Shock and Awe:
The Risks and Benefits of the Socratic Method
An examination of the actual Socratic method as Socrates employed it in Plato’s dialogue Meno. Participants will be asked to read the first few pages (70a to 86c) of Socrates’s conversation with Meno. Near the end of the selection Socrates asks a series of questions of a young servant in Meno’s house. The young man first discovers that he doesn’t know how to double a square and he becomes bewildered or stung/numbed by Socrates’ questions. Then by asking further questions Socrates is able to bring the young man to a state in which he understands that a square constructed on the diagonal of a given square will be double the given square in size. Did Socrates “teach” the young man how to double the square? Was it necessary to numb the young man first? What can we learn about learning and teaching from Socrates the teacher? The seminar will explore these exciting issues.
