Socrates: How to think for yourself?

What does it take to start living a thoughtful life? Few philosophers demanded less of this than Socrates: we do not need years of formal education, nor do we necessarily need a life of leisure.

Anyone curious and right-thinking and willing to evaluate a common sense idea can strike up a conversation with a friend in the street at any time, imitate the Socratic method, and in less than half an hour perhaps come up with a groundbreaking new idea or two.

The Socratic method of questioning common sense is ubiquitous in Plato's early and middle dialogues, and because it is a consistent procedure, it is easily expressed in manual, manual language, and can be applied to any ideological belief that has been instilled or resisted.

This approach tells us that whether an assertion is true does not depend on whether it has been held by the majority or believed by important people for a long time. Only assertions that cannot be refuted rationally are true. An assertion that cannot be falsified is true. If it can be refuted rationally, if it can be falsified, then no matter how many people believe it, no matter how great the people who believe it, it is wrong, and we should doubt it.

Socratic method of thinking

01. Take the universally accepted common sense that acts of courage require standing your ground and not retreating. A man of virtue needs money.

02. Imagine that this statement could be wrong, despite the confidence of the person saying it. Look for situations where this statement may not be true. Are there warriors who retreat in battle? Are there people who stand their ground and are not brave? Can a man be rich without virtue? Can a man be virtuous without money?

03. If exceptions to the above are found, then the original definition is wrong, or at least inaccurate. It is possible to be brave and fall back. It is possible to stand your ground and not be brave. It is possible to be rich and mean. It is possible to be poor and moral.

04. The initial argument must take into account these exceptions and be formulated with precision and delicacy. To retreat or advance in battle can be an act of bravery. A rich man can only be called virtuous if he takes his possessions with him, And some people who have no money may have virtue because their situation makes virtue, and money cannot be combined.

05. If an exception to the revised statement is subsequently found, the process is repeated. Truth -- so far as man has been able to reach it -- lies in a seemingly indestructible assertion. The pursuit of truth is to discover that what we have almost assumed to be true is not.

06. No matter how Aristophanes distorted it, the product of thought is always superior to the product of intuition.

Of course, it is possible to reach the truth without philosophical deliberation. We don't have to use the Socratic method to realize that a man without money can be morally virtuous if the situation makes it impossible to be moral and to make money, or that it can be brave to walk in and out of battle.

But unless we have given thorough logical consideration to the objections, we will not know how to deal with those who disagree with us. If an overbearing figure were to state flatly that money is the essence of morality, or that only cowards retreat in battle, we would be speechless. Lacking the backing of counter-arguments (like the Battle of Plataea and getting rich in a corrupt society), we can only say, unjustifiably or violently, I think I'm right, but can't explain why.

An opinion that is correct but does not know how to rationally respond to an opposing opinion is what Socrates calls "primordial opinion" as opposed to "knowledge" -- that is, knowing not only why one opinion is true, but also why the other is false. "Original opinion" is inferior to "knowledge".

Socrates compares these two perceptions of truth to the beautiful works of the famous sculptor Daedalus. The intuitive perception is like a statue on an outdoor pedestal, unsupported, ready to be blown over by a gust of wind. Cognition, supported by reason and rhetorical argument, is like a statue fastened to the ground by ropes. The Socratic method of thinking provides us with a means of reaching a conclusion that can withstand the storm without wavering in our confidence.