Socratic method

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Socrates
"I know that I know nothing" "The unexamined life is not worth living" Gadfly Trial of Socrates
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Socratic dialogue Socratic fallacy Socratic intellectualism Socratic irony Socratic method Socratic paradox Socratic problem Socratic questioning
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Plato Xenophon Aeschines Antisthenes Aristippus
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The Socratic method (also known as method of Elenchus or Socratic debate) is a form of argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions.

In Plato's dialogue "Theaetetus", Socrates describes his method as a form of "midwifery" because it is employed to help his interlocutors develop their understanding in a way analogous to a child developing in the womb. The Socratic method begins with commonly held beliefs and scrutinizes them by way of questioning to determine their internal consistency and their coherence with other beliefs and so to bring everyone closer to the truth.

In modified forms, it is employed today in a variety of pedagogical contexts.