Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga open The Courage to Be Disliked through a distinctive structural choice: presenting Adlerian psychology's core principles through an extended Socratic dialogue between a philosopher and a skeptical young man, using this back-and-forth conversational format to build the argument progressively while directly addressing likely reader objections and doubts along the way.

Why the authors chose this dialogue format:

• The young man's skepticism and pushback throughout the dialogue mirrors likely reader reactions to Adlerian psychology's often counterintuitive claims, allowing the philosopher's responses to directly address these anticipated objections rather than presenting the philosophy as unchallenged assertion
• This format, drawing on classical Socratic dialogue tradition, allows complex psychological concepts to be built progressively through genuine argumentative back-and-forth, rather than through purely direct, one-directional exposition
• The book introduces Western readers to Alfred Adler's psychological theories — historically less prominent in popular psychology compared to Freudian or Jungian frameworks — through this accessible, narrative-driven format

This foundational structural choice sets up the book's overall approach: building Adlerian psychology's core, often counterintuitive claims progressively through this dialogue format, addressed across the conversation's exploration of purpose, freedom, and interpersonal relationships.