Theaetetus' exercise of dialectical dynamis in Plato's Sophist: The paradigm of the angler and dichotomous division
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Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the first sections of the Sophist dialogue (219a4-231b) on the basis of the responses and interventions of the young interlocutor Theaetetus. First, we will examine the propaedeutic role of the angler’s paradigm (219a4-221c4), which effectively teaches Theaetetus the correct way to divide dichotomously. We will then focus on the first six divisions of the sophist, in which the Eleatic Stranger raises the level of complexity of the method and requires Theaetetus to continue with it despite its inadequacy. From this overview, we will argue that both sections function as a gradual exercise of the apprentice's dialectical capacity (dynamis) that prepares him not only to apply the method of division, but also to see similarities between the Genus that constitute it. The Eleatic Stranger, as a dialectician, undertakes the choice and measurement of certain exercises to make Theaetetus more proficient in philosophy and, in turn, to account for the main features of the sophist.
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