Socratic Method and Reasoning
Socrates and Plato
469-399 BCE
427-327 BCE
Socrates
 Bricklayer by trade, served in the army
 Labeled “the wisest man in Athens” by oracle at Delphi
 Set out to prove the oracle wrong
 Questioned the sophists who held that success was ability
to gain hold of wealth, fame and power
 Socrates believed moral goodness to be paramount and
in order to do this one had to re-evaluate his own moral
values
Trial
 Charged with crimes of impiety and corrupting the youth
of Athens.
 Convicted and given the choice between exile and
death. Chose death by hemlock
Socrates’ Approach to Philosophy
 Socrates did not write anything.
 He pursued values in conversation with
others – Goodness, Justice, Truth, SelfKnowledge
 He criticized the self-satisfied Sophists
because they claimed to possess the final
answers to all questions – wealth, fame,
power
Socrates - His Main Ideas I
 Our interior life – our “psyche” or “soul” – is the most
important part of life
 Our psyche is “healthy” when it seeks goodness, truth,
justice, and self-knowledge
 A soul in search of wealth, fame, and power becomes
weak, sickly, ignorant
Socrates – His Main Ideas II
 Being ignorant is to mistake the
appearance of good for the reality of it
 All evil is caused by ignorance
 People who cheat, lie, steal, harm others
are always motivated to do so by their own
ignorance concerning what is good
 They don’t know what is important in life, so
they seek wealth, fame, power, and in
doing so they find they must cheat, lie,
steal, and harm others
Socrates – His Main Ideas III
 “THE UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING”
 If we spend our lives examining and criticizing
ourselves, our psyches become strong
 In seeking goodness, justice, truth and selfknowledge, we will not become self-satisfied,
bigoted, and ignorant
 We may not find what we seek, but the life we
live will be one that strengthens our inner selves
The unexamined life is not worth living
 Socratic method: technique of probing questions
developed fro the purposes of prodding, pushing and
provoking unreflective persons into a realizing their own
lack of understanding
 Socratic Irony: Socrates pretends to be ignorant of what
the other person is saying. He asks more questions as if
interested in learning more. The questions become more
difficult exposing the weaknesses of the second person’s
ideas.
Apology
 apologia – justification or defense
 Written by Plato
 Details trial of Socrates in 399 B.C.E.
The method
1.
Ask a question that seems innocent and straightforward
(i.e. What is love? What is courage?)
2.
The person offers a common sense definition
3.
Offer a counterexample that does not fit the definition to
illustrate that the definition is incomplete, biased or
uninformed.
4.
Continue the process until a suitable definition is
constructed or the parties agree that the subject is more
complex than originally thought.
An effective way to respond to a person who claims to be right
without being able to explain why.
Euthyphro (an excerpt)
 Socrates: I was not asking you to give me exmples of
holiness, Euthyphro, but to identify the characteristic
which makes all holy things holy. There must be some
characteristic that all holy things have in common, and
one which makes unholy things unholy. Tell me what this
characteristic itself is, so that I can tell which actions are
holy and which are unholy.
 Euthyphro: Well, then holiness is what is loved by the gods
and what is not loved by them is unholy
 Socrates: Very good Euthyphro! Now you have given me the sort of answer
I wanted. Let us examine it. A thing or a person that is loved by the gods is
holy, and a thing or a person that the gods hate is unholy. And the holy is
the opposite of the unholy. Does that summarize what you said?
 Euthyphro: It does.
 Socrates: But you admit, Euthyphro, that the gods have disagreements. So
some things are hated by some gods and loved by other gods.
 Euthyphro: True.
 Socrates: Then upon your view the same things Euthyphro will be both
unholy and holy
 Euthyphro: Well I suppose so.
 Socrates: Then, my friend, you have not really answered my question. I did
not ask you to tell me which actions were both holy and unholy; yet this is
the outcome of your view
Characteristics of the Socratic
method
1. The method is skeptical
2. It is conversational
3. It is conceptual or definitional
4. It is empirical or inductive
5. The method is deductive
Socratic circle in the classroom
 Ask questions! The dialogue opens with a question.
Participants are encouraged interchange ideas and seek
clarification sometimes using argument in order to reach
an agreement
 Teacher plays role as facilitator to help clarify positions or
questions
 Is not meant to be a debate. Should raise questions to
reveal common assumptions and create collective
thinking and inquiry. This is a collaborative exercise.
The Rules of a Socratic circle
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Listen carefully
Speak clearly - one person at a time
Participate openly
Value others opinions, but refer to text when defending your
position
Avoid side conversations
Give others your respect - accept answers without
judgment
Respond to the opening question
Examine the text to support your answer
 “I agree with… but would like to add…”
 “I disagree with…because…”
 “I am confused by…”
Assignment
 Create a Socratic dialogue (min 2 pages)
 Due date Oct 16