Heuristics and Maieutics as Central Procedures in the Art of Acting
Heuristics and Maieutics as Central Procedures in the Art of Acting

Summary/Abstract: The article proposes understanding the art of acting as a heuristic–maieutic process of discovering scenic truth, rather than the application of interpretative formulas. Drawing on Greek philosophy, it analyzes characters’ modes of reasoning (syllogism, paralogism, sophism) and their role in motivating actions and emotions. Heuristics is defined as a method of exploration through hypothesis, testing, and correction, while maieutics is presented as the art of questioning that generates meaning. The actor is conceived as a thinking subject and researcher of the scenic situation, not as an emotional executor. The teacher or director becomes a facilitator of inquiry, not a provider of meaning. Emotion emerges as the effect of an internally coherent logic, not as a direct goal.

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