The origins of dialogic philosophy are found in Plato for whom dialogue is not only a literary form suitable for communicating philosophical ideas but is, in fact, a basic condition of thinking. An interesting implication of this is the understanding that the very possibility of meaning and truth is not found in the individual herself but in a structure of relationality by which we are always already connected to others.

The course traces a “minor” philosophical tradition that recognizes and embraces dialogue as foundational to the search for truth.

Readings include texts by Plato, Kierkegaard, Buber, Levinas, Irigaray, Kristeva, Derrida.