Socratic Method or Dialectic |
| A. a thesis is debated only if asserted as the answerer's own beliefs, and |
| B. this thesis is refuted only if its negation is deduced from his own beliefs |
| As illustrated in The Euthyphro. |
| 1) Socrates begins by eliciting a definition from Euthyphro:'The pious is prosecuting the wrongdoer.' |
| 2) He then points out its inadequacies: 'But there are many other pious actions.' |
| 3) He thus gets Euthyphro to restate the definition in new words: 'What is dear to the gods is pious, what is not is impious.' |
| 4) Socrates repeats (2): 'But the gods are often at odds with each other.' |
| 5) Prompting Euthyphro to repeat (3): 'The pious is what all the gods love, and the opposite, what all the gods hate, is impious.' |
| 6) Socrates, of course, repeats (2) again: 'Is it pious because it is loved by the gods, or is it loved by the gods because it is pius?' |
| Euthyphro ultimately agrees that is loved by the gods because it is pious. |
| The goal is to avoid self-contradiction and to develop a set of moral beliefs that is consistent. |
| Socrates' set of beliefs is the most consistent! |
| He thus compelled people to reflect on what they say, and to restate what they once thought they were sure of, pushing them out of their mental ruts, their customary patterns of thought. |
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