What is the Socratic method?
The Socratic method is a form of cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, typically involving asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions. It is named after the classical Greek philosopher Socrates who was immortalized in writing by his student Plato. Condemned to death by the Athenian state due to charges of impiety and corrupting the youth, Socrates is a hero of Western philosophy for his unrelenting pursuit of truth.
Socratic Questioning and Midwifery
Socratic questioning is a pedagogical technique that encourages self-discovery through asking and answering a series of questions. Also known as Socratic maieutics —coming from the Greek word maieutikos, meaning midwifery — Socrates compared his method to that of a midwife, helping others to "give birth" to their own ideas. Socrates asked his interlocutors a series of questions to challenge their beliefs and assumptions, pushing them to think more deeply and critically about their views.
A Dialectical Approach of Refutation
Through a back-and-forth conversation known as dialectics, the interlocutors explore various aspects of a topic, exposing contradictions and refining their understanding. Elenchus refers to the method of refutation within dialectics, where Socrates would demonstrate the inconsistencies in his interlocutors' beliefs, leading them to a state of aporia (puzzlement or doubt).
“The aim of the elenchus is to wake men out of their dogmatic slumbers into genuine intellectual curiosity" — Richard Robinson, Plato's Earlier Dialectic (1966)
Wisdom Begins in Wonder
“Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.” —Socrates (Plato, Theaetetus)
Socrates’ declaration underscores the foundational role that wonder plays in the pursuit of wisdom. As philosophy comes from two Greek words: philos (lover, friend) and Sophia (wisdom), a philosopher is a lover of wisdom. Socrates’ statement encapsulates the idea that the journey toward knowledge and understanding starts with a sense of curiosity and amazement about the world around us.
