Knowra Socratic method Socratic method A form of dialogue that tests claims through probing questions, exposing assumptions and clarifying ideas. It is associated with Socrates and survives chiefly through dialogues written by Plato.
Elenchus : A process of questioning that tests a person’s claims for inconsistency, often leading to a contradiction. This is the method’s signature form: a claim is tested against the speaker’s other commitments.
Socrates : An Athenian philosopher of the fifth century BCE, known chiefly through accounts by his students and contemporaries. The method takes its name from the question-driven practice attributed to him.
Socratic questioning : A teaching and reasoning technique that uses sequenced questions to examine beliefs, evidence, and implications. This modern practice adapts the method’s probing questions for structured learning and reflection.
Socratic problem : The historical and philosophical difficulty of determining what Socrates actually thought from conflicting ancient sources. The surviving portraits complicate claims about a single, settled Socratic method.
Socratic irony : A rhetorical stance in which a speaker professes ignorance, often to prompt another person to explain a subject. Socrates’ professed ignorance encourages interlocutors to state claims that questioning can examine.
Plato : An ancient Greek philosopher whose dialogues are foundational works of Western philosophy. His dialogues provide the richest surviving literary portrayals of Socrates questioning others.
Socratic seminar : A classroom discussion in which participants examine a text or question through evidence-based dialogue. The seminar turns questioning into a collaborative format for interpreting texts and testing ideas.
Maieutics : The metaphorical practice of helping another person bring an idea to birth through questioning. Plato’s Theaetetus presents questioning as intellectual midwifery, a related but distinct image.
Definition : A statement specifying the meaning or boundaries of a word, concept, or object. Questions often begin by asking what a key term means before testing particular examples.
Socratic dialogues : Ancient Greek prose works that portray Socrates in conversation, often investigating ethical and philosophical questions. These works are the principal surviving source for how Socratic questioning was represented.
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