The Importance Of Socratic Dialogue - amazonia.fiocruz.br

The Importance Of Socratic Dialogue - are not

Socratic questioning or Socratic maieutics [1] was named after Socrates. He utilized an educational method that focused on discovering answers by asking questions from his students. Socratic questioning is a form of disciplined questioning that can be used to pursue thought in many directions and for many purposes, including: to explore complex ideas, to get to the truth of things, to open up issues and problems, to uncover assumptions, to analyze concepts, to distinguish what we know from what we do not know, to follow out logical consequences of thought or to control discussions. Socratic questioning is based on the foundation that thinking has structured logic, and allows underlying thoughts to be questioned. Socratic questioning is referred to in teaching , and has gained currency as a concept in education , particularly in the past two decades. When teachers use Socratic questioning in teaching, their purpose may be to probe student thinking, to determine the extent of student knowledge on a given topic, issue or subject, to model Socratic questioning for students or to help students analyze a concept or line of reasoning. It is suggested that students should learn the discipline of Socratic questioning so that they begin to use it in reasoning through complex issues, in understanding and assessing the thinking of others and in following-out the implications of what they and others think. In fact, Socrates himself thought that questioning was the only defensible form of teaching. Socratic questioning illuminates the importance of questioning in learning. This includes differentiating between systematic and fragmented thinking, while forcing individuals to understand the root of their knowledge and ideas. The Importance Of Socratic Dialogue

The question of how the Western ideal of liberal education fits with Asian cultures is longstanding.

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It is no longer sufficient for those in the West interested in liberal education to ignore Asian philosophy, The Importance Of Socratic Dialogue, and literature, whereas Western sources continue being made more available for Asians. Even so, for Asians, the precise nature and relevance of Western perspectives in liberal education is elusive. The most common argument that Asian culture is harmonious with Western liberal education is utilitarian and seems to be that liberal education provides critical thinking skills that foster political and economic development. Conversely, the most common argument that liberal education is at odds with Asian cultures is that Western ideals of individualism conflict with Asian ideals of social harmony.

This dichotomy is miscast. Many argue that Asians benefit from Western-style liberal education because such education imparts critical thinking skills that make people better equipped to participate in the global economy and to make them better administrators.

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While this argument contains much truth, it misses the point of liberal education which obliges us to consider at what such education aims. While for most, the ultimate aim of liberal education need not be asked so long as one can find a well-paying job and live comfortably.

However, it is important to understand the proper aim of liberal education. Liberal education is not only about helping people live comfortably if indeed https://amazonia.fiocruz.br/scdp/essay/is-lafayette-a-hidden-ivy/how-flexibility-is-an-essential-thing.php is about thatbut rather it is about how one lives well.

With so much debate in east Asia about a moral crisis and worries over social disintegration and corruption despite increasing standards of living, especially in mainland China, the question of human purpose, the central question of liberal education, has become paramount.

Socrates shows the aim of liberal education, wisdom, is both useful but also poses hTe challenge for any political order because its aim transcends political life. This transpolitical aim of liberal education makes it a challenge to integrate into any political regime. Yet it is this very challenge that is a source of vitality for regimes open to the Socratic view. The liberality or freedom at the core of the idea of liberal education is the freedom from the business of securing our necessities.

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The reason liberal education is conceptually distinct from business or vocational education is because the aim of liberal education is wisdom https://amazonia.fiocruz.br/scdp/essay/perception-checking-examples/short-story-the-tree.php its own sake.

It is the wisdom for which all other educational endeavors aim. A business student who can also understand a Platonic dialogue or understands Baroque music is undoubtedly a more insightful business student. Bending knowledge always for instrumental use is both illiberal and self-defeating. In its most vivid form, the instrumentalization of all knowledge is technology that treats all reality, including humanity itself, as an object for manipulation. Technology thus understood is destructive of not only of liberal education but also what makes us human. The distinction between liberal education for its own sake and business of vocational education can be seen in the Greek and Latin etymological roots for their terms.

For example, Aristotle notes that business ascholia is the negation of leisure scholiawhich he identifies as The Importance Of Socratic Dialogue activity of contemplation.

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The relationship of business or vocational education to liberal education is one of means to ends. The mandarins of classical China were educated in the Confucian manner to excel at, above all, calligraphy and poetry, and not, for example, at war-making. The claim to Chinese civilizational superiority was based upon the ability of its rulers to engage in leisure. However, as Henry Kissinger argues, it was this very dedication to leisure that led to its downfall during the Opium War.]