THE SOCRATIC METHOD AND PLATO’S PHILOSOPHY​

      Education has become one of the main themes of philosophy due to its common points and correlations. Education can be defined as a process of learning and teaching which can be actualized on one’s own or with a teacher using various materials and methods. In its simplest form, philosophy is the search for knowledge and truth by judging and critical thinking. In the history of Greek Philosophy, philosophers used different methods to teach their students philosophy and educate them with their own techniques. Socrates, who known as the founder of Philosophy, constituted a method whose name is the dialectic method or the Socratic method and it was based on making dialogues. Other than this, his well-known student Plato justified a different method, which is almost the opposite of the Socratic method, for effective education in society. He also mentioned his and Socrates's method in The Republic. Throughout the history of philosophy, it is debated by philosophers to decide which one is more productive and applicable in society.

       The Socratic method or the dialectic method is based on the dialogue technique which requires consistently asking and criticizing. Socrates believed that argumentative dialogue between individuals and asking question after question stimulate critical thinking and good reasoning. With that, he also asserted that it helps to solidify students’ knowledge of the case by thinking critically under pressure. But the disputed part of his method was about the belief that claims it can be applied and succeed with everyone. According to Plato’s book whose name is Menon,ın order to prove that, he asked a geometry problem to an illiterate peasant and helped him to find the correct answer by regularly asking questions and criticizing.He believed that through this method the individual can find his own mistakes and think again until he finds the correct answer. Because of that reason, having knowledge about something is not a necessary factor or in other words, it isn’t a priority to achieve the right answer.

        The reason for emphasizing critical thinking and giving less importance to having knowledge in the Socratic method was his thought that asserts knowledge is the only tool to find answers; The fundamental way to learn something is thinking and making criticizes about information by using your mind effectively.His explanation for this idea was knowledge can only take you to a particular place, in order to proceed and to be aware of other options, you have to review and make criticisms about your argument. That may explain to us why most of the education systems don't use ‘Essentialism’ which teaches just by giving information and use ‘Progressivizm’ which provides a contrast with essentialism due to learning by experiencing and thinking for effective learning.  

       As an illustration to the usage of the Socratic method in the classroom, we can exemplify a teacher who randomly picks a student and ask her/him questions continuously. Today, some colleges use this technique due to its efficiency. In Harvard Law School, the professor starts asking question to dozens of students during a class session and then, some of the other students oppose his/her idea or specify the wrong points. In that way, students can see the unobserved parts of the case and represent different solutions. Furthermore, the student may become a more accountable person and join the discussion by reading before lectures. With this in mind, it might be a disturbing situation for a student who couldn't answer the professor’s question at the first time and also it may condition the student to join next lecture because of this experience. In this wise, her/his confidence might be affected badly and this way causes unwillingness to attend the professor’s lectures. In order to prevent this harm, teachers can start to use this technique in elementary school and students can become habituated.

       Plato’s method for education can be contrasted with Socrates’s even though he was educated by him.First of all, Platon believed that education should be used as a tool to protect public order by society.In order do that properly, education should be institutional instead of being individualist and learning must be a process of transferring information which is the opposite of learning by criticizing and experiencing like in the Socratic method.He mentioned his ideas about social structure in the ideal state that is shaped by education in his famous book ‘The Republic’. In the book, he wrote that every individual should be educated according to his nature, capability, and skills. In order to ensure the accordance between capability and education, he classified the society in three groups which are rulers, soldiers or in other words protectors and workers. He thought that the people who have a tendency to work in a job which requires physical ability should be in the group of workers.In the same way, the people who are innate courageous and brave should be in the group of protectors. But, when it comes to the rulers, he believed there must be more specific elimination.Plato thought that rulers should be chosen from among protectors’ group with an examination. In that way, the purpose of education for Plato was defining the appropriate social status of individuals according to their capacity. In that way, every person can devote his life to what is the best fit for him.

       He believed in teaching math, philosophy or geometry to the people who are just in the group of rulers because intellectual aristocracy is the rule of the intellectual elite. He believed that knowledge should be given to the people who can evaluate, criticize, and use it widely.With this in mind, he was against compulsory education and explained it in The Republic with this sentence; Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind. Forcing someone to learn something without considering his abilities won’t be beneficial for the person or the state. Therefore, education has to be individualistic and done by the correct person.

     Socrates’s philosophy and method in education are different from Plato’s philosophy in many ways. Primarily, Socrates interpreted education as an active process that individuals took part in themselves. In contrast, Plato asserted it was a passive process because the people get all information and acquire knowledge from a teacher and don’t try to find the right answer by criticizing. Secondly, Socrates believed that education has to be non-dogmatic while Plato argued the opposite one ‘dogmatic education’.As a result of reasoning in the Socratic method, he used induction in the learning process.On the contrary, Plato used deduction while teaching something. Socrates taught a lesson by talking and discussing the issue with his students and his philosophy was based on having argumentative conversations. But Plato interpreted philosophy as a whole of truths and taught it by writing and reading.

     As another difference between Plato’s and Socrates’s philosophy in education is the possibility of having an education. Plato thought education has to be individualistic while Socrates asserts it has to be institutional. The reason for this and other clashes of ideas might be their approach to the regime; Socrates justifies democracy, on the other hand, Plato takes the side of autocracy. Because Socrates was justifying democracy, he asserted that everyone should be educated in equal standards and take part in education.For Plato, he considers education as an individualistic process on account of autocracy.He believed that education should be given to the elite which he defined as the rulers. It may seem unfair and hierarchical at first but, if we think about today’s education and the people who work in jobs that they are not fit to do because the job wasn't given to them considering their capacities and  abilities, the idea of hierarchical education might seem right and feasible.

                                  SUEDA DİNÇ