Plato's Socratic Method

The Socratic Method is widely misunderstood. (It's not a pedagogical technique used by law professors . . . it's not even employable in a classroom!)

The Socratic Method is a technique for testing and improving our thoughts. It is, as John Stuart Mill rightly said, "unsurpassed as a discipline for correcting the errors, and clearing up the confusions incident to the intellectus sibi permissus" (the mind left to itself). But what is this method, exactly? How can we practice it?

Taking inspiration from Ward Farnsworth's recent book, we will discuss what the method is and how to use it in conversations and in our private deliberations.

Michael Schidlowsky is a Philosophy PhD candidate and former Google engineer. He has taught philosophy at CUNY and computer science at NYU.

More about Michael: http://michaelschidlowsky.com/