Socratic theoretical philosophy  

ABSTRACT

Socrates uses the Socratic method as a tool to catalyze self-examination of others so that may seek out knowledge. In this article I will present the theoretical vision of Socrates' life and his method of teaching.  Later, I explained the biographies of Socrates and his life, as well as the method he used in his teaching.  In addition, I gave an example of an argument against the method put forward by Socrates.  With this article the reader can get a concept of this teaching approach and use Socrates as an example of how a high school teacher leads his students to the goal.

Keywords: Socratic Method, self-examination, biographies,

1. Introduction

The Socratic Method refers to a particular way of approaching conversations. Essentially, it involves one person presenting a hypothesis about something. Then another person asks them questions that push the first individual to defend their position. The idea is that discussing theories in this way encourages critical thought. It forces a person to think about whether their view is actually right. It also helps them to develop better hypotheses along the way. In fact many experts in the law of attraction plan their exercises on the basis of the Socratic Method.

The Socratic Method is one of the oldest educational methods used in the classroom.  Developed by Socrates 2400 years ago, this strategy uses thought-provoking question and answer sessions to promote learning.  In modern times, the Socratic Method was adapted for use in universities and became the dominant form of instruction for students learning philosophy and the law.

2. socratic method

Socratic method is defined as “a pedagogical technique in which a teacher does not give information directly, but instead asks a series of questions with the result that the student comes either to a desired knowledge by answering the questions or to a deeper awareness of the limits of knowledge”.

The Socratic Method is a method of eliminating assumptions, and better assumptions can be made by systematically identifying and eliminating those that lead to contradictions.

There are a number of reasons why you should use it: It’s a highly effective way to clarify and unpack one’s beliefs, and to examine the assumptions, evidence, reasons etc. used to support them. It makes us active in our thinking rather than passive. Improves our critical thinking skills and improves our questioning abilities. Determines the extent of our knowledge on a given subject, and reveals what we know and what we don’t. Encourages intellectual humility by making us aware of the limits of our knowledge. Exposes the assumptions, contradictions, inconsistencies, fallacies etc. in our thinking and makes us aware of the implications and consequences of our beliefs. Aa well as llows the questioner and answerer to work together cooperatively in a non-confrontal way.  

2.1 Development of Socratic Method

In the second half of the 5th century BC, sophists were teachers who specialized in using the tools of philosophy and rhetoric to entertain, impress, or persuade an audience to accept the speaker's point of view. Socrates promoted an alternative method of teaching, which came to be called the Socratic Method.

Socrates began to engage in such discussions with his fellow Athenians after his friend from youth, Chaerephon, visited the Oracle of Delphi, which asserted that no man in Greece was wiser than Socrates. Socrates saw this as a paradox, and began using the Socratic Method to answer his conundrum. Diogenes Laërtius, however, wrote that Protagoras invented the “Socratic” method.

 

2.2 Arguing Against the Socratic Method

In a study published in the December 2011 issue of the journal Mind, Brain, and Education, four cognitive scientists from Argentina describe what happened when they asked contemporary high school and college students a series of questions identical to those posed by Socrates. In one of his most famous lessons, Socrates showed a young slave boy a square, then led him through a series of 50 questions intended to teach the boy how to draw a second square with an area twice as large as the first. Students in the 2011 experiment, led by researcher Andrea Goldin, gave answers astonishingly similar to those offered by Socrates’ pupil, even making the same mistakes he made. “Our results show that the Socratic dialogue is built on a strong intuition of human knowledge and reasoning which persists more than twenty-four centuries after its conception,” the researchers write. Their findings, Goldin and his co-authors add, demonstrate the existence of “human cognitive universals traversing time and cultures.”

4. CONCLUSION

The Socratic system is a valuable technology that every critic should know and use.  Exploring one's beliefs to find it. If we follow the Socrates method, we will quickly improve our critical thinking and questioning skills, discover the limits of our knowledge of a given subject, and become a profound and intelligent thinker, perhaps coming to the same conclusion as Socrates did:

   "The only thing I know is that I know nothing."  - Socrates

REFERENCES

 

[1]    Socratic method - Wikipedia

[2]    The Socratic Method – Life Lessons

 

 

Scientific inquiry

ABSTRACT

Inquiry means to seek information, knowledge or truth. Scientific research refers to the way scientists study the natural world and suggest explanations based on evidence from their works. It is a concern of the educator interested in the process as well as the products of science. It involves theory construction, rigorous observation, and experimentation. This article focuses on how to conduct a scientific inquiry using invention and test, hypothesis testing, confirmation and acceptability.

Keywords: Inquiry, invention, hypothesis, confirmation, acceptability  

1. Introduction

As pointed out in the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996), students who use inquiries to learn science engage in many activities and thought processes, much like scientists who seek to expand human knowledge of the natural world.  However, the activities and thought processes used by scientists are not always familiar to the educator who seeks to introduce an inquiry into the classroom. A good way to start this inquiry is to compare a scientist's method and thought process with the activities of a research-based science lesson. 

Scientific research has two main functions.  First, it provides a description of how scientific experiments are conducted in practice.  Second, it provides an explanation of why scientific research is successful in gaining real knowledge at the end of its process.  There is a scientific inquiry that goes beyond the development of process skills such as observing, guessing, classifying, predicting, measuring, interrogating, interpreting and analyzing data, which should lead to a proper scientific examination.

2. invention and test

A series of empirical "facts" can be analyzed and highlighted in a variety of ways, many of which will not shed light on each posture in a gift test.  Semmelweis can classify women on the maternity ward according to criteria such as age, place of residence, marital status, eating habits, and so on. But information about these will not give a patient any clue about their chances of contracting childbed fever.  Semmelweis expected criteria that were significantly related to those expectations; to this end, he finally discovered, illuminated the isolation of women who were involved by medical officers with corrupt hands.  This is because the high infant mortality rate was associated with this symptom or the corresponding class of patients.  Thus, if a particular method of analyzing and classifying empirical findings leads to an explanation of relevant phenomena, it must be based on assumptions about how those phenomena relate; without such assumptions, analysis and classification are blind.

2.1 Inductive Reasoning

Inductive reasoning is a logical thinking that analyzes the tendencies or relationships of data to arrive at a general conclusion.  A scientist observes and notes them.  This data can be qualitative or quantitative and can be supplemented with raw data drawings, pictures, photos or videos.  Inductive reasoning involves generalization through careful observation and analysis of a large number of individual data points.  The generalizations derived from the persuasive arguments are not always correct.

 

2.2 Deductive Reasoning

Deduction reasoning is another form of logical thinking that begins with a general policy or law and applies to a specific situation in order to predict specific outcomes.  A general set of principles enables a scientist to cite and predict definite results that will always be correct until the general principles they begin with are correct.

3. HYPOTHESIS TESTING

Biologists study the living world by asking questions and finding science-based answers.  The scientific method has been used even in ancient times.

A hypothesis is a proposed explanation that can be tested.  Several hypotheses can be suggested to solve a problem.  For example, one assumption might be, "The classroom is hot because no one has activated the air conditioning."  But there may be other responses to the question and therefore other hypotheses may be suggested. The second assumption may be, "If a power outage causes the classroom to overheat, then the air conditioner will not work." Once an assumption is selected, a prediction can be made.  For example, the first assumption might be, "If the student activates the air conditioning, the classroom will no longer be warm." Using the scientific method (figure 01), the hypotheses that are inconsistent with experimental data are rejected.

4. CONFIRMATION AND ACCEPTABILITY

An assumption should be tested to confirm validity. In the absence of unfavorable evidence, the confirmation of a hypothesis will normally be regarded as increasing with the number of favorable test findings. There are already thousands of confirmation cases.  The addition of another advantageous find confirms the boost but little. The advantage of a hypothesis depends not only on the amount of evidence available, but also on its diversity: the greater the diversity, the stronger the effect.

  

4. CONCLUSION

Scientific inquiry refers to the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence derived from their work. Inquiry also refers to the activities of students in which they develop knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, as well as an understanding of how scientists study the natural world.

 

 

REFERENCES

[1]    Scientific Inquiry Definition and Meaning | Top Hat

[2]    Scientific Inquiry | Biology for Non-Majors I (lumenlearning.com)

[3]    Full article: Views About Scientific Inquiry: A Study of Students’ Understanding of Scientific Inquiry in Grade 7 and 12 in Sweden (tandfonline.com)