The Seventh Letter and the Socratic Method
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2015
Abstract
Law teachers use the phrase “Socratic method” loosely to refer to various modes of teaching involving questioning students rather than merely lecturing. The merits of such methods have been much debated; and while it is clear that some critics are excoriating the least defensible versions of what has been called the Socratic method, I do not attempt to adjudicate that debate here. Rather, I hope to add to the conversation by looking to an important original source describing the origin of this method.
In a letter attributed to Plato, the author explains why he chooses to teach through questioning and conversation rather than through written treatises or lectures, and why those seeking to cultivate certain sorts of wisdom should do the same. I suggest that these passages have been misunderstood, and that a re-interpretation may help illuminate not only Plato’s work but also our own. If our teaching practices have indeed been abased or abused such that they too-often resemble the most pejorative caricatures, perhaps we can recover a better and more appealing vision of our tradition by looking to its roots.
The heart of the matter is this. Socratic conversation is not merely a mode of doctrinal exposition and more essentially a kind of capacity-building experience. Or so it should be. We often contrast classroom teaching with experiential learning or practical training. That distinction can be useful; but at bottom the dichotomy is a false one. The sort of teaching that Socrates did, that Plato described, and to which we should aspire, is primarily and essentially an experiential practice. It should model and embody as well as possible an important aspect of what we hope our students will learn to do well.
Recommended Citation
Clark, Sherman J., "The Seventh Letter and the Socratic Method" (2015). Public Law & Legal Theory Working Papers. 391.
https://repository.law.umich.edu/pub_law_archive/391