The Socratic method, Also called Socratic debate, it is a way of arguing between two people in a cooperative way to stimulate critical thinking in both individuals. That is, the method is put into practice when two people ask each other questions to promote answers that create new ways of thinking..
It is a completely dialectical method, which is based on questioning the questions from the individuals who are part of the conversation. In many cases, the person asking questions tends to question their beliefs based on the answers given by their counterpart in the conversation..
Many times a person asking questions may contradict himself during the conversation, weakening the veracity of his argument. Therefore, it is considered to be a hypothesis elimination method, since the correct answer is found after discarding the invalid ones throughout each debate..
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When conducting a Socratic debate, it is common for new ideas and points of view to emerge regarding each of the topics presented by each participant..
When one person presents an idea and another participant refutes it, the way of thinking used by the original proponent to defend it stimulates new and critical thinking.
One of the main objectives of the Socratic method is that the person who makes a hypothesis must at some point contradict himself. The objective of the discussion participant who does not raise a hypothesis is to present ideas to the participant who does, so that he or she contradicts himself.
From the contradictions that are generated in this debate, new ideas and points of view are created that enrich the knowledge of the individuals who carry out this method..
Anyone who participates in a Socratic debate must have a series of basic characteristics so that the debate can be carried out correctly. Mainly, every debater should keep the flow of the discussion focused on the main topic and not deviate from it..
In addition, the conversation should have an intellectual tone and the discussion should be stimulated by asking questions that elicit new thoughts..
It is also important that the participants periodically summarize the things that have been discussed and those that have not, to know the flow that the debate has had..
Commonly, the Socratic method is carried out by two participants (participant A and participant B). The first thing to do when starting the debate is for participant A to establish a hypothesis with which participant B does not agree, so that critical thinking can be generated..
When a hypothesis of participant A is found with which participant B does not agree, participant B begins to establish a series of hypotheses contrary to the original idea of participant A so that he is forced to analyze what he said.
During this stage, it is common for participant A to generate new ideas about his original hypothesis while trying to defend it. It is during the second step of this debate that the critical thinking of its participants is really generated..
The development of ideas between both participants is usually defined in two ways. According to the original method - carried out by the Greek thinker Socrates - the hypotheses of participant B must have the objective of generating contradictions in the responses of participant A.
If participant B succeeds in making participant A contradict himself, then participant B becomes right in the debate. On the other hand, participant A may not contradict himself; in this case, the debate continues until a contradiction is generated.
In Socrates' original method, it was the same Greek thinker who took the role of participant B.
Finally, when participant A is able to contradict himself, participant B can conclude that the original hypothesis presented by A is not valid..
However, the debate does not have a "winner" and a "loser." When participant A's hypothesis is proven to be invalid, participant A generates a new point of view about his original idea; This is the objective of the debate.
First, one of the members of the debate must present a concept. For practical purposes, the one presenting their concept is called participant A.
Your counterpart (the other participant in the debate, participant B) must refute the idea if he considers it false. If the idea established by the first person to speak is not refuted, move on to the next idea.
When an idea is found that participant B does not agree with, he goes on to ask participant A a series of questions to determine his true opinion about his idea..
For example, if participant A states that “the sky is a creation of God”, participant B proceeds to establish ideas such as “the sky is light blue” or “seeing the sky is an ambiguous concept”.
The arguments of participant B must be denied or accepted by participant A, in order to determine their understanding of the original idea..
Then participant B demonstrates to participant A that, by agreeing with some of the ideas proposed by participant B, then the original idea is not valid. That is, if participant A accepts the premises of participant B (in this case, "heaven is not a creation of God").
If participant A agreed with the ideas of participant B and his original idea is contradicted, then participant B can affirm that the idea of participant A is not valid, since the arguments that were established in the debate can be used to invalidate the idea. hypothesis established by A.
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