SOCRATES - METHOD

<BODY> <CENTER><FONT SIZE=5><B><FONT SIZE=6>SOCRATES</FONT><BR> THE EXAMINER</B></FONT></CENTER><P> <FONT SIZE=4><B>Method</B></FONT><P> The Socratic method, was one of of leading himself and others to understanding through questioning and dialogue. Such a process which required the participants to clarify their beliefs and understanding. His favourite approach was to lead the protagonist into argument while pretending his own ignorance of the matter, a technique known as Socratic irony. He was master of the negative <A HREF="../t03/g009.html" TARGET="_top">dialectic</A>, better at destroying the definition and propositions of others than offering his own.<P> <TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=2 CELLPADDING=1 bgcolor="ffffee"> <TR> <TD><BLOCKQUOTE>"Then what does the skill we can call justice supply and to whom?"<P> "If we are to be consistent, Socrates, it must be the skill that enables us to help one's friends and injure one's enemies."<P> "So Simonides says that justice is to benefit one's friends and harm one's enemies?"<P> "I think so."<P> "Who then is best able to benefit his friends and harm his enemies in matters of health?"<P> "A doctor."<P> "And in the risks of a sea voyage?"<P> "A navigator."<P> "And what about a just man? In what activity or occupation will he best be able to help his friends and harm his enemies?"<P> "In war: he will fight against his enemies and for his friends.."<P> "Good. Yet people who are healthy have no use for a physician, have they, Polemarchus?"<P> "True."<P> "Nor those that stay on land of a navigator?"<P> "No."<P> "Do you then maintain that those who are not at war have no use for a just man?"<P> (From Plato's "Republic" 1.1.2d)</BLOCKQUOTE> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <BR clear=left><BR> <HR width=100%> <A HREF="http://www.creatorix.com.au"><IMG SRC="../creatorix.gif" WIDTH="85" HEIGHT="40" BORDER="0" ALT="Creatorix" align=right></A> </BODY>