Socrates ( 469 BC – 399 BC) was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher.
Socrates
Credited as one of thefounders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary Aristophanes. Through his portrayal in Plato’s dialogues, Socrates has become renowned for his contribution to the field of ethics, and it is this Platonic Socrates who also lends his name to the concepts of Socratic irony and the Socratic method, or elenchus (‘shame’). The latter remains a commonly used tool in a wide range of discussions, and is a type of pedagogy in which a series of questions are asked not only to draw individual answers, but also to encourage fundamental insight into the issue at hand.
A Socratic dialogue (further ‘SD’) is the most popular form of the Socratic method. In this
method, participants try to investigate in a more or less structured way the truth and the value of their opinions in attempting to respond to a self-chosen question. The material of the investigation is their own experience, either an experience here and now or a memorable event from the past. The conversation is meant to be a dialogue, rather than a formal debate or informal discussion The participants try to understand each other and engage in a common enterprise. This doesn’t necessarily mean that participants have to find a consensus about the answer to the question in order to have a successful dialogue. An awareness of the complexity of the investigation is often much more satisfactory than a constructed consensus. The attempt to think carefully, slowly and in depth distinguishes itself from other forms of conversation like debates, brainstorming sessions or creative thinking sessions.
Of course, the dialogue refers to Socrates, Plato’s teacher. About 2500 years ago, he is reported to have undertaken t rhetorical investigations with his pupils in a very particular manner. One of t his approaches to searching for the truth of his pupils’ claims was to confront them with the difference between their words and their deeds, so that they became less sure of their motives, intentions and beliefs. . The ‘shame’ (elenchus) that arose as a result of this confrontation was, according to Plato, a necessary step towards a further and more thorough investigation of one’s own opinions. And a life not devoted to investigation, according to Socrates, was not worth living.