“In the natural process of growth in the human mind, belief does not follow proof, but springs up apart from and independent of it; an immature intelligence believes first, and proves (if indeed it ever seeks proof) afterwards.” George Grote, Plato and the Other Companions of Sokrates 20pg
In ancient Greece the Oracle at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi pronounced Socrates the wisest of the Greeks. Socrates took this as approval of his agnosticism which was the starting point of his philosophy: ‘One thing only I know’, he said, ‘and that is that I know nothing’.
Puzzled by the priestesses' statement, Socrates felt obliged to seek the meaning of her remark. Socrates set out to question others who had a reputation for wisdom or knowledge because he believed the gods were wise and there must be a reason he was called the wisest of the Greeks by the priestess of Apollo. He came to see that he was wiser than these wise men, because unlike them he did not claim to know what he did not know.
Plato's dialogues profess to be depictions of Socrates in conversation. From the dialogues we get the dialectical form known as the Socratic method.
The Socratic method is a form of cooperative dialogue between individuals where asking and answering questions stimulates critical thinking and draws out ideas and their underlying presuppositions. By eliminating faulty definitions or ones that lead to contradictions one can approach the truth and act more cautiously in its pursuit.
What Plato tried to combat with his writings on Socrates was ignorance. According to the English philosopher John Stuart Mill, what Plato objected to was the tendency of people to view commonly held sentiments as ultimate truths.
“It was the acceptance of traditional opinions and current sentiments as an ultimate fact; and bandying of the abstract terms which express approbation and disapprobation, desire and aversion, admiration and disgust, as if they had a meaning thoroughly understood and universally assented to.” Collected Works Of John Stuart Mill
Socratic method is an activity not a system or set of beliefs. Socrates sometimes defined an elusive concept by comparing it to its opposite. According to Ward Farnsworth, the author of the book the Socratic Method, a strong candidate for a one word opposite of the Socratic Method would be ‘Twitter’.
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