  The standard view (if there is one) is that the Deductions have an aporetic purpose: their aim is to perplex, to set problems that must be solved, either by rejecting some of the premises that lead to the master contradiction or by finding fault with the relevant reasoning. Aporetic interpretations of this sort have been defended by Schofield (1977), Gill (1996; 2012) and Allen (1997), with additional support provided by Patterson (1999). On this kind of view, Plato does not commit to any particular way of solving the problems: the second part of the dialogue is simply meant to serve as a challenge to the reader.