Socratic Dialogue

A SocraticDialogue is argument in pursuit of reality ... i.e. the *real* truth ... not merely the the politically-acceptable or socially-acceptable or culturally-acceptable truth. Because it challenges the accepted Norms (as well as entire armies of accepted Bobs, Freds, Marys, Toms, Sues ... and other YesFolk?), a SocraticDialogue is often fatal ... even if a SocraticDialogue is one of the very few human paths to real immorality ... because SocraticDialogue asks the questions that demands the promoters of falsehoods to be honest with themselves. Since a SocraticDialogue is often fatal, it is best if one chooses the SocraticDialogue wisely ... is this a big enough hill are you going to die on?

or SocraticDialogue is a type of inquiry that acknowledges that questions are often answers, and that the leader of the dialogue has as much to learn as the other participants.

or A SocraticDialogue is a word game in which Socrates plays dumb about what words refer to, ties a novice player into verbal knots, and extracts a concession of defeat at the word game. The defeated person then leaves and lives his life no differently than before, except now he knows not to waste his time with sophists. Socrates' speech is filled with semantic hair-splitting in which people are called upon to define all criteria of decision in advance of experience, lest they be vulnerable to the charge of being insufficiently rational. Socrates preaches to hold everything in the world at a distance, set up a private mental world in which everything you do is some sort of attempt to prove that you're a good person, and generally avoid living. For millennia, the Socratic dialogues have fooled wannabee sages into thinking that sophistry is a sign of wisdom.

But remember Socrates was not a Sophist. The Sophists were the accepted teachers and philosophers at the time...he argued against them and created enemies from this.

Mainly because Pirsig identifies Socrates with the idea of absolute truth, which he does not believe in, and the sophists with his idea of absolute quality, which he does. This is somewhat sketchy, both in terms of history and philosophy. One might also note, by the way, that although Socrates and his followers distinguished him from the sophists, non-philosophers like Aristophanes often didn't.

In a SocraticDialogue, the leader of the dialog spurs disussion and introspection by asking questions. Why does the leader use the tactic of asking questions?

In Meno, Socrates spoke with a roguish mercenary named Meno about the nature of learning. He took one of Meno's servants, and showed using leading questions that the fellow already knew complicated properties of the planar geometry. Socrates's hypothesis was that everyone already knew everything, and it was just a matter of remembering it. At least, that's what my memory tells me. moved from SocraticMethod

See Also: SocratesCafe, PlatosRepublic?, SocietyForPhilosophicalInquiry

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