PHIL 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Socratic Dialogue, Socratic Method, Natural Philosophy
Document Summary
There is no written record of socrates" thought, but we do have various accounts of him, mostly from plato: focused on questions of how to live well , rather than on natural philosophy, famously ugly. Characteristics of socratic dialogues: method of elenchus : a. His views are shown to be contradictory or incoherent. Importance of definition: definitions - the search for answers to what is x question, which are treated as searches for precise definitions, socrates is looking for an account that specifies, either ; i. ii. All and only the things that are x. Plato"s euthyphro: the all-and-only requirement, a definition that satisfies the all, pick out all the things, e. g. What are the conditions for something being a rectangle i. ii. iii. It has four sides. (too broad, we have to state the angle) All its sides are equal ( too narrow: the form of essence of x. Socrates expresses the subject of his query in different ways.
