Socrates: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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'''Socrates''' ([[June 4]], [[470 BC|470]] - [[399 BCE]]) ([[Greek language|Greek]] &#x;Σωκράτης &#x;Sōkrátēs) was a Greek ([[Athens|Athenian]]) [[philosophy|philosopher]] and one of the most important icons of the Western philosophical tradition.

==Socratic method==

His most important contribution to Western thought is his method of enquiry, known as the Socratic method or method of ''[[elenchos]]'', which he largely applied to the examination of key moral concepts and was first described by [[Plato]] in the ''Socratic Dialogues''. For this, Socrates is customarily regarded as the father and fountainhead for [[ethics]] or moral philosophy, and hence philosophy in general.

The Socratic method is a ''negative'' method of truth-seeking, in that truth is found by steadily identifying and eliminating that which is not true. The method of Socrates is a search for the underlying assumptions, or ''[[axiom]]s'', which may unconsciously shape one's opinion, and to make them the subject of scrutiny, to determine their truth or falsity. The basic form is a series of [[question]]s formulated as tests of [[logic]] and fact intended to help a person or group discover the [[truth]] about some topic, exploring the definitions or ''[[logoi]]'' (singular ''[[logos]]''), seeking to characterise the general characteristics shared by various particular instances. To the extent to which this method is designed to bring out definitions implicit in the interlocutors' beliefs, or to help them further their understanding, it was called the method of ''[[maieutics]]''. [[Aristotle]] attributed to Socrates the discovery of the method of definition and induction, which he regarded as the essence of the scientific method. Oddly, however, Aristotle also claimed that this method is not suitable for [[ethics]].

A skillful teacher can actually teach students to think for themselves using this method. This is the only classic method of teaching that is known to create genuinely autonomous thinkers. There are some crucial principles to this form of teaching:

*The teacher must set the topic of instruction, and the student must agree to this.

*The student must agree to attempt to answer questions from the teacher.

*The teacher must be willing to accept any correctly-reasoned answer. That is, the reasoning process must be considered more important than facts.

*The teacher's questions must expose [[fallacy|errors in the students' reasoning]]. That is, the teacher must reason more quickly and correctly than the student, and discover errors in the students' reasoning, and then formulate a question which the students cannot answer except by a correct reasoning process. To perform this service, the teacher must be very quick-thinking about the classic errors in reasoning.

*If the teacher makes an error of logic or fact, it is acceptable for a student to correct the teacher.

It is helpful if the teacher is able to lead a group of students in a discussion. This is not always possible in situations that require the teacher to evaluate students, but it is preferable [[pedagogically]], because it encourages the students to reason for truth rather than from [[authority]].

More loosely, one can label any process of thorough-going questioning as an instance of the Socratic method.

Socrates applied his method to the examination of the key moral concepts at the time, the [[Virtue|virtues]] of ''[[piety]]'', ''[[wisdom]]'', ''[[temperance]]'', ''[[courage]]'', and ''[[justice]]''. Such an examination challenged the implicit moral beliefs of the interlocutors, bringing out inadequacies and inconsistencies in their beliefs, and usually resulting in puzzlement known as ''aporia''. In view of such inadequacies, Socrates himself professed his ignorance, but others still maintained their knowledge claim, whereby Socrates claimed that he being aware of his ignorance is wiser than those who, though ignorant, still claimed knowledge -- a claim which seems paradoxical at first glance. This claim was known by the anecdote of the Delphic oracular pronouncement that Socrates was the wisest of all men.

Socrates used this claim of wisdom as the basis of his moral exhortation. Accordingly, he claimed that the chief goodness consists in the caring of the soul concerned with truth and understanding, that "wealth does not bring goodness, but goodness brings wealth and every other blessing, both to the individual and to the state", and that "life without examination is not worth living". Socrates also argued that to be wronged is better than to do wrong.

==His life==