David and Tamler model philosophical conversation for their listeners by discussing Drew Hyland's excellent essay "Why Plato Wrote Dialogues." What possibilities does the dialogue form open up for Plato? Could his ideas be captured in a more straightforward treatise or essay? Or does philosophy involve more than just propositions and arguments? Plus, Blexas and the midterms, and a new study on how golfers perform in a group with people on the other side of the aisle.
Golf lesson: Study shows political polarization hurts performance at work (golf study press release) [haas.berkeley.edu]
Sels, T., & Kovács, B. (2026). Political heterogeneity and societal polarization impair individual performance: Evidence from random assignment in professional golf. Management Science, 72(7), 5653-5680. [pubsonline.informs.org]
Hyland, D. A. (1968). Why Plato wrote dialogues. Philosophy & Rhetoric, 1(1), 38-50. [jstor.org]