Socratic Questioning

Socratic questioning is a way of asking questions to explore a particular subject or issue in more depth. It is named after the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, who used this method to seek truth and wisdom.

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Socratic questioning involves asking a series of questions that are designed to challenge assumptions, clarify concepts, and encourage critical thinking. It is open-ended and exploratory, rather than leading or closed-ended. This means that it is not trying to guide you towards a specific answer, but rather it is meant to help you think more deeply about the subject and come to your own understanding of it.

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Socratic questioning is often used in education, particularly in philosophy and critical thinking courses, as a way of helping students to think more deeply and critically about a subject. It can also be useful in other contexts, such as problem-solving, decision-making, and facilitating discussion and debate.

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Overall, the goal of Socratic questioning is to encourage critical thinking and deep understanding of a subject, rather than just memorizing facts or blindly accepting what others say.

Socratic questioning usually follows this 6-step process:

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1. Clarify your thinking

2. Check assumptions

3. Check evidence

4. Think of alternatives

5. Think about the consequences

6. Question your original question

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Taking the time to think things through might slow us down in the short term, but we must make that time. Otherwise, we might be building solutions to our problems based on assumptions and making mistakes that hinder our success in the long term.

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“I know you won’t believe me, but the highest form of human excellence is to question oneself and others.” — Socrates