​
Despite their differences, Socrates & Plato and Aristotle both view dialectic as a necessary step in the process of seeking truth. The Sophists, on the other hand, didn't really have a place for dialectic as they spoke to persuade the masses while Socrates famously decreed that he "speak[s] to the individual."
​
TL;DR?
Check out this sweet infographic!
