Is philosophy necessary for all thinking and speaking?

Professor Vasilis Politis (Trinity College Dublin, and IAS SRF) will be giving this talk as part of the IAS seminar series.

Please note that places are limited and must be booked: click here.

Abstract

Plato argues that we humans must attempt to mark-off or define things, and things we cannot directly perceive by the senses, if we want to think and speak at all—or so Professor Politis argues in this seminar.
This means that, for Plato, a certain kind of philosophical activity—what he calls dialectic—is necessary for thinking and speaking in general. This is, it seems to him, a highly interesting claim, and very different from how philosophy is commonly thought of today.

In this seminar, Professor Politis wants to consider what Plato means by this claim, but his interest is not primarily historical or hermeneutic. Professor Politis wants to consider whether there is an understanding of philosophy such that philosophical activity informs all though and speech; and what such activity would look like.
Professor Politis wants to do this both through some general arguments and considerations.