who started the socratic method
Aristotle was born in 384 B.C.E., 15 years after the death of Socrates. Amongst other things, the Peripatetics accused Socrates of being a bigamist, a charge that appears to have gained so much traction that the Stoic Panaetius wrote a refutation of it (Plutarch, Aristides 335c-d). Socrates opens his defense speech by defending himself against his older accusers (Apology 18a), claiming they have poisoned the minds of his jurors since they were all young men. Plato more than once places in the mouth of his character Socrates praise for Sparta (Protagoras 342b, Crito 53a; cf. Platos Meno, set in the year 402 B.C.E., imagines a conversation between Socrates and Anytus in which the latter argues that any citizen of Athens can teach virtue, an especially democratic view insofar as it assumes knowledge of how to live well is not the restricted domain of the esoteric elite or privileged few. Heidegger finds in Socrates a kinship with his own view that the truth of philosophy lies in a certain way of seeing things, and thus is identical with a particular kind of method. Much of what is known about Socrates comes to us from Plato, although Socrates appears in the works of other ancient writers as well as those who follow Plato in the history of philosophy. Praise for The Socratic Method "Learned, erudite, and elegant." The Millions "The Socratic method decelerates reasoning, making space for deliberation when disagreements arise. Nearly every school of philosophy in antiquity had something positive to say about Socrates, and most of them drew their inspiration from him. The Socratic method is a method of hypothesis elimination, in that better hypotheses are found by steadily identifying and eliminating those that lead to contradictions. Simple ignorance is being aware of ones own ignorance, whereas double ignorance is not being aware of ones ignorance while thinking that one knows. The elenchus establishes the falsity of the conjunction of W, X, Y, and Z, but not the truth or falsity of any of those premises individually. How Does It Work? Today, the same approach works well in classrooms, in offices, in households, and really anywhere people need to be guided toward an idea. But because of the amnesty, Anytus and his fellow accusers Meletus and Lycon were prevented from bringing suit against Socrates on political grounds. Meno 87c-89a suggests that knowledge of the good guides the soul toward happiness (cf. Of course, Socrates' method was as much about philosophy as business, but it still holds much in common with coaching. Socrates - Life & Philosophy - HISTORY its also interesting that things started going off the rails around the time $MPW went headlong into Steward. Stoics were therefore attracted to the Socratic elenchus because it could expose inconsistenciesboth social and psychologicalthat disrupted ones life. Gadamer claims that whereas philosophical dialectic presents the whole truth by superceding all its partial propositions, hermeneutics too has the task of revealing a totality of meaning in all its relations. When the political climate of Greece . Nonetheless, while Nietzsche accuses Socrates of decadence, he nevertheless recognizes him as a powerful individual, which perhaps accounts for why we at times find in Nietzsche a hesitant admiration of Socrates. When a person does what is wrong, their failure to do what is right is an intellectual error, or due to their own ignorance about what is right. Socrates then argues, and the interlocutor agrees, these further premises imply the contrary of the original thesis; in this case, it leads to: "courage is not endurance of the soul". The non-constructivist argues that all the elenchus can show is the inconsistency of W with the premises X, Y, and Z. Socrates characterizes himself as a gadfly and the city as a sluggish horse in need of stirring up (Apology 30e). It leaves the interlocutors with an answer by negationbut with just as many questions as they started the discussion with. Euripides, Nietzsche argues, was only a mask for the newborn demon called Socrates (section 12). The Socratic Method was pioneered by Socrates, who was told that he was the wisest man in Greece. Just before the Peloponnesian War with Sparta began in 431 B.C.E, he helped the Athenians win the battle of Potidaea (432 B.C.E. A Socratic seminar text is a tangible document that creates a thought-provoking discussion. The Socratic approach involves participants in a process of critical thinking and self-examination as opposed to providing knowledge in a simple or didactic manner. Though it has become customary to think of a daimon as a spirit or quasi-divinity (for example, Symposium 202e-203a), in ancient Greek religion it was not solely a specific class of divine being but rather a mode of activity, a force that drives a person when no particular divine agent can be named (Burkett, 180). The text ought to be appropriate for the participants' current level of intellectual and social development. [15] Some practitioners argue that "texts" do not have to be confined to printed texts, but can include artifacts such as objects, physical spaces, and the like. Indeed, there was no legal definition of piety in Athens at the time, and jurors were therefore in a similar situation to the one in which we find Socrates in Platos Euthyphro, that is, in need of an inquiry into what the nature of piety truly is. This view is consistent with a view we find in Platos late dialogue called the Sophist, in which the Visitor from Elea, not Socrates, claims that the soul will not get any advantage from learning that it is offered to it until someone shames it by refuting it (230b-d). Commitment to Excellence: "We are what we repeatedly do. Conversation with the interlocutor is thus not a distraction that leads us away from seeing the truth but rather is the site of truth. Socratic Method - Great Hearts Texas A constructivist argues that the elenchus establishes the truth or falsity of individual answers. Zeno is known for his characterization of the human good as a smooth flow of life. Socratic seminars generally start with an open-ended question proposed either by the leader or by another participant. What is the Socratic Method? Gadamer also sees in the Socratic method an ethical way of being. 3. Socrates | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Though his understanding of the process is in some ways different from Socrates, throughout his Discourses Epictetus repeatedly stresses the importance of recognition of ones ignorance (2.17.1) and awareness of ones own impotence regarding essentials (2.11.1). The tyrants will, corrupted by ignorance, is in such a state that what follows from it will necessarily harm him. When a tyrant puts someone to death, for instance, he does this because he thinks it is beneficial in some way. Socrates. As it stands, the identity of their opposites indicates that one cannot possess wisdom without temperance and vice versa. Tragedyand Greek culture more generallywas corrupted by aesthetic Socratism, whose supreme law, Nietzsche argues, was that to be beautiful everything must be intelligible. The Cynics greatly admired Socrates, and traced their philosophical lineage back to him. For CBT to meet the expectations of both client and therapist, the session must facilitate emotional and behavioural change. Whereas in Platos Apology Socrates makes no attempt to reconcile his divine sign with traditional views of piety, Xenophons Socrates argues that just as there are those who rely on birdcalls and receive guidance from voices, so he too is influenced by his daimon. . Socrates was exophthalmic, meaning that his eyes bulged out of his head and were not straight but focused sideways. The structure it takes may look different in each classroom. Aristotle thus attributes to the historical Socrates both the method and topics we find in Platos Socratic dialogues. Critias nephew Charmides, about whom we have a Platonic dialogue of the same name, was also a member. It is therefore imperative to understand the historical context in which his trial was set. Socrates has a number of strong convictions about what makes for an ethical life, though he cannot articulate precisely why these convictions are true. by a group of democratic exiles returning to the city. If the person knew what was right, he would have done it. Seneca praises Socrates for his ability to remain consistent unto himself in the face of the threat posed by the Thirty Tyrants, and also highlights the Socratic focus on caring for oneself instead of fleeing oneself and seeking fulfillment by external means. At the same time, it contains reflections on the difficult nature of knowing anything about a person who never committed any of his ideas to the written word. In general, Socrates is depicted in Epicurean writings as a sophist, rhetorician, and skeptic who ignored natural science for the sake of ethical inquiries that concluded without answers. He believed that his mission from the god was to examine his fellow citizens and persuade them that the most important good for a human being was the health of the soul. Whereas in Platos Apology the oracle tells Chaerephon that no one is wiser than Socrates, in Xenophons Apology Socrates claims that the oracle told Chaerephon that no man was more free than I, more just, and more moderate (Xenophon, Apology, 14). The Stoics took themselves to be authentically Socratic, especially in defending the unqualified restriction of ethical goodness to ethical excellence, the conception of ethical excellence as a kind of knowledge, a life not requiring any bodily or external advantage nor ruined by any bodily disadvantage, and the necessity and sufficiency of ethical excellence for complete happiness. If they have no value or indeed are even harmful, it is upon us to pursue those things that are truly valuable. Many people understood the charge about corrupting the youth to signify that Socrates taught his subversive views to others, a claim that he adamantly denies in his defense speech by claiming that he has no wisdom to teach (Plato, Apology 20c) and that he cannot be held responsible for the actions of those that heard him speak (Plato, Apology 33a-c). The rest of the dialogue they claim, with its emphasis on the division of the soul and the metaphysics of the Forms, is Platonic. Socratic Method - Great Hearts Louisiana Born in the same decade as Plato (425 B.C.E. "The Socratic method is based on the example of one of the greatest teachers who ever lived, the 5 th Century B.C. Often times, it started off as a simple question and then it glided into more and more questions. Epictetus, when offering advice about holding to ones own moral laws as inviolable maxims, claims, though you are not yet a Socrates, you ought, however, to live as one desirous of becoming a Socrates (Enchiridion 50). In the Birds (414 B.C.E. Later in his writing career Kierkegaard comes to think that he has neglected Socrates significance as an ethical and religious figure. That is, what is the universal definition or nature that holds for all examples of courage? [5] The most common adjectival form in English is elenctic; elenchic and elenchtic are also current. 50 Great Teachers: Socrates, The Ancient World's Teaching Superstar - NPR Platos Socrates moves next to explain the reason he has acquired the reputation he has and why so many citizens dislike him. Athenian teacher, Socrates," explained Great Hearts Co-Founder, Dan Scoggin. Dubbed the Mutilation of the Herms (415 B.C.E. Though Alcibiades was not the only of Socrates associates implicated in the sacrilegious crimes (Charmides and Critias were suspected as well), he is arguably the most important. Socrates theory of the divine seemed to make the most important rituals and sacrifices in the city entirely useless, for if the gods are all good, they will benefit human beings regardless of whether or not human beings make offerings to them. It cannot establish that ~W is the case, or, for that matter, replace any of the premises with another, for this would require a separate argument. Those that desire bad things do not know that they are truly bad; otherwise, they would not desire them. While it might seem that Socrates is equivocating between knowingly and willingly, a look at Gorgias 466a-468e helps clarify his thesis. and once more at the battle of Amphipolis (422 B.C.E.). The Presocratics were not just those who came before Socrates, for there are some Presocratic philosophers who were his contemporaries. The term is best used to refer to the group of thinkers whom Socrates did not influence and whose fundamental uniting characteristic was that they sought to explain the world in terms of its own inherent principles. Today, most philosophers would argue that we must live ethical lives (though what this means is of course a matter of debate) but that it is not necessary for everyone to engage in the sort of discussions Socrates had every day, nor must one do so in order to be considered a good person. First, Socrates was the first to ask the question, ti esti: what is it? The second response is called the non-constructivist position. The Socratic Method is a logical technique that emphasizes asking questions. He felt this was a paradox, and began to teach his students by asking them questions rather than telling them answers. In Plato's dialogue Theaetetus, Socrates states: Michael Frede, "Plato's Arguments and the Dialogue Form", Lukas, Elisabeth, Logotherapy Textbook, 2000, p. 86, "Understanding the Socratic Method of Teaching", "Methods of Interpreting Plato and his Dialogues", "The Paideia Seminar: active thinking through dialogue. A typical Socratic elenchus is a cross-examination of a particular position, proposition, or definition, in which Socrates tests what his interlocutor says and refutes it. Learn all about the Socratic method and start your kids on a wonderful philosophical journey, below! The argument holds that human beings are the product of an intelligent design, and we therefore should conclude that there is a God who is the maker (dmiourgos) or designer of all things (Memorabilia 1.4.2-7). After the jury has convicted Socrates and sentenced him to death, he makes one of the most famous proclamations in the history of philosophy. The elenchus on this interpretation can and does have positive results. "The Socratic Method". On this account, Socrates knows the good not because he can give some final definition of it but rather because of his readiness to give an account of it. It is with this in mind that the Socratic method is employed. Whereas the former sort of tragedy absorbed the spectator in the activities and sufferings of its chief characters, the emergence of Socrates heralded the onset of a new kind of tragedy in which this identification is obstructed by the spectators having to figure out the meaning and presuppositions of the characters suffering. His refusal could be understood not as the defiance of a legitimately established government but rather his allegiance to the ideals of due process that were in effect under the previously instituted democracy. The general peripatetic criticism of Socrates, similar in one way to the Epicureans, was that he concentrated solely on ethics, and that this was an unacceptable ideal for the philosophical life. The exact nature of the elenchus is subject to a great deal of debate, in particular concerning whether it is a positive method, leading to knowledge, or a negative method used solely to refute false claims to knowledge. The Socratic Method: A Practitioner's Handbook Kindle Edition Prior to Socrates, morality for the ancients was present but it was not present Socratically. This is misleading, for we have evidence that a number of Presocratics explored ethical issues. These works are what are known as the logoi sokratikoi, or Socratic accounts. Areeda, Philip E. (1996). There are a number of complications with this interpretive thesis, and many of them focus on the portrayal of Socrates. Socrates instead seemed to have a conception of the divine as always benevolent, truthful, authoritative, and wise. While we can attribute to Plato certain doctrines that are consistent throughout his corpus, there is no reason to think that Socrates, or any other speaker, always and consistently espouses these doctrines. They opted instead for religious grounds. The attempt to extract Socratic views from Platos texts is itself a notoriously difficult problem, bound up with questions about the order in which Plato composed his dialogues, ones methodological approach to reading them, and whether or not Socrates, or anyone else for that matter, speaks for Plato. Its systematic procedure is used to examine a text through questions and answers founded on the beliefs that all new knowledge is connected to prior knowledge, that all thinking comes from asking questions, and that asking one question should lead to asking further questions. There are a number of important historical moments throughout the war leading up to Socrates trial that figure in the perception of him as a traitor. Socrates is distinguishing himself here not just from the sophists and their alleged ability to invert the strength of arguments, but from those we have now come to call the Presocratic philosophers. "The Socratic method is based on the example of one of the greatest teachers who ever lived, the 5 th Century B.C. Therefore, myth and the Socratic method are not meant by Plato to be incompatible; they have different purposes, and are often described as the "left hand" and "right hand" paths to good and wisdom. [12], The leader keeps the topic focused by asking a variety of questions about the text itself, as well as questions to help clarify positions when arguments become confused. What they do is not good or beneficial even though human beings only want what is good or beneficial. Euthyphro appears to give five separate definitions of piety: piety is proceeding against whomever does injustice (5d-6e), piety is what is loved by the gods (6e-7a), piety is what is loved by all the gods (9e), the godly and the pious is the part of the just that is concerned with the care of the gods (12e), and piety is the knowledge of sacrificing and praying (13d-14a). Socrates here represents the lowest class of people (section 3), and his irony consists in his being an exaggeration at the same time as he conceals himself (4). Readers interested in the details of this debate should consult Plato. Generally speaking, the predominant view of Platos Socrates in the English-speaking world from the middle to the end of the 20th century was simply that he was Platos mouthpiece. Socrates famously declares that no one errs or makes mistakes knowingly (Protagoras 352c, 358b-b). In conjunction with these crimes, Athens witnessed the profanation of the Eleusinian mysteries, religious rituals that were to be conducted only in the presence of priests but that were in this case performed in private homes without official sanction or recognition of any kind. There is, however, great debate amongst scholars regarding not only what is being refuted but also whether or not the elenchus can prove anything. The main interpretive obstacle for those seeking the views of Socrates from Plato is the question of the order of the dialogues. Socrates decadence here consists in his having to fight his instincts (11). [24], Some have countered this thought by stating that the humiliation and ridicule is not caused by the method, rather it is due to the lack of knowledge of the student. With Socrates, consciousness is turned back within itself and demands that the law should establish itself before consciousness, internal to it, not merely outside it (408-410). Aristophanes was much closer in age to Socrates than Plato and Xenophon, and as such is the only one of our sources exposed to Socrates in his younger years. Socrates rarely used the method to actually develop consistent theories, instead using myth to explain them. While this belief seems paradoxical at first glance, it in fact allowed Socrates to discover his own errors where others might assume they were correct. The Socratic call to become aware of ones own ignorance finds its parallel in the Kierkegaardian call to recognize ones own failing to truly live as a Christian. Aristophanes Socrates is a kind of variegated caricature of trends and new ideas emerging in Athens that he believed were threatening to the city. Frede[7] points out Vlastos' conclusion in step #5 above makes nonsense of the aporetic nature of the early dialogues. For Xenophons Socrates, self-mastery or moderation is the foundation of virtue (Memorabilia, 1.5.4). Plato in turn served as the teacher of Aristotle, thus establishing the famous triad of ancient philosophers: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. This argument must be understood in terms of the Socratic emphasis on the care of the soul. Sparta finally defeated Athens in 404 B.C.E., just five years before Socrates trial and execution. Socrates infuriates Polus with the argument that it is better to suffer an injustice than commit one (Gorgias 475a-d). Arrowsmith, William, Lattimore, Richmond, and Parker, Douglass (trans.). In view of such inadequacies, Socrates himself professed his ignorance, but others still claimed to have knowledge. Most suggest that he first married Xanthippe, and that she gave birth to his first son, Lamprocles. The Socratic problem first became pronounced in the early 19th century with the influential work of Friedrich Schleiermacher. At this K-8 school, it's never too early to start a Socratic seminar. It is now customary to refer to the principal written accusation on the deposition submitted to the Athenian court as an accusation of impiety, or unholiness. Second, Aristotle claims that Socrates never asked questions about nature, but concerned himself only with ethical questions. Socratic Method: Precise Questioning Technique Summary - Totally History The 6th cn. Ahbel-Rappe, Sara, and Rachana Kamtekar (eds.). What we are left with, instead, is a composite picture assembled from various literary and philosophical components that give us what we might think of as Socratic themes or motifs. Both Critias and Charmides were killed and, after a Spartan-sponsored peace accord, the democracy was restored. What is piety, he asks Euthyphro. There are a number of passages in the Apology that seem to indicate that the greatest good for a human being is having philosophical conversation (36b-d, 37e-38a, 40e-41c). Where Socrates insisted on the give and take of question and answer, Heideggerian questioning is not necessarily an inquiry into the views of others but rather an openness to the truth that one maintains without the need to speak. Aeschines of Sphettus wrote seven dialogues, all of which have been lost. Solon, Xenophanes, Heraclitus, and Euripides had all spoken against the capriciousness and excesses of the gods without incurring penalty. Nietzsches most famous account of Socrates is his scathing portrayal in The Birth of Tragedy, in which Socrates and rational thinking lead to the emergence of an age of decadence in Athens. We find here Socrates insistence that we are all called to reflect upon what we believe, account for what we know and do not know, and generally speaking to seek out, live in accordance with, and defend those views that make for a well lived and meaningful life. Socrates promoted an alternative method of teaching, which came to be called the Socratic method. Born in 450 B.C.E., Aristophanes wrote a number of comic plays intended to satirize and caricature many of his fellow Athenians. There is a biographical story according to which Zeno, the founder of the Stoic school and not the Zeno of Zenos Paradoxes, became interested in philosophy by reading and inquiring about Socrates. Republic 544c in which most people think the Spartan constitution is the best). So, the Socratic method is, Farnsworth says, an antidote to some social pandemics of our day." George F. Will "A wonderful book. For some commentators, what Socrates is searching for here is a definition. Plato himself wrote dialogues or philosophical dramas, and thus cannot be understood to be presenting his readers with exact replicas or transcriptions of conversations that Socrates actually had. Many have interpreted Socrates praise of Euthyphro, in which he claims that he can learn from him and will become his pupil, as an example of this sort of irony (Euthyphro 5a-b). When the text has been fully discussed and the inner circle is finished talking, the outer circle provides feedback on the dialogue that took place. Athens fought one of its bloodiest and most protracted conflicts with neighboring Sparta, the war that we now know as the Peloponnesian War.