Seminar 2: On Methods of Inquiry

On Methods of Inquiry: From Aristotle to Evald Ilyenkov with Arto Artinian

Reading: 1-10 of Aristotle's Categories

Much has been said about “dialectics” in the context of leftist thinking about politics, yet often the conversation is often vague on the specifics of what is it that dialectics in thinking actually means? What is gained by deploying “dialectical thought”? To counter this tendency, we will trace specific articulations of dialectical movement in thought, with the aim of gaining a clearer understanding of the fundamental concepts, ideas and methods that relate to this mode of thinking.

Our focus is on building a grounding in thinking about everyday life that seeks (rather than avoids) contradictions, and is capable of surviving (as Hegel said) the tensions that arise within it.

Readings will begin with a discussion of sections from Aristotle’s “Prior Analytics” and “Categories”. We will then follow with a few excerpts from Hegel’s studies of logic, while making explicit Hegel’s conversation with Aristotle. We will conclude with a close reading of Soviet philosopher Evald Ilyenkov’s presentation of dialectical thinking, in the context of the thread running from Aristotle, through Hegel and Marx.

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