Archiv für Begriffsgeschichte. Band 63,1

This paper examines two different conceptions of dialectics in Plato’s work based on paradigmatic passages in the dialogues Meno and Politeia. I will focus on the Greek word for »dialectic« and various related words in relevant passages in order to determine the conceptions of dialectic from their specific textual context. In particular, I will focus on those passages in which the word »dialegesthai« stands in contrast to other words such as »eristics« or »rhetoric«. The examinationthus proceeds in a performative way: it develops the content of dialectics as a concept throughthe formal method of the content itself, namely conceptual definition. In other words: to define theconcept of dialectics means to define what conceptual definition means.

Conceptual research is interdisciplinary in two regards. On the one hand, various disciplines have developed various approaches to conceptual research. These range from conceptual analysis and conceptual history in philosophy, Begriffsgeschichte in historical and literary studies to term-related semantics in linguistics and conceptual research in psychoanalysis. On the other hand, concepts play a key role in any cooperation within interdisciplinary research projects. If they remain undiscussed and unmediated between the participating disciplines, they tend to impede productive cooperation. This contribution provides an overview of different forms of conceptual research and introduces the approach of Experimental Conceptual Research as a technique of conceptual reflection, which unifies approaches of various disciplines by going back to an investigation of those criteria that become effective in the practice of concept formation and usage. As a criterial investigation, it starts at the level of conceptualizing phenomena within the course of research. In this way, premature fixations of conceptually filtered perceptions can be avoided, allowing the discovery of distinguishing features in phenomena to pave the way for forms of interdisciplinary cooperation that are deeply anchored in material content.