The Dialectical Method The contentious way of philosophical discourse is to make your statement and challenge others to examine and refute it; The dialectical way is not merely to answer what is true, but also to make use of those points which the questioned person acknowledges he knows. All Learning is But Recollection Meno argues that “A man cannot enquire either about that which he knows, or about that which […]
Read moreTag: Socrates
“Protagoras” by Plato
The Hazard of Sophists There are many sophists, the ancient counterparts of modern-day self-help gurus, who claimed that they could teach others virtue and make them better, but when Socrates examined them closely, they were exposed as frauds. How could they teach others virtue when they didn’t know it themselves? One of the most famous sophists, Protagoras, claimed that he was wiser above all men and would make others wiser […]
Read more“Ion” by Plato
On Inspiration “The gift which you possess of speaking excellently about Homer is not an art, but, as I was just saying, an inspiration; there is a divinity moving you, like that contained in the stone which Euripides calls a magnet, …This stone not only attracts iron rings, but also imparts to them a similar power of attracting other rings; and sometimes you may see a number of pieces of […]
Read more“Symposium” by Plato
A group of men gathered together for a feast and started a discourse on the nature of Love. Everybody presented their own notion of love one after another. The dialogues were half playful and half serious, but always entertaining and fascinating. Every speaker seemed to best the one preceding him, and Socrates gave the climatic, noble speech. Just when one thought that he couldn’t be topped, a drunk came in […]
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