Answer to Question #106991 in Philosophy for Hannah

Question

Describe the method Socrates adopts as related in Platos Dialogues. Why does he adapt such an approach? What is its end or goal? Why has this method been considered a paradigm for philosophical inquiry?

Answer 1

Socratic dialogue consists of the series of arguments using the question-and-answer method employed by Socrates in Plato's Dialogues. It is also known as Platonic dialogue. The end goal of such method was to make students learn through the use of critical thinking, reasoning, and logic. This technique involves finding holes in their own theories and then patching them up. Socrates method has been considered a paradigm for philosophical inquiry because he was known for

asking questions that centered on understanding what things were in their most real state, not merely what he or others claimed then to be. He lived a life of philosophical inquiry. His methods were based on questioning.