Returning to Socrates

In her new book philosopher Agnes Callard wants to introduce us to Socrtaes. Perhaps she is writing for college students who have never read any philosophy, but if she is not, her presentation is banal.

After all, Socrates and his student Plato are the godfather of philosopher idealism. This strain of philosophy has been around and has been accepted for millennia now.The most important of the Church Fathers, Augustine himself, declared that Plato was a near-Chrisitan. This ensured that his thinking would always have pride of place in the Christian West.

The empiricism of Aristotle did not receive the same treatment.  It was not until the late Middle Ages that Aristotle became respectable, thanks largely to Thomas Aquinas and his Dominican brethren.

Callard ends up saying that Socrtes taught us the art of conversation. This is an interesting idea, even if it is largely inaccurate.

Socratic dialogue is a trick. The ugly old philosopher encounters a young dupe and proceeds to teach him philosophy.Or so it would seem.

Through a series of questions Socrates persuades the dupe to think what he wants him to thinK. Better yet, he persuades him that he always thought the same thing, only awaiting the midwifery of Socrtes to bring it into the light of consciousness

Socrates does not teach the young person how to think. It teaches him what he must think.But he allows him to think that he has not been influenced by an authority figure, a Socrates, but has merely discovered what he himself has always been thinking.

So, Socrates makes young people think what he wants them to think. His ruse is to persuade them that they are not being influenced by an authority, but are merely geting in touch with what they always knew.

For a philosophy professor, this is a potent ruse.You can help students overcome their ability to respect authority, all the while making them subservient to your authority.