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Method Of Argument And Theories Of Knowledge

Essay, Research Paper


Jordan Chasnoff


November 21, 2000


CORE 101


Socrates? Method of Argument and


Theories of Knowledge


The methods of argument used by Socrates in the works of Plato


focused on true knowledge. This method, known as the Socratic method is


unconventional in that it is not a means of argument through persuasion or


opinion, it is, rather, a means of argument through question and challenge.


The method is a consideration of knowledge as being inherent to the human


soul rather than a study of how things are. In this essay I will examine how


this unique method relates and operates with the unique style of text in


Plato?s work.


Socrates? method of teaching by asking questions, searched for


definitions. In his method of argument, he would challenge anyone with a


pretense to knowledge. Socrates argued his theories of how true knowledge


is attained through joining in a discussion with another person who thought


he knew what virtue or knowledge was. Under this questioning, it became


clear that neither Socrates nor the other person knew the meaning of such


terms. This is shown in Socrates? conversation with Meno in Plato?s Meno.


M: I do not [know what virtue is]; but, Socrates, do you


really not know what virtue is? Are we to report this to the folk


back home about you?


S: Not only that, my friend, but also that , as I believe, I


have never yet met anyone else who did know. Meno 4


Socrates then would cooperate with whomever he was talking to on a new


idea where Socrates would make interrogatory suggestions that were either


accepted or rejected by his friend.


Then Agathon said, ?It turns out, Socrates, I didn?t know what I


was talking about in that speech.?


?It was a beautiful speech, anyway, Agathon,? said


Socrates. ?Now take it a little further.? Symposium 43


The attempts to find a solution always failed, but they could continue to


search for one whenever possible.


For Socrates, knowledge was not merely accepting a second hand


opinion, but personal achievement gained through continuous questioning


and evaluation. Through Socrates? questioning of himself and of others, his


arguments on the attainment of true knowledge, involved not learning the


answers but searching for them. The search was more successful when done


by two friends, perhaps one (Socrates) being more experienced than the


other, but both in love with the goal of truth, knowledge and the willingness


to subject themselves honestly to the critical test of argument alone.


Socrates? greatest strength in his method of argument was his ability to


stimulate the thinking of others to aid him in his own hypothesis of true


knowledge. He opposed cross-examination in a set pattern. This is clearly


displayed in Meno, after Socrates questioned a boy with a geometrical figure.


S: You realize, Meno, what point he has reached in his


recollection. At first he did not know what the basic line of the


eight-foot square was: even now he does not yet know, but then


he thought he knew, and answered confidently as if he did


know, and he did not think himself at a loss, but now he does


think himself at a loss, and as he does not know, neither does


he think he knows. – That is true. Meno 17


Socrates uses this statement and the testing of the boy to prove that the boy


had no prior knowledge of the processes of mathematics. He was able to


answer the questions purely because he was able to use the knowledge


already imbedded in his soul. This excerpt from Meno is not about


mathematics. It is used by Plato to show the reader that Socrates?


arguments were not issue oriented, they were method oriented. This


concept is very important when analyzing the theories and methods of


Socrates? arguments with the shape and structure of the text.


Socrates? vague style of argument works very well in the dialogues we


have read. This is due to the unique shape and structure of the text. The


text in dialogues lacks traditional structure and warrants little or no direction


and/or climax to Socrates? arguments. The style of the text allows Socrates


to command the dialogues and arguments but restricts him from making a


persuasive or definitive point. He is never established as a clear winner. As


I have stated, Socrates? method of argument is not a persuasive method. It


is a method of argument through question and challenge. Thus, the


similarities of the style of Socrates? method of argument and the style of


dialogues we have read work well together.


Socrates? method of argument also works well with his theory of


knowledge. Both, the vague style of argument and the unspecific theories


are presented in the same manner, forming a distinct relationship. Socrates?


method of argument is used to deliver his theories of knowledge. He does


this in a dialogue with a subject who claims that he has knowledge of some


matter that is proven in a proposition that defines an ethical term. There is a


series of questions from Socrates that he picks out. Then he takes a number


of other propositions that, when put together, prove the difference of the


original definition. The argument is examined next to each individual to see


if there is false argument. At this point the establishment of theory, or more


importantly, the establishment of Socrates? specific theories of the acquisition


of knowledge, is not at stake. The question is not whether Socrates, through


his method of argument, has proven his theories of knowledge, but rather,


has Socrates disproved the subject?s false conceit


Socrates? method of argument of is vague and indirect. It is not a


means of argument though persuasion, but rather a means of argument


through questioning and refute. This method works very well with the vague


and indirect shape and structure of the dialogues we have read. The method


also works very well with Socrates? theories of knowledge. As his theories


are also very vague, and are concerned more with disproving the theories of


others rather than presenting Socrates? concrete theory or definition of


knowledge.



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