The Socratic method as implemented by Socrates in The Protagoras remains to this day a common method of teaching and stimulating analysis, illustrating the longevity and fruitfulness of Socrates engagement in his philosophical debates. For the Socratic method, the term fruitfulness refers to how effective it is as a way of developing philosophical debate and critical thought, it also refers to the nature of how longstanding his method has been, still seen to this day and employed, if slightly modified. Socrates’ dialogue with Protagoras in The Protagoras represents an accurate depiction of Socrates’ philosophical engagement and demonstrates Socrates’ aims to stimulate critical analysis by other people involved in his discussions when he engages
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Socrates believes that knowledge only exists if one can define the subject, and not merely highlight examples of demonstrations of the subject (McDavid, 2017). His focal point and method of an argument revolves around attempting to then redefine these definitions by likening them to other definitions, and once the interlocutor consents to the definitions, often by posing his definition as a question, Socrates elaborates further by rhetorically asking if that definition can be applied to another attribute, which again is consented to. From this, he shows that one premise follows another premise, which he deduces that the premises follow all required rules that lead to his conclusion. This is evident in the text when Socrates asks, “courage is the opposite of cowardice?” and follows this with “cowardice is ignorance of what is and is not to be feared?” and lastly he concludes with “And this ignorance is cowardice?” (Lombardo & Bell, 1992, 360c-360d), and so Socrates has corralled Protagoras into his desired situation of dispelling the concept of virtue, expertly demonstrating his method. In doing so; Socrates proves via the Socratic method that the interlocutor, Protagoras in this case, has agreed to his questioning that A = B and B = C, therefore A must = C? Trapping the interlocutor into agreeing with Socrates’ …show more content…
Although somewhat modified, the Socratic method is still often employed to this day, highlighting the durability and effectiveness of this method, for if it wasn’t so effective and didn’t have as much merit as it proves, it would not remain actively used. Its fruitfulness is further shown in The Protagoras as we can see by the end that Socrates has done what he set out to do, which can be summed up with the quote, “I have no other reason for asking these things than my desire to answer these questions about virtue, especially what virtue is in itself.” (Lombardo & Bell, 1992, 361a). After which Socrates effectively proves that he has demonstrated virtue to be nothing more than wisdom or knowledge. It is evident from the lasting nature that the Socratic method’s strongest component is its endurance due to its
Socrates believes that knowledge only exists if one can define the subject, and not merely highlight examples of demonstrations of the subject (McDavid, 2017). His focal point and method of an argument revolves around attempting to then redefine these definitions by likening them to other definitions, and once the interlocutor consents to the definitions, often by posing his definition as a question, Socrates elaborates further by rhetorically asking if that definition can be applied to another attribute, which again is consented to. From this, he shows that one premise follows another premise, which he deduces that the premises follow all required rules that lead to his conclusion. This is evident in the text when Socrates asks, “courage is the opposite of cowardice?” and follows this with “cowardice is ignorance of what is and is not to be feared?” and lastly he concludes with “And this ignorance is cowardice?” (Lombardo & Bell, 1992, 360c-360d), and so Socrates has corralled Protagoras into his desired situation of dispelling the concept of virtue, expertly demonstrating his method. In doing so; Socrates proves via the Socratic method that the interlocutor, Protagoras in this case, has agreed to his questioning that A = B and B = C, therefore A must = C? Trapping the interlocutor into agreeing with Socrates’ …show more content…
Although somewhat modified, the Socratic method is still often employed to this day, highlighting the durability and effectiveness of this method, for if it wasn’t so effective and didn’t have as much merit as it proves, it would not remain actively used. Its fruitfulness is further shown in The Protagoras as we can see by the end that Socrates has done what he set out to do, which can be summed up with the quote, “I have no other reason for asking these things than my desire to answer these questions about virtue, especially what virtue is in itself.” (Lombardo & Bell, 1992, 361a). After which Socrates effectively proves that he has demonstrated virtue to be nothing more than wisdom or knowledge. It is evident from the lasting nature that the Socratic method’s strongest component is its endurance due to its