The Socratic Method And Nietzsche s Objections - 1390 Words

The Socratic Method and Nietzsche’s Objections In Plato’s apology, the story is told of how Chaerephon, friend of Socrates, went to the temple at Delphi to ask the oracle a question pertaining to the wisdom of Socrates, and how it compares to the rest of the men on earth. â€Å"He asked if any man was wiser than I, and the Pythian replied that no one was wiser† (Plato). This response was very confusing to Socrates because he recognized that he was not wise at all, and it troubled him for some time. Socrates then tries to refute the oracle by bringing a supposedly wise man from town to the temple to show the Pythian that he was wrong, but when they get there, Socrates realizes that the wise man was not wise at all, and neither of them knew†¦show more content†¦Socrates starts this method of elenchus by questioning a supposedly wise person about the definition of certain virtues. For example, in Plato’s Euthyphro, Socrates asks Euthyphro what piety is. After this, the person gives their definitio n of that virtue. In Plato’s Euthyphro, Euthyphro’s answer is â€Å" I say that the pious is to do what I am doing now, to prosecute the wrongdoer, be it about murder or temple robbery or anything else, whether the wrongdoer is your father or your mother or anyone else; not to prosecute is impious† (Plato). After this, Socrates proves the persons definition wrong through the use of examples, and then another definition is given, and the process repeats itself. Therefore the Socratic Method has three steps: the definition is given, Socrates refutes the definition with examples, and then another definition is given. This process then repeats itself until the person who thought they knew something realizes they knew nothing at all. Socrates operates under the assumption that philosophical inquiry into virtue must take nothing for granted. Therefore he leaves no rock unturned when looking into virtue, and completely debunks circular definitions when they are g iven to him. Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher in the late 1800’s who agreed with Socrates that the â€Å"unexamined life is not worth living,† however he disagrees with the Socratic