Socrates: The Use Of The Socratic Method

Socrates was known to be a philosopher in ancient Greece, specifically Athens, who laid down the foundations of western philosophy. He was born in 469-470 BC and died by execution in 399 BC for his philosophies. His ideologies are extremely appreciated today for many uses. His philosophies are guidelines on how we should live, but Socrates never once wrote his teachings down. The majority of his work was documented by Plato, who was one of Socrates followers. Many considered Plato as one of his students, but Socrates was documented to have not taught for money or opened his own academy of philosophy which suggests that Plato was not an actual student of his. The main source of information about Socrates and his work is not documented by him

directly, but by a man who considered Socrates to be an extremely strange person and someone who he also extremely admired. This means that the majority of how we perceive Socrates and his ideologies is based on what Plato has written about him, which is the Socratic problem. During Socrates time his philosophies were very different to the cultural expectations of what philosophies of that time were. The philosophers before Socrates were not called Philosophers, for their teachings are different to what we know philosophy to be today, they were called Sophists.The Sophists were relativists who believed that nothing was right or wrong and it’s up to the individual to decide, Socrates disapproved of this. They also charged a fee for their teachings saying that it would make a person wiser, while Socrates never charged a cent and didn’t think that his teachings would make a person wiser but instead remind them of what their souls already know. Socrates did this by using the Socratic method, this method consists of asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas. The Sophists were seen as the wisest men in Athens and they too thought this about themselves as they believed that their advice and opinions were worth more compared to real experts such as medical professionals. They also felt that their teachings trumped the teachings of a common man like Socrates. To them the person who is speaking is more important than the topic that is being taught. Socrates disapproved of the method of thinking as he believed that the majority of the Sophists he had encountered actually weren’t wise at all, for they claimed to know more than they actually did. Socrates believed that the only thing he knew for certain was that he knew nothing. Socrates walked the streets of Athens and questioned many people about their knowledge and spoke of his ideologies of life in return. Even though his young follower Plato fell slightly more under the sophist category as he opened the very first university, his dialogues of Socrates, alongside dialogues from his other close followers Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, Aristophanes and Aeschines of Sphettus allowed other modern philosophers to follow in his footsteps and help shape how we view philosophy today.

To spread his ideologies and philosophies Socrates used the Socratic method.

This is when Socrates would have a conversation with someone and ask them questions about beliefs that they strongly hold. Depending on the answers they give, Socrates would continue to ask them questions to the point where they themselves would disagree with their original statement. The use of the Socratic method is used to shine a light on what the person is actually saying and whether or not it is indeed a wise statement, by critically reviewing their ideas flaws and logic of said statement. This ideology is seen as a “system, a spirit, a method, a type of philosophical inquiry an intellectual technique, all rolled into one” according to Gregory Vlastos, a Socrates scholar and professor of philosophy at Princeton. In particular the Socratic method is to logically assess an individual's ideas and beliefs on matters such as knowledge, reality, and existence. For example, this is shown in a dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro called Euthyphro written by Plato. The dialogue features Socrates and Euthyphro, a religious expert, who tells Socrates that he is prosecuting his father for unintentionally killing a worker on their farm by exposure. After chaining him outside for days, his father awaited a message from a diviner in Athens on how he should punish the for murdering a domestic worker on the farm during a drunken row. When Socrates commented on how strange it is for Euthyphro to prosecute his own father for an act that would surely have him executed, Euthyphro explained that not prosecuting someone for murder is unpious, which means it is an unholy act. For example in the text, Euthyphro explains “One should only consider whether the killer acted justly or not; if he acted justly, let him alone; if not, prosecute even a killer who shares your hearth and home,”, followed by “Now my father and other relatives are furious that I am prosecuting him for a murder on behalf of a

murderer-when, they say, my father didn’t even murder him! And besides, even if he had completely murdered him, the dead man, being a murderer, doesn’t deserve a second thought. They say it is impious for a son to prosecute a father for murder- that’s how wrong they are, Socrates, about how things stand in the divine realm with respect to holiness and unholiness.”This shows that Euthyphro believed that he must prosecute whoever is guilty of ending a life, even if that person is his own father. This is when Socrates began to use the Socratic method in order to cause Euthyphro to disagree with his original statement in order for him to come closer to the universal truth. Socrates, by asking Euthyphro several subtle questions, manages to cause Euthyphro to change his original statement on what pious or a holy act is, four times. After the first attempt, Socrates said “I asked what essential form all holy actions exhibit, in virtue of which they are holy. For you did agree all unholy actions are unholy and all holy actions holy in virtue of some shared form, or don't you remember?” Consequently leading to Euthyphro's second definition which is, “What the Gods love is holy; what is unloved by them is unholy.” This definition pleased Socrates because at least it was a straight answer, whether or not it is correct is something that Socrates challenges, by using the socratic method. Socrates continues to use the socratic method throughout their conversation until Euthyphro’s final definition that piety is an art of sacrifice and prayer, but then for the last time Euthyphro changes his mind again and says that what is dear to the Gods is holy. This is the same explanation as Euthyphro’s first attempt. This shows that by using the Socratic method Socrates was able to make Euthyphro change the definition of something that he is meant to be an expert on five times. He did in the end return to his original statement, even when he saw the faults of such statement, with the use of the socratic method. The Socratic method was still effective in this conversation because it still shone a light on the flaws of Euthyphro’s statement and showed that he does not know the ‘universal truth’ of a topic that he claims to be an expert on. This is why many people today still use the socratic method, because it effectively helps people to see the faults in their statement. This method is able to be practiced by any common person today since it is an open system that allows an interrogation styled conversation that allows a person/persons to analyze whether or not their philosophies are tenable. This is why this method is used rather often today in the law profession, as a way to shine a light on the faults of any statement in court.