【Socrates】

 【Socrates】

Socrates, one of the founding fathers of Western philosophical thought, was on trial.

 

Many Athenians believed he was a dangerous enemy of the state, accusing the philosopher of corrupting the youth and refusing to recognize their gods.

 

However, Socrates wasn't feared for claiming to have all the answers, but rather for asking too many questions.

 

 

While he loathed formal lectures, the philosopher frequently engaged friends and strangers in lengthy conversations about morality and society.

 

 

These discussions weren't debates, nor would Socrates offer explicit advice.

 

In fact, the philosopher often claimed to know nothing at all, responding to his partner's answers only with further questions.

 

But through this process, Socrates probed their logic, revealing its flaws and helping both parties reach a more robust understanding.

 

These insightful questions made Socrates beloved by his followers. Two of his students, Plato and Xenophon, were so inspired that they replicated their mentor's process in fictional dialogues.

 

These invented exchanges provide perfect examples of what would come to be known as the Socratic method.

 

Q1  philosopher 

    ➀科學家 ➁宗教家 ➂哲學家 

Q2  advice 

     ➀建設 ➁建議 ➂建造 

Q3  Socrates 

➀蘇格蘭 ➁蘇花公路 ➂蘇格拉底 

Q4  understanding 

     ➀誤會 ➁了解 ➂實行 

Q5  too many 

     ➀太高 ➁太少 ➂ 太多

Q6  questions 

      ➀問題 ➁答案 ➂方法

In one of these fabricated dialogues, Socrates is conversing with a young man named Euthydemus, who is confident that he understands the nature of justice and injustice.

 

Socrates probes the student's values by asking him to label actions such as lying and theft as just or unjust.

 

Euthydemus confidently categorizes them as injustices, but this only prompts another question:

 

is it just for a general to deceive or pillage a hostile army?

 

Euthydemus revises his assertion. He claims that these actions are just when done to enemies and unjust when done to friends.

 

But Socrates isn't finished. He asks the young man to consider a commander lying to his troops to boost their morale.

 

Before long, Euthydemus is despondent. It seems that every answer leads to further problems, and perhaps he's not quite sure what constitutes justice after all.

 

In employing this question-oriented approach, Socrates described himself as a midwife, whose inquiries assist others in giving birth to their ideas.

 

His method of questioning draws out an individual's unexamined assumptions and then challenges those biases.

 

It doesn't always provide definitive answers, but the method helps clarify the questions and eliminate contradictory or circular logic.

 

And by following a line of inquiry where it logically leads, both the question asker and answerer can end up in unexpected places.

 

This technique isn't limited by the conversation's content, making it incredibly useful in numerous fields.

 

During the Renaissance, the method was used to teach clinical medicine.

 

Students proposed their rationale for different diagnoses, while a doctor questioned their assumptions and moderated discussion.

 

In this model, the method could even produce conclusive results.

 

This same approach was later used in other sciences, such as astronomy, botany, and mathematics.

 

Following the Protestant Reformation, it was adapted to tackle abstract questions of faith.

 

In the 19th century, the method became an essential part of American legal education.

 

Professors explored students' understanding of judicial reasoning by challenging them with unforeseen hypothetical situations.

 

This approach is still used today by the Supreme Court to imagine the unintended impacts of passing a law.

 

The Socratic method can be adapted to teach almost any topic that relies on critical reasoning, but its success depends on the teacher employing it.

 

An effective Socratic educator must be well-versed in their subject.

 

Rather than bullying their students or showing off their superior intellect, they should be modest, genuinely curious, and affirming of every contribution.

 

In this regard, Socrates himself may not have been the most subtle Socratic teacher.

 

Historians believe he was deeply critical of Athens' particular brand of democracy and known to pass those concerns on to his followers.

 

These subversive beliefs were distorted in public forums and thought to have inspired two of his pupils to treasonous ends.

 

It was likely for these ideas Socrates was brought to trial and eventually sentenced to death.

 

But even on his deathbed, artists depict a serene philosopher, ever curious to explore the ultimate question:

 

What was life like in Socrates' Athens? Travel back in time to 427 BCE and experience how an ancient democracy made its decisions.

【蘇格拉底】

西方哲學思想的奠基者之一。

 

許多雅典人認為他是國家的危險敵人，指責這位哲學家腐蝕青年，並拒絕承認他們的神。

 

然而，人們懼怕蘇格拉底，並非因為他自稱無所不知，而是因為他提出了太多的問題。

 

雖然他厭惡正式的講座，但這位哲學家經常與朋友和陌生人就道德和社會問題進行冗長的對話。

 

這些討論並非辯論，蘇格拉底也不會提供明確的建議。

 

事實上，這位哲學家經常聲稱自己一無所知，只會透過進一步的問題來回應同伴的回答。

 

但透過這個過程，蘇格拉底探討了他們的邏輯，揭示了其中的缺陷，並幫助雙方達成更深入的理解。

 

這些富有洞察力的問題使蘇格拉底深受追隨者的愛戴。他的兩位學生，柏拉圖和色諾芬，深受啟發，在虛構的對話中複製了導師的做法。

 

這些虛構的對話為後來被稱為蘇格拉底教學法的理念提供了完美的例子。

 

在其中一段虛構的對話中，蘇格拉底正在與一位名叫歐西德姆斯的年輕人交談，歐西德姆斯自信地認為自己理解正義與非正義的本質。

蘇格拉底透過要求學生將諸如說謊和偷竊等行為定義為正義或非正義來探究學生的價值觀。