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83-398: The Socratic method (also known as method of Elenchus or Socratic debate ) is a form of argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions. In Plato 's dialogue " Theaetetus ", Socrates describes his method as a form of "midwifery" because it is employed to help his interlocutors develop their understanding in a way analogous to a child developing in

166-495: A Socratic circle ) is a pedagogical approach based on the Socratic method and uses a dialogic approach to understand information in a text. Its systematic procedure is used to examine a text through questions and answers founded on the beliefs that all new knowledge is connected to prior knowledge, that all thinking comes from asking questions, and that asking one question should lead to asking further questions. A Socratic seminar

249-668: A literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange. As a philosophical or didactic device, it is chiefly associated in the West with the Socratic dialogue as developed by Plato , but antecedents are also found in other traditions including Indian literature . The term dialogue stems from the Greek διάλογος ( dialogos , ' conversation ' ); its roots are διά ( dia , ' through ' ) and λόγος ( logos , ' speech, reason ' ). The first extant author who uses

332-410: A blank wall (514a–b). The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them and begin to ascribe forms to these shadows, using language to identify their world (514c–515a). According to the allegory, the shadows are as close as the prisoners get to viewing reality, until one of them finds his way into the outside world where he sees the actual objects that produced

415-539: A body of theory and techniques for using egalitarian dialogue as a pedagogical tool. Martin Buber assigns dialogue a pivotal position in his theology . His most influential work is titled I and Thou . Buber cherishes and promotes dialogue not as some purposive attempt to reach conclusions or express mere points of view, but as the very prerequisite of authentic relationship between man and man, and between man and God . Buber's thought centres on "true dialogue", which

498-471: A communication tool for married couples. Both groups teach a dialogue method that helps couples learn more about each other in non-threatening postures, which helps to foster growth in the married relationship. The German philosopher and classicist Karl-Martin Dietz emphasises the original meaning of dialogue (from Greek dia-logos , i.e. 'two words'), which goes back to Heraclitus: "The logos [...] answers to

581-489: A host of others. In the 19th century, the French returned to the original application of dialogue. The inventions of " Gyp ", of Henri Lavedan , and of others, which tell a mundane anecdote wittily and maliciously in conversation, would probably present a close analogy to the lost mimes of the early Sicilian poets. English writers including Anstey Guthrie also adopted the form, but these dialogues seem to have found less of

664-466: A new form of applied philosophy: Socratic dialogue , also called philosophical counseling . In Europe Gerd B. Achenbach is probably the best known practitioner, and Michel Weber has also proposed another variant of the practice. Dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English ) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and

747-722: A papyrus in 1891, give some idea of their character. Plato further simplified the form and reduced it to pure argumentative conversation, while leaving intact the amusing element of character-drawing. By about 400 BC he had perfected the Socratic dialogue . All his extant writings, except the Apology and Epistles , use this form. Following Plato, the dialogue became a major literary genre in antiquity, and several important works both in Latin and in Greek were written. Soon after Plato, Xenophon wrote his own Symposium ; also, Aristotle

830-439: A passage of text that students must read beforehand and facilitate dialogue. Sometimes, a facilitator will structure two concentric circles of students: an outer circle and an inner circle. The inner circle focuses on exploring and analysing the text through the act of questioning and answering. During this phase, the outer circle remains silent. Students in the outer circle are much like scientific observers watching and listening to

913-428: A philosophical exchange on a train between four people with radically different epistemological views. In the 20th century, philosophical treatments of dialogue emerged from thinkers including Mikhail Bakhtin , Paulo Freire , Martin Buber , and David Bohm . Although diverging in many details, these thinkers have proposed a holistic concept of dialogue. Educators such as Freire and Ramón Flecha have also developed

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996-666: A plot-driven fantasy narrative in an extended fable with talking animals and broadly sketched characters, intended to discuss the politics of the time. Yet, George MacDonald emphasized in 1893 that "A fairy tale is not an allegory." J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of the Rings is another example of a well-known work mistakenly perceived as allegorical, as the author himself once stated, "...I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history – true or feigned – with its varied applicability to

1079-649: A popular following among the English than their counterparts written by French authors. The Platonic dialogue , as a distinct genre which features Socrates as a speaker and one or more interlocutors discussing some philosophical question, experienced something of a rebirth in the 20th century. Authors who have recently employed it include George Santayana , in his eminent Dialogues in Limbo (1926, 2nd ed. 1948; this work also includes such historical figures as Alcibiades , Aristippus , Avicenna , Democritus , and Dionysius

1162-423: A problem area. A disciplined form of dialogue, where participants agree to follow a dialogue framework or a facilitator , enables groups to address complex shared problems. Aleco Christakis (who created structured dialogue design ) and John N. Warfield (who created science of generic design ) were two of the leading developers of this school of dialogue. The rationale for engaging structured dialogue follows

1245-441: A related form of dialogue where a group of people talk together in order to explore their assumptions of thinking, meaning, communication, and social effects. This group consists of ten to thirty people who meet for a few hours regularly or a few continuous days. In a Bohm dialogue , dialoguers agree to leave behind debate tactics that attempt to convince and, instead, talk from their own experience on subjects that are improvised on

1328-430: A series of elenchi and typically end in puzzlement known as aporia . Michael Frede points out Vlastos' conclusion in step No. 5 above makes nonsense of the aporetic nature of the early dialogues. Having shown a proposed thesis is false is insufficient to conclude some other competing thesis must be true. Rather, the interlocutors have reached aporia , an improved state of still not knowing what to say about

1411-409: A type of pedagogy. Freire held that dialogued communication allowed students and teachers to learn from one another in an environment characterised by respect and equality. A great advocate for oppressed peoples, Freire was concerned with praxis—action that is informed and linked to people's values. Dialogued pedagogy was not only about deepening understanding; it was also about making positive changes in

1494-526: A variety of different views. The participants share the responsibility with the leader to maintain the quality of the Socratic circle. They listen actively to respond effectively to what others have contributed. This teaches the participants to think and speak persuasively using the discussion to support their position. Participants must demonstrate respect for different ideas, thoughts and values, and must not interrupt each other. Questions can be created individually or in small groups. All participants are given

1577-474: Is (according to a European Union definition) "a means of mutual communication between governments and administrations including EU institutions and young people. The aim is to get young people's contribution towards the formulation of policies relevant to young peoples lives." The application of structured dialogue requires one to differentiate the meanings of discussion and deliberation. Groups such as Worldwide Marriage Encounter and Retrouvaille use dialogue as

1660-418: Is a figurative approach, relying on a set of concepts associated with key terms in order to create an allegorical decoding of the text." Allegory has an ability to freeze the temporality of a story, while infusing it with a spiritual context. Mediaeval thinking accepted allegory as having a reality underlying any rhetorical or fictional uses. The allegory was as true as the facts of surface appearances. Thus,

1743-540: Is causal or merely correlative. Yet, W. K. C. Guthrie in The Greek Philosophers sees it as an error to regard the Socratic method as a means by which one seeks the answer to a problem, or knowledge. Guthrie claims that the Socratic method actually aims to demonstrate one's ignorance. Socrates, unlike the Sophists , did believe that knowledge was possible, but believed that the first step to knowledge

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1826-399: Is characterised by openness, honesty, and mutual commitment. The Second Vatican Council placed a major emphasis on dialogue within the church and with the world . Most of the council's documents refer to some kind of dialogue: dialogue "between the laity and their spiritual leaders" ( Lumen gentium ), dialogue with other religions ( Nostra aetate : "dialogue and collaboration with

1909-457: Is complex, since it demands we observe the distinction between two often conflated uses of the Greek verb "allēgoreīn," which can mean both "to speak allegorically" and "to interpret allegorically." In the case of "interpreting allegorically," Theagenes appears to be our earliest example. Presumably in response to proto-philosophical moral critiques of Homer (e.g., Xenophanes fr. 11 Diels-Kranz ), Theagenes proposed symbolic interpretations whereby

1992-412: Is no word and no language , there can be no dialogic relations; they cannot exist among objects or logical quantities (concepts, judgments, and so forth). Dialogic relations presuppose a language, but they do not reside within the system of language. They are impossible among elements of a language. The Brazilian educationalist Paulo Freire , known for developing popular education, advanced dialogue as

2075-484: Is not a debate. The goal of this activity is to have participants work together to construct meaning and arrive at an answer, not for one student or one group to "win the argument". This approach is based on the belief that participants seek and gain deeper understanding of concepts in the text through thoughtful dialogue rather than memorizing information that has been provided for them. While Socratic seminars can differ in structure, and even in name, they typically involve

2158-485: Is not the only dialogue in which theories normally expounded by Plato's Socrates are broken down through dialectic. Instead of arriving at answers, the method breaks down the theories we hold, to go "beyond" the axioms and postulates we take for granted. Therefore, myth and the Socratic method are not meant by Plato to be incompatible; they have different purposes, and are often described as the "left hand" and "right hand" paths to good and wisdom. In Plato's early dialogues,

2241-522: Is open-ended, focusing on broad, general ideas rather than specific, factual information. The questioning technique emphasizes a level of questioning and thinking where there is no single right answer. Socratic seminars generally start with an open-ended question proposed either by the leader or by another participant. There is no designated first speaker; as individuals participate in Socratic dialogue, they gain experience that enables them to be effective in this role of initial questioner. The leader keeps

2324-714: Is said to have written several philosophical dialogues in Plato's style (of which only fragments survive). In the 2nd century CE, Christian apologist Justin Martyr wrote the Dialogue with Trypho , which was a discourse between Justin representing Christianity and Trypho representing Judaism. Another Christian apologetic dialogue from the time was the Octavius , between the Christian Octavius and pagan Caecilius. In

2407-419: Is the central technique of the Socratic method. The Latin form elenchus (plural elenchi ) is used in English as the technical philosophical term. The most common adjectival form in English is elenctic ; elenchic and elenchtic are also current. This was also very important in Plato's early dialogues. Socrates (as depicted by Plato) generally applied his method of examination to concepts such as

2490-456: The virtues of piety , wisdom , temperance , courage , and justice . Such an examination challenged the implicit moral beliefs of the interlocutors, bringing out inadequacies and inconsistencies in their beliefs, and usually resulting in aporia . In view of such inadequacies, Socrates himself professed ignorance. Socrates said that his awareness of his ignorance made him wiser than those who, though ignorant, still claimed knowledge. This claim

2573-465: The 12th-century works of Hugh of St Victor and Edward Topsell 's Historie of Foure-footed Beastes (London, 1607, 1653) and its replacement in the study of nature with methods of categorisation and mathematics by such figures as naturalist John Ray and the astronomer Galileo is thought to mark the beginnings of early modern science. Since meaningful stories are nearly always applicable to larger issues, allegories may be read into many stories which

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2656-634: The Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land" (Ibid., pp. 6–30; dated 1260), while in other writings he used a question and answer format, without the narrative scenario, such as in "Questions and Answers about Embracing the Lotus Sutra" (Ibid., pp. 55–67, possibly from 1263). The sage or person answering the questions was understood as the author. Two French writers of eminence borrowed

2739-475: The East, in 13th century Japan, dialogue was used in important philosophical works. In the 1200s, Nichiren Daishonin wrote some of his important writings in dialogue form, describing a meeting between two characters in order to present his argument and theory, such as in "Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man" (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin 1: pp. 99–140, dated around 1256), and "On Establishing

2822-639: The Gods of the Iliad actually stood for physical elements. So, Hephestus represents Fire, for instance (for which see fr. A2 in Diels-Kranz ). Some scholars, however, argue that Pherecydes cosmogonic writings anticipated Theagenes allegorical work, illustrated especially by his early placement of Time (Chronos) in his genealogy of the gods, which is thought to be a reinterpretation of the titan Kronos, from more traditional genealogies. In classical literature two of

2905-554: The Papal Bull Unam Sanctam (1302) presents themes of the unity of Christendom with the pope as its head in which the allegorical details of the metaphors are adduced as facts on which is based a demonstration with the vocabulary of logic: " Therefore of this one and only Church there is one body and one head—not two heads as if it were a monster... If, then, the Greeks or others say that they were not committed to

2988-626: The Promised Land. Also allegorical is Ezekiel 16 and 17, wherein the capture of that same vine by the mighty Eagle represents Israel's exile to Babylon. Allegorical interpretation of the Bible was a common early Christian practice and continues. For example, the recently re-discovered Fourth Commentary on the Gospels by Fortunatianus of Aquileia has a comment by its English translator: "The principal characteristic of Fortunatianus' exegesis

3071-712: The Scottish philosopher David Hume wrote Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. A prominent 19th-century example of literary dialogue was Landor 's Imaginary Conversations (1821–1828). In Germany, Wieland adopted this form for several important satirical works published between 1780 and 1799. In Spanish literature, the Dialogues of Valdés (1528) and those on Painting (1633) by Vincenzo Carducci are celebrated. Italian writers of collections of dialogues, following Plato's example, include Torquato Tasso (1586), Galileo (1632), Galiani (1770), Leopardi (1825), and

3154-479: The Younger as speakers). Also Edith Stein and Iris Murdoch used the dialogue form. Stein imagined a dialogue between Edmund Husserl (phenomenologist) and Thomas Aquinas (metaphysical realist). Murdoch included not only Socrates and Alcibiades as interlocutors in her work Acastos: Two Platonic Dialogues (1986), but featured a young Plato himself as well. More recently Timothy Williamson wrote Tetralogue ,

3237-452: The assembly", which originates from ἀγορά ( agora ), "assembly". Northrop Frye discussed what he termed a "continuum of allegory", a spectrum that ranges from what he termed the "naive allegory" of the likes of The Faerie Queene , to the more private allegories of modern paradox literature . In this perspective, the characters in a "naive" allegory are not fully three-dimensional, for each aspect of their individual personalities and of

3320-429: The author may not have recognized. This is allegoresis, or the act of reading a story as an allegory. Examples of allegory in popular culture that may or may not have been intended include the works of Bertolt Brecht , and even some works of science fiction and fantasy, such as The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis . The story of the apple falling onto Isaac Newton 's head is another famous allegory. It simplified

3403-467: The best-known allegories are the Cave in Plato's The Republic (Book VII) and the story of the stomach and its members in the speech of Menenius Agrippa ( Livy ii. 32). Among the best-known examples of allegory, Plato 's Allegory of the Cave , forms a part of his larger work The Republic . In this allegory, Plato describes a group of people who have lived chained in a cave all of their lives, facing

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3486-655: The book would not have ended with the Ring being destroyed but rather with an arms race in which various powers would try to obtain such a Ring for themselves. Then Tolkien went on to outline an alternative plot for "Lord of The Rings", as it would have been written had such an allegory been intended, and which would have made the book into a dystopia . While all this does not mean Tolkien's works may not be treated as having allegorical themes, especially when reinterpreted through postmodern sensibilities, it at least suggests that none were conscious in his writings. This further reinforces

3569-616: The care of Peter and his successors, they necessarily confess that they are not of the sheep of Christ." This text also demonstrates the frequent use of allegory in religious texts during the Mediaeval Period, following the tradition and example of the Bible. In the late 15th century, the enigmatic Hypnerotomachia , with its elaborate woodcut illustrations, shows the influence of themed pageants and masques on contemporary allegorical representation, as humanist dialectic conveyed them. The denial of medieval allegory as found in

3652-590: The concept of dialogical leadership, starting with a chapter in the 2003 book The Organization as Story . Moral dialogues are social processes which allow societies or communities to form new shared moral understandings. Moral dialogues have the capacity to modify the moral positions of a sufficient number of people to generate widespread approval for actions and policies that previously had little support or were considered morally inappropriate by many. Communitarian philosopher Amitai Etzioni has developed an analytical framework which—modelling historical examples—outlines

3735-599: The conversation of the inner circle. When the text has been fully discussed and the inner circle is finished talking, the outer circle provides feedback on the dialogue that took place. This process alternates with the inner circle students going to the outer circle for the next meeting and vice versa. The length of this process varies depending on the text used for the discussion. The teacher may decide to alternate groups within one meeting, or they may alternate at each separate meeting. The most significant difference between this activity and most typical classroom activities involves

3818-444: The elenchus is the technique Socrates uses to investigate, for example, the nature or definition of ethical concepts such as justice or virtue. According to Gregory Vlastos , it has the following steps: One elenctic examination can lead to a new, more refined, examination of the concept being considered, in this case it invites an examination of the claim: "Courage is wise endurance of the soul". Most Socratic inquiries consist of

3901-405: The events that befall them embodies some moral quality or other abstraction; the author has selected the allegory first, and the details merely flesh it out. The origins of allegory can be traced at least back to Homer in his "quasi-allegorical" use of personifications of, e.g., Terror (Deimos) and Fear (Phobos) at Il. 115 f. The title of "first allegorist", however, is usually awarded to whoever

3984-468: The followers of other religions"), dialogue with other Christians ( Unitatis redintegratio : "fraternal dialogue on points of doctrine and the more pressing pastoral problems of our time"), dialogue with modern society ( Gaudium et spes : "the rightful betterment of this world ... cannot be realized, ... apart from sincere and prudent dialogue"), and dialogue with political authorities ( Dignitatis humanae : "[in] dialogue ... men explain to one another

4067-405: The form of Socratic questioning , has been adapted for psychotherapy, most prominently in classical Adlerian psychotherapy , logotherapy , rational emotive behavior therapy , cognitive therapy and reality therapy . It can be used to clarify meaning, feeling, and consequences, as well as to gradually unfold insight, or explore alternative actions. The Socratic method has also recently inspired

4150-669: The foundational texts of the Western canon . Institutions that continue to follow a version of this model include the Great Books Foundation , Shimer College in Chicago, and St. John's College in Annapolis and Santa Fe. Egalitarian dialogue is a concept in dialogic learning . It may be defined as a dialogue in which contributions are considered according to the validity of their reasoning, instead of according to

4233-475: The idea of gravity by depicting a simple way it was supposedly discovered. It also made the scientific revelation well known by condensing the theory into a short tale. While allegoresis may make discovery of allegory in any work, not every resonant work of modern fiction is allegorical, and some are clearly not intended to be viewed this way. According to Henry Littlefield's 1964 article, L. Frank Baum 's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , may be readily understood as

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4316-457: The individual and to the state", and that "life without examination [dialogue] is not worth living". Socrates rarely used the method to actually develop consistent theories, and he even made frequent use of creative myths and allegories . The Parmenides dialogue shows Parmenides using the Socratic method to point out the flaws in the Platonic theory of forms , as presented by Socrates; it

4399-662: The information a fifth-century upper-class male needed to know into an allegory of the wedding of Mercury and Philologia , with the seven liberal arts the young man needed to know as guests. Also, the Neoplatonic philosophy developed a type of allegorical reading of Homer and Plato. Other early allegories are found in the Hebrew Bible , such as the extended metaphor in Psalm 80 of the vine and its impressive spread and growth, representing Israel's conquest and peopling of

4482-423: The issue at hand; and, closure through the establishment of a new shared moral understanding. Moral dialogues allow people of a given community to determine what is morally acceptable to a majority of people within the community. Allegories Writers and speakers typically use allegories to convey (semi-) hidden or complex meanings through symbolic figures, actions, imagery, or events, which together create

4565-434: The like. Socratic seminar texts are able to challenge participants' thinking skills by having these characteristics: Socratic texts can be divided into two main categories: Socratic seminars are based upon the interaction of peers. The focus is to explore multiple perspectives on a given issue or topic. Socratic questioning is used to help students apply the activity to their learning. The pedagogy of Socratic questions

4648-566: The method is most commonly found within the so-called " Socratic dialogues ", which generally portray Socrates engaging in the method and questioning his fellow citizens about moral and epistemological issues. But in his later dialogues, such as Theaetetus or Sophist , Plato had a different method to philosophical discussions, namely dialectic . Elenchus ( Ancient Greek : ἔλεγχος , romanized :  elenkhos , lit.   'argument of disproof or refutation; cross-examining, testing, scrutiny esp. for purposes of refutation')

4731-472: The moral, spiritual, or political meaning the author wishes to convey. Many allegories use personification of abstract concepts. First attested in English in 1382, the word allegory comes from Latin allegoria , the latinisation of the Greek ἀλληγορία ( allegoría ), "veiled language, figurative", literally "speaking about something else", which in turn comes from ἄλλος ( allos ), "another, different" and ἀγορεύω ( agoreuo ), "to harangue, to speak in

4814-586: The observation that a rigorous bottom-up democratic form of dialogue must be structured to ensure that a sufficient variety of stakeholders represents the problem system of concern, and that their voices and contributions are equally balanced in the dialogic process. Structured dialogue is employed for complex problems including peacemaking (e.g., Civil Society Dialogue project in Cyprus ) and indigenous community development., as well as government and social policy formulation. In one deployment, structured dialogue

4897-400: The opportunity to take part in the discussion. Socratic circles specify three types of questions to prepare: Scholars such as Peter Boghossian suggest that although the method improves creative and critical thinking, there is a flip side to the method. He states that the teachers who use this method wait for the students to make mistakes, thus creating negative feelings in the class, exposing

4980-555: The participants' current level of intellectual and social development. It provides the anchor for dialogue whereby the facilitator can bring the participants back to the text if they begin to digress. Furthermore, the seminar text enables the participants to create a level playing field – ensuring that the dialogical tone within the classroom remains consistent and pure to the subject or topic at hand. Some practitioners argue that "texts" do not have to be confined to printed texts, but can include artifacts such as objects, physical spaces, and

5063-419: The question of the world as a whole and how everything in it is connected. Logos is the one principle at work, that gives order to the manifold in the world." For Dietz, dialogue means "a kind of thinking, acting and speaking, which the logos "passes through"" Therefore, talking to each other is merely one part of "dialogue". Acting dialogically means directing someone's attention to another one and to reality at

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5146-452: The reoccurring components of moral dialogues. Elements of moral dialogues include: establishing a moral baseline; sociological dialogue starters which initiate the process of developing new shared moral understandings; the linking of multiple groups' discussions in the form of "megalogues"; distinguishing the distinct attributes of the moral dialogue (apart from rational deliberations or culture wars); dramatisation to call widespread attention to

5229-470: The role of the teacher. In Socratic seminar, the students lead the discussion and questioning. The teacher's role is to ensure the discussion advances regardless of the particular direction the discussion takes. Teachers use Socratic seminar in different ways. The structure it takes may look different in each classroom. While this is not an exhaustive list, teachers may use one of the following structures to administer Socratic seminar: No matter what structure

5312-507: The same time. Against this background and together with Thomas Kracht, Karl-Martin Dietz developed what he termed " dialogical leadership " as a form of organisational management. In several German enterprises and organisations it replaced the traditional human resource management, e.g. in the German drugstore chain dm-drogerie markt . Separately, and earlier to Thomas Kracht and Karl-Martin Dietz, Rens van Loon published multiple works on

5395-507: The shadows. He tries to tell the people in the cave of his discovery, but they do not believe him and vehemently resist his efforts to free them so they can see for themselves (516e–518a). This allegory is, on a basic level, about a philosopher who upon finding greater knowledge outside the cave of human understanding, seeks to share it as is his duty, and the foolishness of those who would ignore him because they think themselves educated enough. In Late Antiquity Martianus Capella organized all

5478-446: The spot. In his influential works, Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin provided an extralinguistic methodology for analysing the nature and meaning of dialogue: Dialogic relations have a specific nature: they can be reduced neither to the purely logical (even if dialectical) nor to the purely linguistic ( compositional - syntactic ) They are possible only between complete utterances of various speaking subjects... Where there

5561-421: The status or position of power of those who make them. Structured dialogue represents a class of dialogue practices developed as a means of orienting the dialogic discourse toward problem understanding and consensual action. Whereas most traditional dialogue practices are unstructured or semi-structured, such conversational modes have been observed as insufficient for the coordination of multiple perspectives in

5644-445: The student to possible ridicule and humiliation. Some have countered this thought by stating that the humiliation and ridicule is not caused by the method, rather it is due to the lack of knowledge of the student. Boghossian mentions that even though the questions may be perplexing, they are not originally meant for it, in fact such questions provoke the students and can be countered by employing counterexamples. The Socratic method, in

5727-480: The subject under discussion. The exact nature of the elenchus is subject to a great deal of debate, in particular concerning whether it is a positive method, leading to knowledge, or a negative method used solely to refute false claims to knowledge. Some qualitative research shows that the use of the Socratic method within a traditional Yeshiva education setting helps students succeed in law school , although it remains an open question as to whether that relationship

5810-490: The systematic use of dialogue as an independent literary form. Ancient sources indicate, however, that the Platonic dialogue had its foundations in the mime , which the Sicilian poets Sophron and Epicharmus had cultivated half a century earlier. These works, admired and imitated by Plato, have not survived and we have only the vaguest idea of how they may have been performed. The Mimes of Herodas , which were found in

5893-467: The teacher employs, the basic premise of the seminar/circles is to turn partial control and direction of the classroom over to the students. The seminars encourage students to work together, creating meaning from the text and to stay away from trying to find a correct interpretation. The emphasis is on critical and creative thinking. A Socratic seminar text is a tangible document that creates a thought-provoking discussion. The text ought to be appropriate for

5976-577: The term is Plato, in whose works it is closely associated with the art of dialectic . Latin took over the word as dialogus . Dialogue as a genre in the Middle East and Asia dates back to ancient works, such as Sumerian disputations preserved in copies from the late third millennium BC, Rigvedic dialogue hymns , and the Mahabharata . In the West, Plato ( c.  427 BC – c.  348 BC) has commonly been credited with

6059-421: The thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse applicability with allegory, but one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author." Tolkien specifically resented the suggestion that the book's One Ring , which gives overwhelming power to those possessing it, was intended as an allegory of nuclear weapons . He noted that, had that been his intention,

6142-595: The title of Lucian's most famous collection; both Fontenelle (1683) and Fénelon (1712) prepared Dialogues des morts ("Dialogues of the Dead"). Contemporaneously, in 1688, the French philosopher Nicolas Malebranche published his Dialogues on Metaphysics and Religion , thus contributing to the genre's revival in philosophic circles. In English non-dramatic literature the dialogue did not see extensive use until Berkeley employed it, in 1713, for his treatise, Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous . His contemporary,

6225-516: The tools of philosophy and rhetoric to entertain, impress, or persuade an audience to accept the speaker's point of view. Socrates promoted an alternative method of teaching, which came to be called the Socratic method. Socrates began to engage in such discussions with his fellow Athenians after his friend from youth, Chaerephon , visited the Oracle of Delphi , which asserted that no man in Greece

6308-473: The topic focused by asking a variety of questions about the text itself, as well as questions to help clarify positions when arguments become confused. The leader also seeks to coax reluctant participants into the discussion, and to limit contributions from those who tend to dominate. She or he prompts participants to elaborate on their responses and to build on what others have said. The leader guides participants to deepen, clarify, and paraphrase, and to synthesize

6391-444: The truth they have discovered, or think they have discovered, in order thus to assist one another in the quest for truth"). However, in the English translations of these texts, "dialogue" was used to translate two Latin words with distinct meanings, colloquium ("discussion") and dialogus ("dialogue"). The choice of terminology appears to have been strongly influenced by Buber's thought. The physicist David Bohm originated

6474-405: The womb. The Socratic method begins with commonly held beliefs and scrutinizes them by way of questioning to determine their internal consistency and their coherence with other beliefs and so to bring everyone closer to the truth. In modified forms, it is employed today in a variety of pedagogical contexts. In the second half of the 5th century BC, sophists were teachers who specialized in using

6557-543: The world: to make it better. Dialogue is used as a practice in a variety of settings, from education to business . Influential theorists of dialogal education include Paulo Freire and Ramon Flecha . In the United States, an early form of dialogic learning emerged in the Great Books movement of the early to mid-20th century, which emphasised egalitarian dialogues in small classes as a way of understanding

6640-494: Was based on a reported Delphic oracular pronouncement that no man was wiser than Socrates. While this belief seems paradoxical at first glance, in fact it allowed Socrates to discover his own errors. Socrates used this claim of wisdom as the basis of moral exhortation. He claimed that the chief goodness consists in the caring of the soul concerned with moral truth and moral understanding, that "wealth does not bring goodness, but goodness brings wealth and every other blessing, both to

6723-422: Was recognition of one's ignorance. Guthrie writes, "[Socrates] was accustomed to say that he did not himself know anything, and that the only way in which he was wiser than other men was that he was conscious of his own ignorance, while they were not. The essence of the Socratic method is to convince the interlocutor that whereas he thought he knew something, in fact he does not." A Socratic seminar (also known as

6806-416: Was the earliest to put forth allegorical interpretations of Homer. This approach leads to two possible answers: Theagenes of Rhegium (whom Porphyry calls the "first allegorist," Porph. Quaest. Hom. 1.240.14–241.12 Schrad.) or Pherecydes of Syros, both of whom are presumed to be active in the 6th century B.C.E., though Pherecydes is earlier and as he is often presumed to be the first writer of prose. The debate

6889-431: Was wiser than Socrates. Socrates saw this as a paradox , and began using the Socratic method to answer his conundrum. Diogenes Laërtius , however, wrote that Protagoras invented the "Socratic" method. Plato famously formalized the Socratic elenctic style in prose—presenting Socrates as the curious questioner of some prominent Athenian interlocutor—in some of his early dialogues, such as Euthyphro and Ion , and

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