Finley Riordon
Doctor Jesse Bonds
Reaction Paper
May 18, 2013
The Genius of the Socratic Method
I believe in the Socratic Method. Any individual who claims a belief or view should have a strong understanding of what it is they are standing up for, and the Socratic Method is the ultimate test of this. The Socratic Method is designed to force people to truly examine their beliefs but also to have their beliefs tested by those of an opposing viewpoint. The Socratic Method is a debate, and inquiry between two opposing viewpoints based on cross examination, questioning, testing and illuminating ideas. Being that The Socratic Method is a negative method of elimination of hypothesis, in the way as the strong, more articulate argument or viewpoint comes to light as cracks or flaws in the weaker hypothesis are shown to prove contradiction. The ‘genius’ of Socrates method steams largely from where he lived and when. Socrates lived from 470-399 BC, during a time of transition for the Greek empire after the Peloponnesian War. Due to the time frame of Socrates’s teachings, he- himself, but also his method of teaching were viewed in negative light by the Greek Empire. Socrates questioned his peers in an unending search for validity. Socrates understood that to get to the foundations of his peer-students, colleagues’ views, he needed to be in a constant state of continual questioning until a contradiction in one of the two or more viewpoints was exposed, proving the fallacy of the initial viewpoint or assumption of one party.
