How to Learn the Socratic Method
platosacademycentre.substack.com
Dec 29, 2022 • 14M
How to Learn the Socratic Method
The ancient two-column technique demonstrated by Socrates
Appears in this episode
The Plato's Academy Centre
Donald J. Robertson
Join us as we explore the world of Greek classics and philosophy, and their relevance to modern life. Episodes published bi-weekly, featuring interviews with renowned authors and academics in the fields of philosophy and classics. Show hosted by Plato's Academy Centre, a nonprofit organization based in Athens, Greece.
Episode details
8 comments
In this podcast, Donald describes a simple method for learning, or teaching, the Socratic Method, originally used by Socrates, with lots of examples.
How the two-column technique is used in cognitive therapy today
The original two-column method used by Socrates
What Socrates actually said, excerpt from Xenophon’s Memorabilia Socratis
Example of similar technique used centuries later by a Stoic teacher
Epictetus seems to describe Socrates doing written exercises in a private notebook
Here’s the link to the original article, which contains a detailed description of a modified version of this exercise, for use in modern-day workshops.
How to Learn the Socratic Method
I had to suffer through 3 years of law school professors attempting to use the Socratic method in their classes. Robertson and Farnsworth are doing a great service by showing the proper manner for using the Socratic method since most law professors are using the Socratic method very badly. (FYI: Farnsworth is a big deal in legal academic circles from writing the horn-book on contract law.) I even had an engineering professor attempt to use the Socratic method and this instruction would have been a great help. Being familiar with the Socratic method is a must for those seeking higher learning since the ABA requires law schools to use the Socratic Method and it is often used by judges in court, i.e. a hot bench.
Very interesting, especially the idea that Socrates could have used a written method like this for self-improvement, almost like the modern concept of journaling. Given Socrates' connection to the "Know Thyself" phrase it makes me wonder if "knowing" one's self meant something different to an ancient audience... Today, I often see it used with concepts like finding what makes you happy, or identifying your true skills, but here it seems more to imply an analysis of whether we can accurately account for our beliefs and/or trust them to accurately reflect what we mean.