I know that "elenchus" is often associated with Socrates and the Socratic method whereas "dialectic" is more associated with Plato. But what is their relationship? Is elenchus a part of dialectics? Or is elenchus basically the same as dialectics?
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2Elenchus is "destructive": a sort of refutation. Stating an assumption (hypothesis) and deriving absurd consequences in order to reject it.– Mauro ALLEGRANZACommented Jan 16 at 10:09
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See Jakob Fink (editor), The Development of Dialectic from Plato to Aristotle (Cambridge UP).– Mauro ALLEGRANZACommented Jan 16 at 10:34
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Consider that the etymology of "dialectic" is "dia-" for "two-of-" and "-lectic" from "lekta," which in Stoic logic were propositions (in modern parlance, the meanings of that-clauses). So "dialectic" would mean at base something like "two propositions," and as a process is the comparison and contrast of propositions as in Hegelian thesis-antithesis pairings (which linguistic imagery was inherited from Kant's discourse on antinomies as samples of "transcendental dialectic"). The elenchtic process, by comparison(!), would be specifically erotetic, of questions above/beyond just that-clauses.– Kristian BerryCommented Jan 16 at 16:35
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And see G.Vlastos, The Socratic Elenchus, into Socratic Studies (Cambridge UP, 1994), page 4: "Socratic elenchus is a search for moral truth by question-and-answer adversary argument in which a thesis is debated only if asserted as the answerer's own belief and is regarded as refuted only if its negation is deduced from his own beliefs."– Mauro ALLEGRANZACommented Jan 17 at 11:04
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1 Answer
Both technical terms are not synonyms.
Quoting from Richard Robinson Plato’s earlier Dialectic:
The outstanding method in Plato’s earlier dialogues is the Socratic elenchus. ‘Elenchus’ in the wider sense means examining a person with regard to a statement he has made, by putting to him questions calling for further statements, in the hope that they will determine the meaning and the truth-value of his first statement. Most often the truth-value expected is falsehood; and so ‘elenchus’ in the narrower sense is a form of cross-examination or refutation. In this sense it is the most striking aspect of the behaviour of Socrates in Plato’s ealier dialogues. (p. 7)
The particular method [for attaining positive doctrine, not for rejecting it] which Plato discusses and recommends is called by him ‘the dialectical method’ […] (Rp 533C) or ‘the power of conversing’ […] (Rp. 511) or ‘the art concerning discussions’ […] (Phd. 90B) or the procedure of discussion’ […] (Sph. 227A). (p. 69)
Therefore ‘elenchus’ is used by Plato as a method of refutation in his early dialogues, while ‘dialectic’ is his method to obtain a positive doctrine in his middle and late dialogues.
From the dictionary: elenchus = argument of disproof, refutation; dialectic = from the verb "dialegesthai = to parley".
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Let me see if I'm understanding this correctly, the basic difference is that 'elenchus' ends up with a negative result whereas 'dialectic' ends up with a positive result? Can it also be that elenchus is a part of the dialectic? Commented Jan 16 at 10:27
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@JohnSmith Of course Plato's method of dialectic also refutes - in the sense of elenchus - certain claims discussed in the dialogues. But dialectic does not aim at refuting all statements and to end in aporia. The aim of dialectic is to obtain true doctrines. Commented Jan 16 at 10:32
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So elenchus ends in aporia, dialectic ends in knowledge. Is that right? Commented Jan 16 at 10:34
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@JohnSmith Concerning elenchus I agree. Concerning dialectic: E..g., Plato's dialogue Parmenides indicates some difficulties with Plato's earlier theory of forms. Hence Plato questioned and sometimes even revised some results from his earlier work - which is not unusual for sincere academic work :-) Commented Jan 16 at 10:45