Socratic Analysis Paper on the Nature of Personal Freedoms

In this course, we learn about philosophers and philosophies, but we also strive to be philosophical. Being philosophical, in our context, at least means thinking critically about our most important beliefs and investigating them systematically and thoroughly. Being philosophical, for us, culminates in an evaluation of those beliefs. Are we sure what we mean when we express those beliefs? Even if we think so, is our meaning clear to others? Do we have good reasons for holding these beliefs? Are our beliefs likely to be true? Are our beliefs internally consistent? Socrates has presented a memorable, effective model for thinking critically about those concerns which are most important to us; we have witnessed and considered his dialectical approach in several of Plato's dialogues, including Euthyphro, and we have already given more than a little thought to our own strong beliefs.

Now, here is your chance to really focus on your own strong belief and attempt to do a thorough Socratic style analysis of your conviction. This essay will allow the teacher to assess just how well, at this rather early stage of the course, you have comprehended one of the most traditional, philosophical methods and how capable you are of applying the Socratic techniques of critical thinking to your own concerns and passions about your life and the state of the world.

What to Do

First, select the strong belief that you will be analyzing and evaluating. Ideally, it would be the one that you wrote about in class, for which you have already received feedback. Or, it could be one of your colleagues-trade with someone in the class! Or, as a last resort, you could think of another one that is different from what you wrote in class. All of the above are respectable, acceptable options.
Second, place yourself in the role of the Socratic questioner, or even Socrates himself, and construct a dialogue! Interpret. Analyze. Evaluate. Imagine. Compare. Categorize. Think. Whenever possible, express your analyses, evaluations, etc. as questions which would be possible for an interlocutor to answer. Then, do your best to provide clear, reasonable answers to those questions, which would then, of course, lead to other questions. For a little help and inspiration, you might look back at the feedback on your initial strong belief mini-essay, or at one of the Socratic dialogues. You can structure your essay as a dialogue, a la Plato, or you can use traditional essay form. (Though it would probably be easier to utilize the dialogue format!)

HINTS: TYPICAL, EFFECTIVE, SOCRATIC STRATEGIES

1. Ask questions in the form of, "What do you mean by x?" As Socrates would, feel free to ask questions which contain much content, even a possible definition. For example, if your strong belief is, "I believe in the presence of God," then a likely question could be, "When you refer to ‘presence,' do you mean the tangible, observable existence of a being?" Questions can only lead to more questions if they are substantially answered. So, to keep your dialogue moving forward, put a lot of thought into fashioning effective, answerable questions.

2. Be very aware of the consistency of your belief in relation to other important beliefs you hold (or that any human would be expected to hold), or in relation to some answer that you have already expressed in the dialogue. A classic example of this is provided in Euthyphro, when Euthyphro asserts that the pious is that which is pleasing to the gods; but, as Socrates notes, it has already been established and expressed that different gods have contrary reactions to the same conduct. Therefore, this way of defining "pious" would not lead to a consistent, reliable concept or definition, given the gods' disagreement over fundamental matters.

3. Once the meanings of the terms pertinent to your belief have been pinned down through thorough questioning, then a very common, useful, fundamental inquiry would be some version of "How do you know that?" Or, "Why do you believe that?" This presents the opportunity for introducing the classic Socratic/Platonic distinction between opinion and knowledge. Don't hold back. Be calmly assertive in your questioning. Don't hesitate to ask a question that is likely to make an interlocutor uneasy, or to expose an obvious hole in the thought process. For example, if a speaker announces that she believes that "everything happens for a reason," then you might reply, "Who determines these reasons, and by what authority?" One common answer would be, "God." Or, down a different pathway, one might ask, "Assuming that by ‘reason' you mean purpose, then what is the reason that an infant is abused its entire short life?" A possible reply might be that the purpose for the infant's life of suffering is to cause others to take action in the world to prevent this kind of abuse. But a follow-up question would be, "How could it be ethical to use an innocent child just so that others might be motivated to take action in the world? Is this reason approved by a god who is supposedly loving and almighty?" And so on.

4. Use analogies and examples to make your point, as well as your knowledge of factual matters in the natural and social sciences. Plato/Socrates again provides us with a great example in Euthyphro, when Socrates establishes what the gods are likely to disagree about through analogy to what humans are likely to disagree about.

5. Narrow your focus. Be as specific as possible. And . . .

6. Don't worry about reaching an absolute, final conclusion in your essay/dialogue. As you have seen, Socrates seldom did! What's important is to question the answers rather than absolutely answer all of the questions. Certainly, you will have a purpose, a vision of what you want to establish, especially if you are concerned to render your own conviction plausible. But don't let your attachment to your belief prevent you from pursuing objective, unimpeded critical thinking.