Dialectic, dialogue, and controversy: The case of Galileo

Journal/Book: Sci Context. 1998; 11: 40 West 20Th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA. Cambridge Univ Press. 181-203.

Abstract: The purpose of this article is twofold. Firstly, I propose to analyze controversies using a ''dialectical'' model, in the sense described in Aristotle's Topics. This approach presupposes that we temporarily disregard, for the sake of clarity, the concreteness of real life controversies in order to focus on their argumentative structure. From this point of view, the main advantage of controversies is that they allow the interlocutors to test each other's claims and therefore to arrive at relatively corroborated conclusions. This testing function in a dialectical context is implemented through the assent to commonly accepted premises, and the necessity which characterizes each step of the reasoning. Secondly, I shall apply this dialectical framework to the study of the controversy concerning the motion of the Earth, or rather a small episode of it. I shall examine an exchange of letters, written in 1616 and in 1624 respectively, between Galileo Galilei and Francesco Ingoli, one of his Aristotelian opponents. I shall then compare this exchange with the first day of Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World (1632), a fictional debate, where Galileo discusses some of the same arguments. While the first exemplifies what I call ''negative'' testing, and yields a refutation of the opponent's theses, the second exemplifies ''positive'' testing and yields a dialectical demonstration of the motion of the Earth.

Note: Article Zuber MS, Univ Paris 10, Dept Philosophy, Nanterre, FRANCE

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