Aron O, Angeles                                                                                                                  July 31, 2017

WeB111-1C

ANALYSIS PAPER

(SOCRATES) (SOCRATIC METHOD)

        Socrates is said to be an exemplary philosopher and he is considered as the wisest of all Athenians. Socrates was born circa 470 BC in Athens Greece. We know his life through the writings of his student Plato. His “Socratic Method” has a big contribution in Western system and logic philosophy. Socrates was the son Sophronsicus, an Athenian stone mason and sculptor and Phaenarete, midwife. Because he wasn’t from a noble family, so probably his knowledge about Greek education is basic only and at a very young age he learned his Father’s craft. Socrates worked as a mason for many years before he dedicated his life to philosophy. Contemporaries differ in their account of how Socrates supported himself as a philosopher. Both Xenophon and Aristophanes state Socrates received payment for teaching, while Plato writes Socrates explicitly denied accepting payment, citing his poverty as proof. Socrates married Xanthippe, a younger woman, who bore him three sons—Lamprocles, Sophroniscus and Menexenus. Socrates believed that philosophy should achieve practical results for the greater well-being of society. He attempted to establish an ethical system based on human reason rather than theological doctrine.

        The Socratic Method is a form of cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presumptions. I think that Socrates wants us to think for ourselves instead of relying to others, often involving a discussion in which the defense of one point of view is questioned, it’s like giving a one question and follow by ton of questions again, the question will be based on the defender’s answer. “Socratic Method”  was establish by Socrates himself by asking question and engaging discussions with his fellow Athenians and by doing that he is enhancing our very mind we are being force to think for ourselves. Socrates generally applied his method of examination to concepts that seem to lack any concrete definition. The key moral concepts at the time, the 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 rhetoric. So therefore awareness is the key to be a wise men. This Socratic Method led him to death when the political climate of Greece turned, because he is encouraging the youth and corrupting Athens, Socrates was sentenced to death by hemlock poisoning in 399 BC. He accepted this judgment rather than fleeing into exile.

         This Socratic Method is being applied to our daily lives we just never knew that there is such thing that existed. Things get clearer when I studied philosophy because this method is being applied in school for us student to think critically and to think our own conclusions. This is use a lot in law schools it helps us students to understand the subject, as we may not know which side of argument we are presenting and this develop our independent process or way and teaches us the persuasive techniques. The person I know that using this method is my teacher in philosophy he is testing our minds, on how do we react to his questions and how to understand questions properly, he said that think critically don’t just believe on what you see go beyond reality when you are thinking. I therefore think that this method must be applied everywhere because it helps us to think accurately and calculative. And by understanding the Socratic Method even more I would like to adopt this method and apply it even more. The principle underlying the Socratic method is that  we students learn  the use of critical thinking, reasoning and logic, finding holes in the theories of others then patching them up. This principle gives us so much ideas and conclusions for ourselves, so this is the real purpose of the Socratic Method to think beyond what we expected, this is Socrates way of encouraging the youth by asking question and followed by another. So therefore I think that no man is wiser than Socrates himself because the only thing he knows that is he knows nothing.