The Aristotelian law of the excluded middle and the language “Pitfalls” of modern scientific pedagogical dialogue

Modern dialogue in the semantic context of educational sciences plays an extremely important role as a tool for making science-based decisions as a means of assessing the efficiency of innovations proposed by various authors. However, the practice of modern scientific discussions in pedagogy reveals a lot of problems. Analysis of the research topic literature shows that the core of this problem is the failure to observe the rules of logically correct discourse by the dialogue participants. In the pedagogical dialogues, in particular, there is a simplified application of the logical law of the excluded middle introduced by Aristotle, which does not reflect the rich assortment of the educational field. It has a solid methodological basis in mathematics, in the humanities though (and in pedagogy, in particular), it is often used to analyze phenomena, objects, and scientific facts that go beyond the area of its adequate applicability. It is often used: A) for vague classification forms; b) for insufficiently and accurately defined objects; c) for pairs of events that are not opposite (in terms of probability theory) and mutually exclusive. It results in dialogues participants: A) solving the problems of choosing conceptual foundations and practical decisions for implementation in education incorrectly; b) coming to rigid, rigorous conclusions; c) unjustifiably abandoning many educational traditions, replacing them with insufficiently verified innovations. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the participants in pedagogical dialogues lack mastery of stylistic resources, the use of which allows the inceptors of pedagogical ideas to achieve an adequate understanding of their inferences and conclusions made by other participants. These circumstances, supported by the provisions of the European researchers of education, determine the relevance of the chosen topic. The purpose of this article is: A) to find ways to conduct a logically correct pedagogical dialogue that actively uses the Aristotelian law of the excluded middle (both in a constructive format and in terms of prohibition criteria); b) to find stylistic resources of such a dialogue, combining the scientific rigor of the humanitarian logical form and stylistic aesthetic appeal. The results of the conducted research are the conclusions that an effective pedagogical dialogue using the law of the excluded middle is conditioned by: A) replacement of dichotomous, rigid forms in the logic “either-or” with a concomitant format of combination of “both the one and the other at the same time; but neither one nor the other separately”; b) appropriate stylistic tools, including: Stylistic gradation, metaphor, oxymoron, and emphatic transposition. As negativity that must be overcome in every possible way, there are the “traps” of pedagogical dialogues that require constructive and prohibiting formats of the excluded middle principle: A) incorrect “play” on a high degree of uncertainty of the original defended premise; b) deliberate scientifically dishonest methods of substantiating their own conclusions, forcing opponents to recognize the correctness and validity of the dichotomous form applied to the phenomena to which it cannot be applied. © 2022, Slovenska Vzdelavacia Obstaravacia. All rights reserved.