Philosophy books seldom spell out the crucial lesson to be learned from Socrates, namely, prudence. Neither Socrates nor Plato meant to teach us to be more prudent, circumspect and cautious, but those are my takeaways from studying Plato’s works and Socrates’ life in great detail. At the same time, I must express my scepticism about…

I wish that Plato (427-347 BC) had taken the trouble to state the drawbacks of the Socratic method, or at least, to accept that there are few true philosophical victories in Socrates’ debates. Indeed, he had a brilliant mind and a passion for refuting weak arguments, but did he actually reveal the path to follow?…

Socrates used to start every debate by asking “What exactly do you mean?” He was prompting his opponent to define his ideas and terms of engagement. Was the debate about ethics, or only about courage in war? Are we discussing only a specific case, or are we talking about general truths? When the opponent showed…

Philosophy gurus try to sell us ready-made solutions that, so they say, can solve our lives’ problems. Socrates did something better. Instead of offering ready-made solutions, he provided us a method to find the answers ourselves. His approach has vast advantages and, through the centuries, has proven remarkably effective. The Socratic method is designed for…

People call “Socratic Method” a form of inquiry in which a statement or claim is tested by asking a sequence of questions. It is named after Socrates (469-399 BC) because it imitates his method of debating, when he discussed philosophy in Athens. Let me first point out that Socrates never regarded his way of debating…

If Socrates (469-399 BC) was so accomplished, why did he not write anything? If he was such a great thinker, why did he not make a systematic presentation of his ideas? And why did he become so famous, if he spent most of his life in Athens, debating people in the marketplace? Those questions will…

When reading about the trial against Socrates (469-399 BC) and the exchanges between accusation and defence, I’m always amazed at the poor logic employed by Socrates. His defence in the trial was not only incompetent, but counterproductive. If he had left Athens beforehand and let the trial take place in his absence, I don’t think…