Dialectical Tools Director
The department head for meta-methods of philosophical inquiry. These skills don't analyze content directly — they provide procedures for thinking that can be applied to any subject matter.
Dialectical tools are unique in the library: they are designed to operate as companions to other skills. After any primary analysis (ethical, logical, epistemic), dialectical tools can interrogate the output. They are the quality assurance layer for reasoning itself.
Child Skills
| Skill |
Path |
Type |
Purpose |
| socratic-examiner |
socratic-examiner/SKILL.md |
Action |
Systematic questioning to surface assumptions, contradictions, and deeper understanding |
| steel-man-forge |
steel-man-forge/SKILL.md |
Action |
Construct the strongest possible version of an opposing argument |
| thought-experiment-lab |
thought-experiment-lab/SKILL.md |
Action |
Construct, analyze, and vary thought experiments to test intuitions |
| dialectic-engine |
dialectic-engine/SKILL.md |
Action |
Run structured thesis/antithesis/synthesis dialogues |
Routing Logic
| Question Pattern |
Route To |
Why |
| "Challenge this", "What's wrong with my thinking?", "Push back on this" |
socratic-examiner |
Questioning reveals weaknesses from within |
| "Play devil's advocate", "What would the other side say?", "Argue against this" |
steel-man-forge |
Builds the strongest opposing case |
| "What if...", "Imagine a world where...", "Suppose X were true" |
thought-experiment-lab |
Structured hypothetical reasoning |
| "Debate both sides", "Give me thesis and antithesis", "Help me see all angles" |
dialectic-engine |
Multi-perspective structured dialogue |
| "Help me think through this", "I'm stuck on this problem" (unspecified method) |
Assess and recommend — see below |
Match method to the thinking block |
Method Selection for Unspecified Requests
When the user says "help me think" without specifying a method, assess what kind of block they're experiencing:
| Block Type |
Signal |
Recommended Method |
| Stuck on assumptions |
"I keep going in circles", "something feels off" |
socratic-examiner — questioning will surface the hidden constraint |
| Can't see the other side |
"I know I'm biased", "what am I missing?" |
steel-man-forge — building the opposition reveals blind spots |
| Can't test the idea |
"I don't know if this would work", "is this principle consistent?" |
thought-experiment-lab — hypotheticals test intuitions safely |
| Overwhelmed by complexity |
"There are too many angles", "I can't organize my thoughts" |
dialectic-engine — structured dialogue creates order from chaos |
Companion Mode
When invoked as a companion to another skill's output (e.g., "challenge this ethical analysis"):
- Receive the primary analysis output
- Select the appropriate dialectical method based on what would most usefully stress-test the analysis
- Apply the method to the analysis, not to the original question
- Return the dialectical output alongside the primary analysis — let the user see both
Default companion pairings:
- Ethics analysis → steel-man-forge (build the strongest opposing moral argument)
- Logic analysis → socratic-examiner (question the premises and inferential steps)
- Epistemology analysis → socratic-examiner (question what counts as evidence and why)
- Decision analysis → thought-experiment-lab (vary the scenario to test robustness)
Conflict Resolution
| Conflict |
Resolution |
Reason |
| Socratic questioning reveals a fatal flaw; steel-man of the original position is still strong |
Present both — the flaw is real AND the position has genuine strength. The user needs to weigh them |
Dialectical tools illuminate; they don't resolve |
| User wants devil's advocacy but the position is actually indefensible |
Steel-man the best partial version — find what's right about the wrong position. Even broken arguments often contain a legitimate concern |
Pure devil's advocacy serves no one; finding the grain of truth is more valuable |
| Dialectical tools undermine the primary analysis |
This is working as intended. Present the challenge to the user alongside the original analysis |
The whole point of dialectical tools is to stress-test — finding weakness is success, not failure |
Scope Boundaries
This director handles: Meta-methods for thinking — questioning, opposition-building, hypothetical reasoning, structured multi-perspective analysis.
Escalate to the orchestrator when:
- The user needs substantive analysis of content, not a method for thinking about it (route to logic, ethics, epistemology, etc.)
- The user wants to evaluate evidence quality specifically (Epistemology)
- The user wants to analyze argument structure specifically (Logic)
- The dialectical process reveals a need for domain-specific knowledge beyond philosophy
1---2name: dialectical-tools3description: Direct the dialectical methods subdomain — route meta-methodological requests to Socratic questioning, steel-manning, thought experiments, or structured dialectic. Use when the user wants to challenge reasoning, stress-test a position, play devil's advocate, think through a problem more carefully, or run a structured debate.4---56# Dialectical Tools Director78The department head for meta-methods of philosophical inquiry. These skills don't analyze content directly — they provide *procedures for thinking* that can be applied to any subject matter.910Dialectical tools are unique in the library: they are designed to operate as **companions** to other skills. After any primary analysis (ethical, logical, epistemic), dialectical tools can interrogate the output. They are the quality assurance layer for reasoning itself.1112## Child Skills1314| Skill | Path | Type | Purpose |15|-------|------|------|---------|16| socratic-examiner | `socratic-examiner/SKILL.md` | Action | Systematic questioning to surface assumptions, contradictions, and deeper understanding |17| steel-man-forge | `steel-man-forge/SKILL.md` | Action | Construct the strongest possible version of an opposing argument |18| thought-experiment-lab | `thought-experiment-lab/SKILL.md` | Action | Construct, analyze, and vary thought experiments to test intuitions |19| dialectic-engine | `dialectic-engine/SKILL.md` | Action | Run structured thesis/antithesis/synthesis dialogues |2021## Routing Logic2223| Question Pattern | Route To | Why |24|-----------------|----------|-----|25| "Challenge this", "What's wrong with my thinking?", "Push back on this" | socratic-examiner | Questioning reveals weaknesses from within |26| "Play devil's advocate", "What would the other side say?", "Argue against this" | steel-man-forge | Builds the strongest opposing case |27| "What if...", "Imagine a world where...", "Suppose X were true" | thought-experiment-lab | Structured hypothetical reasoning |28| "Debate both sides", "Give me thesis and antithesis", "Help me see all angles" | dialectic-engine | Multi-perspective structured dialogue |29| "Help me think through this", "I'm stuck on this problem" (unspecified method) | Assess and recommend — see below | Match method to the thinking block |3031### Method Selection for Unspecified Requests3233When the user says "help me think" without specifying a method, assess what kind of block they're experiencing:3435| Block Type | Signal | Recommended Method |36|-----------|--------|-------------------|37| **Stuck on assumptions** | "I keep going in circles", "something feels off" | socratic-examiner — questioning will surface the hidden constraint |38| **Can't see the other side** | "I know I'm biased", "what am I missing?" | steel-man-forge — building the opposition reveals blind spots |39| **Can't test the idea** | "I don't know if this would work", "is this principle consistent?" | thought-experiment-lab — hypotheticals test intuitions safely |40| **Overwhelmed by complexity** | "There are too many angles", "I can't organize my thoughts" | dialectic-engine — structured dialogue creates order from chaos |4142### Companion Mode4344When invoked as a companion to another skill's output (e.g., "challenge this ethical analysis"):45461. Receive the primary analysis output472. Select the appropriate dialectical method based on what would most usefully stress-test the analysis483. Apply the method to the analysis, not to the original question494. Return the dialectical output alongside the primary analysis — let the user see both5051Default companion pairings:52- Ethics analysis → steel-man-forge (build the strongest opposing moral argument)53- Logic analysis → socratic-examiner (question the premises and inferential steps)54- Epistemology analysis → socratic-examiner (question what counts as evidence and why)55- Decision analysis → thought-experiment-lab (vary the scenario to test robustness)5657## Conflict Resolution5859| Conflict | Resolution | Reason |60|----------|-----------|--------|61| Socratic questioning reveals a fatal flaw; steel-man of the original position is still strong | Present both — the flaw is real AND the position has genuine strength. The user needs to weigh them | Dialectical tools illuminate; they don't resolve |62| User wants devil's advocacy but the position is actually indefensible | Steel-man the best *partial* version — find what's right about the wrong position. Even broken arguments often contain a legitimate concern | Pure devil's advocacy serves no one; finding the grain of truth is more valuable |63| Dialectical tools undermine the primary analysis | This is working as intended. Present the challenge to the user alongside the original analysis | The whole point of dialectical tools is to stress-test — finding weakness is success, not failure |6465## Scope Boundaries6667**This director handles**: Meta-methods for thinking — questioning, opposition-building, hypothetical reasoning, structured multi-perspective analysis.6869**Escalate to the orchestrator when**:70- The user needs substantive analysis of content, not a method for thinking about it (route to logic, ethics, epistemology, etc.)71- The user wants to evaluate evidence quality specifically (Epistemology)72- The user wants to analyze argument structure specifically (Logic)73- The dialectical process reveals a need for domain-specific knowledge beyond philosophy
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