Socratic Discussion
WHERE QUESTIONS, NOT
ANSWERS, ARE THE
DRIVING FORCE IN
THINKING
Who was Socrates?
 The first of the three great Athenian philosophers.
 Born in 469 BC
 Fought in the Peloponnesian War
 In his late 40’s he began to think about the world
around him and try to answer some difficult
questions like: “What is wisdom?” and “What is
beauty?”
 Knew these types of questions were difficult to
answer so he thought it would be better to have a lot
of people discuss the answers together.
Socrates was a rebel
 Tried to teach others to think better by asking them
questions which showed problems in their
logic…this questioning made people angry and they
often tried to beat him up.
 Was charged with impiety (not respecting the gods)
and corrupting the youth.
 Was tried and convicted of these charges and
sentenced to death and died when the guards gave
him a cup of hemlock to drink.
What is all of this?
What does “Socratic” mean?
 Comes from the name “Socrates” a classical Greek
philosopher who developed a Theory of Knowledge.
What was Socrates’ Theory of Knowledge?
 Socrates was convinced that the surest way to attain
reliable knowledge was through the practice of
disciplined conversation; he called this method
dialectic or using dialogue.
What does “dialectic mean?
 The art of practice of examining opinions or ideas
logically, often by question and answer.
What is this cont…
How did Socrates use the dialectic?
 Socrates believed that through the process of
dialogue, where all parties to the dialogue are forced
on clarifying their ideas , the final outcome of the
conversation would be a clear statement of what was
meant.
 Socrates would pretend ignorance about a subject
and try to draw out from the other person his fullest
possible knowledge about the subject.
 Socrates thought that by gently correcting
incomplete or inaccurate notions, one could coax the
truth out of anyone!
Why cont…
What is a Socratic Seminar?
 A method to try to understand information by
creating an in-class dialogue based on a
piece of text.
 Students seek deeper understanding of
complex ideas through thoughtful dialogue
rather than memorizing bits of information .
The Difference between Dialogue and Debate
Dialogue
Debate
•Collaborative, cooperative
•Competitive and oppositional
•One listens to understand and find
common ground
•One listens to find flaws , spot
differences and counter arguments
•Enlarges and possibly changes a
participant’s point of view
•Defends assumptions as truth
•Creates and open-minded attitude
and an openness to change.
•Creates a close –minded attitude
leading to one “right” answer.
•Submission of best thinking with
•Submission of best thinking with
the expectation other peoples
the expectation of defending it
reflections will help improve it rather against challenge.
than threaten it.
•One searches for strengths in all
positions
•One searches for weaknesses .
Difference between dialogue and debate cont…
Dialogue
Debate
•Respects all participants
and seeks not to alienate or
offend
•Rebuts contrary positions
and may belittle or deprecate
.
•Assumes many people have
pieces of answers and that
cooperation can lead to
greater understanding
•Assumes a single right
answer that somebody
already has
•Is a mutual inquiry; collective •Is individual opinions;
knowledge
individual knowledge
•Practices a product
•Produces a product
•Divergent
•Convergent
Seminar Guidelines
 Refer to text when needed. This is not a test of
memory. You are not “learning a subject”; your
goal is to understand the ideas, issues and
values reflected in the text.
 It’s ok to “pass” when asked to contribute.
 Do not stay confused. Never be afraid to ask
for clarification
 Stick to the point. Make notes about ideas you
want to come back to.
 Don’t raise hands; take turns speaking.
Seminar Guidelines cont…
 Listen carefully.
 Talk to each other, not just to the leader or
teacher.
 Discuss IDEAS rather than OPINIONS.
 Cite reasons and evidence for our statements.
 Use text to find support.
 Stick to the subject.
 Support each other.
 Question others in a civil manner.