In book IV of The Republic, Socrates clearly calls the motives of Glaucon in question. In other words, Socrates attacks his inner assumptions about the truth, in his poignant view, that the truth is something easily hidden from the soul. In fact, Socrates seems to counter the view of Glaucon, that a lie to the soul, when resting in the latter, is detrimental to the person. Now, when Socrates poses the idea that the lie within the soul (the lie resting in the soul) is actually the worst form of the lie, Glaucon, who seems to, by Plato's dramatic interpretation of Glaucon's character, disagree fundamentally with this statement by Socrates, ends up agreeing with him wholeheartedly.
I think, for the purposes of this class, the 'classroom' medium that Socrates utilizes to draw out the vocal thinking processes of Glaucon is one that often times produces the answer most logically desirable, whereas, an atmosphere like a lecture hall or a correspondence course would not. Socrates is able to draw out logical conclusions from Glaucon in this medium in particular, which could say something for the dynamic of the Socratic classroom; one which might serve teachers well in classes specifically involving active student discussion.
"...Glaucon, who seems to, by Plato's dramatic interpretation of Glaucon's character, disagree fundamentally..." Now there is an infinitive well and truly split!
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that education necessarily involves active student discussion. The vocalization of a student's thinking process is infinitely--or virtually infinitely, at least--valuable, even in a discipline as proverbially cut and dry as mathematics. It seems to me that this Socratic principle--education via questioning--can by applied to any pedagogical situation.
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