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A Long Lost Relative in the Parmenides? Plato’s Family of Hypothetical Methods

  • Evan Rodriguez EMAIL logo
From the journal Apeiron

Abstract

The Parmenides has been unduly overlooked in discussions of hypothesis in Plato. It contains a unique method for testing first principles, a method I call ‘exploring both sides’. The dialogue recommends exploring the consequences of both a hypothesis and its contradictory and thematizes this structure throughout. I challenge the view of Plato’s so-called ‘method of hypothesis’ as an isolated stage in Plato’s development; instead, the evidence of the Parmenides suggests a family of distinct hypothetical methods, each with its own peculiar aim. Exploring both sides is unique both in its structure and in its aim of testing candidate principles.


Corresponding author: Evan Rodriguez, Department of English and Philosophy, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, USA, E-mail:

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Published Online: 2020-12-07
Published in Print: 2022-01-27

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