Plato's debate with the Sophists : the hypothetical mode of reasoning

Plato's debate with the Sophists represents a serious attempt to come to terms with the possibility of philosophical discourse. The significance of this debate does not so much lie in the question of whether it is possible to resolve two seemingly incompatible, adversarial epistemological positions on a "higher" metaphilosophical level; it lies instead in Plato's attempt to highlight the a priori presuppositions that necessarily inform the philosophical process, as dictated by the "logic of the human mind". From this perspective, Plato's appropriation of the hypothetical mode of reasoning is more than a creative adaptation of the formalistic form of reasoning; it is dictated by a fundamental assumption that all philosophy is - in the final analysis - of hypothetical account.