WHERE QUESTIONS, NOT ANSWERS, ARE THE DRIVING FORCE IN

THINKING

Socratic Discussion

Who was Socrates?

The first of the three great Athenian philosophers.

Born in 469 BCFought in the Peloponnesian WarIn his late 40’s he began to think about the

world around him and try to answer some difficult questions like: “What is wisdom?” and “What is beauty?”

Knew these types of questions were difficult to answer so he thought it would be better to have a lot of people discuss the answers together.

Socrates was a rebel

Tried to teach others to think better by asking them questions which showed problems in their logic…this questioning made people angry and they often tried to beat him up.

Was charged with impiety (not respecting the gods) and corrupting the youth.

Was tried and convicted of these charges and sentenced to death and died when the guards gave him a cup of hemlock to drink.

What is all of this?

What does “Socratic” mean? Comes from the name “Socrates” a classical

Greek philosopher who developed a Theory of Knowledge.

What was Socrates’ Theory of Knowledge? Socrates was convinced that the surest way to

attain reliable knowledge was through the practice of disciplined conversation; he called this method dialectic or using dialogue.

What does “dialectic mean? The art of practice of examining opinions or

ideas logically, often by question and answer.

What is this cont…

How did Socrates use the dialectic?Socrates believed that through the process of

dialogue, where all parties to the dialogue are forced on clarifying their ideas , the final outcome of the conversation would be a clear statement of what was meant.

Socrates would pretend ignorance about a subject and try to draw out from the other person his fullest possible knowledge about the subject.

Socrates thought that by gently correcting incomplete or inaccurate notions, one could coax the truth out of anyone!

Why cont…

What is a Socratic Seminar?A method to try to understand

information by creating an in-class dialogue based on a piece of text.

Students seek deeper understanding of complex ideas through thoughtful dialogue rather than memorizing bits of information .

The Difference between Dialogue and Debate

Dialogue Debate•Collaborative, cooperative •Competitive and oppositional

•One listens to understand and find common ground

•One listens to find flaws , spot differences and counter arguments

•Enlarges and possibly changes a participant’s point of view

•Defends assumptions as truth

•Creates and open-minded attitude and an openness to change.

•Creates a close –minded attitude leading to one “right” answer.

•Submission of best thinking with the expectation other peoples reflections will help improve it rather than threaten it.

•Submission of best thinking with the expectation of defending it against challenge.

•One searches for strengths in all positions

•One searches for weaknesses .

Difference between dialogue and debate cont…

Dialogue Debate•Respects all participants and seeks not to alienate or offend

•Rebuts contrary positions and may belittle or deprecate .

•Assumes many people have pieces of answers and that cooperation can lead to greater understanding

•Assumes a single right answer that somebody already has

•Is a mutual inquiry; collective knowledge

•Is individual opinions; individual knowledge

•Practices a product •Produces a product

•Divergent •Convergent

Seminar Guidelines

Refer to text when needed. This is not a test of memory. You are not “learning a subject”; your goal is to understand the ideas, issues and values reflected in the text.

It’s ok to “pass” when asked to contribute.

Do not stay confused. Never be afraid to ask for clarification

Stick to the point. Make notes about ideas you want to come back to.

Don’t raise hands; take turns speaking.

Seminar Guidelines cont…

Listen carefully.Talk to each other, not just to the leader or

teacher.Discuss IDEAS rather than OPINIONS.Cite reasons and evidence for our statements.Use text to find support.Stick to the subject.Support each other.Question others in a civil manner.