Sunday, 15 August 2021

 

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


 


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  Socratic theoretical philosophy   ABSTRACT Socrates uses the Socratic method as a tool to catalyze self-examination of others so...