Theme

Philosophy quotes about dialogue

Dialogue appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat dialogue as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.

Why this theme matters

Across 4 recurring voices here (notably Kwame Anthony Appiah and Plato), dialogue is framed through Africana Philosophy and Platonism. Some passages define dialogue; others warn how it fails; still others relocate it inside habit, community, or language.

In the history of philosophy

Discussions of dialogue travel through Greek and Africana traditions. Compare the quotations below with their school labels rather than forcing a single definition.

Thinkers in this collection

Plato , Martin Buber , Kwasi Wiredu , Frantz Fanon , Léopold Sédar Senghor , Kwame Anthony Appiah

Frequently asked questions

What did philosophers say about dialogue?

They disagreed in productive ways. In this archive, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Plato, and related voices treat dialogue as something to clarify, cultivate, or critique—not merely to celebrate.

Where can I find philosophy quotes about dialogue?

This theme page gathers 9 verified English quotations tagged Dialogue, with links to thinkers and sources.

How should I read quotes about dialogue?

Read the sentence, then check school and source. A compact line is an entry point into an argument about dialogue, not a substitute for the surrounding text.

  1. Let us not become haters of argument — that is a great danger to the soul.
  2. All real living is meeting.
  3. By contrast, the majoritarian system might be said to be, in principle, based on consent without consensus.
  4. Superiority? Inferiority? Why not the quite simple attempt to touch the other, to feel the other, to explain the other to myself?
  5. Our ambition is to help build a Civilization of the Universal, a rendezvous of giving and receiving among the cultures of the world.
  6. Conversation doesn't have to lead to consensus about anything, especially not values; it's enough that it helps people get used to one another.
  7. Relativism of that sort isn't a way to encourage conversation; it's just a reason to fall silent.
  8. Cosmopolitans begin with a sense of one thing we all certainly share, which is our fallibility. Nobody has reason to be confident that they're right about everything.
  9. They know they don't have all the answers. They're humble enough to think that they might learn from strangers; not too humble to think that strangers can't learn from them.