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last.updated 10.30.05

 

Dialectic

Purpose
To give you the opportunity to see dialectic (or the potential for dialectic) in our current discourse).

Instructions

Read Plato's The Phaedrus and go back and review your notes about how Aristotle defines dialectic (Book Chapters 1-3).

Watch, listen to, or read a discussion about a particular current event. Note that this should be a forum with two or more people. And this is not an interview where one person person completely controls the focus of the discourse. Many news (and sports) programs will have this type of dialogue.

Write a 250-350 word analysis of this dialogue. In this analysis, you will want to...

  • briefly introduce the rhetorical situation
    • introduce the topic discussed
    • describe who the participants are
    • summarize each participants' positions
    • explain the outcome, if applicable
  • address whether a dialectic is desirable for this topic
  • address whether what you have experienced is an example of dialectic, according to Plato or Aristotle. Explain why or why not
  • if you feel that a dialectic was achieved what factors contributed to this happening? if it was not achieved what factors may have made it difficult

Submit your work prior to class (7 pm) in the body of an email addressed to the instructor.